The road is still long, but demonstrators and real estate professionals were able to establish a dialogue this Friday at the new real estate fair in Anglet. At the call of the Ostia collective, a network of citizen mobilization in favor of the land and the right to housing, around twenty activists went to the Espace Océan, where the show is being held until this Sunday to denounce land and real estate speculation in the Basque Country. Invited to go inside and engage in dialogue, they were able to explain their grievances to the exhibitors, who for some gave them the answer.
A mobilization against new real estate, while according to activists “there is enough housing in the Basque Country to avoid building new ones“, which comes just one day after an action in Boucau in favor of a couple threatened to leave their accommodation.
“The promoters are missing”
Despite good intentions on both sides, some did not take part in the debate. “We would have liked to hear what the promoters had to tell us” regrets Mathilde, from the Ostia collective. “It’s hard to blame them, the show is not a space for discussion, those who represented the promoters were simple employees, who did not have the approval of their hierarchy to express themselves“Nahima, broker and founder of Slowfin, broker committed to the climate, strikes back.”It’s good to have had this discussion, but I regret that the only ones who spoke were our usual interlocutors, in particular the social landlords“says Mathias, also a member of the Ostia collective.
“We are moving forward a little”
– Remy Doutre
Despite the frustration demonstrators, who were nevertheless able to make their demands heard directly to those they deem responsible for the situation, the side of Nahima lounge welcomes the exchange. “We were able to present new initiatives, show that our professions are changing, and with them our concerns. Agreeing on a sustainable and accessible habitat for all is not impossible, we just have to succeed in getting together around the table.“Nothing has obviously been decided, but at least the exchange will have had the merit of existing between two camps that until then had been rather hermetic with each other.