Protest Graffiti in El Raval, Barcelona
Much of the renewal of Barcelona's El Raval district has been based on the development of tourist-attractions and associated infrastructure thus tending to ignore the needs of the local population. Property speculation has led to large increases in house values, and problems such as the harassment of elderly tenants by landlords seeking to evict in order to increase rents. The undercurrents of protest are visible in the street graffiti.
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Bullying tactics (or 'mobbing') used by property owners on
renters are on the increase in El Raval where average property prices have
reached 200,000 euros.
The left-hand image shows banners hanging in the Tigre street of the district protesting about the effects of property speculation, with intimidated neighbours driven to desperation Some of the bullying tactics used by the property owners in Barcelona last year included: property not maintained (22.8%); physical harassment (13.7%); failure to collect rent (13.4%); buildings not cleaned (8.3%); essential utilities cut off. Source Qué! (16/03/05). |
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| Graffiti located adjacent to the Contemporary Art Museum |
'Poble Nou is not for sale' - graffiti in another degraded
district of Barcelona undergoing similar redevelopment |
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| 'Here they forced the neighbours to leave' graffiti at a residential site cleared to make way for another luxury hotel | Property Speculation graffiti |