The Social Observatory of the Balearic Islands (OSIB) of the University of the Balearic Islands has published the study “Housing and residential exclusion in the Balearic Islands”. The publication addresses the current situation of access to housing in the Balearic Islands, focusing on residential exclusion. The study shows that housing has become the main determining factor of social exclusion in the Balearic Islands, even with greater impact than the fact of having a job or not; and places in a panoramic way the problem of housing in its complexity, placing as one of its causes the contradiction between the consideration of housing as a market good, and at the same time as a right included in the Constitution and in the Universal Declaration of human rights.
The published research uses the ETHOS framework that at the European level allows different categories of residential exclusion to be established, ranging from homelessness – which is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the social problems of housing – to insecure housing situations (such as living under the threat of sexist violence) or inadequate housing that affects more and more homes. Furthermore, this framework allows us to manage a multidimensional conception of the concept of home, contemplating its physical, social and legal dimensions. When analyzing the characteristics of housing in the Balearic Islands and its relationship with social vulnerability, the study indicates that the Property ownership regime – the majority in our community – is being replaced by rental access, increasingly unattainable due to the escalation of prices in recent years, which ends up becoming a factor of social vulnerability for many households, especially those made up of single-parent women, due to the fact that the unemployed face greater economic problems, make it more difficult to make ends meet and have more problems related to housing, both in terms of access (especially if they are seas of minors) as well as his maintenance. The study presented analyzes housing policies from their antecedents more than a century ago to the present, which have led to housing policies in Spain being almost non-existent, given that the public authorities have favored ownership, compared to other models such as those that exist in central and northern Europe where rental is the majority. This has also meant that the policies and construction of social housing have been minimal, and that the measures have arrived late and have had little impact.
Regarding the analysis of the responses, the revolt presented highlights the role played by both the third sector of social action, and the different social movements in defense of the right to housing, from the PAH or Stop Evictions to the most recent unions. of tenants and tenants.
Finally, the study also includes the witness of different anonymized people interviewed in the course of the investigation and who suffer different situations of residential exclusion, ranging from substandard housing, to occupation of housing or having to share a house with other people, forced due to existing inaccessibility.