Italo Rondinella

REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE CRISIS IN SPAIN

Italo Rondinella — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:33:00 +0000

This is a document about one of Spain’s silent dramas. Until recently, the welfare system of this European country was held up as an example for Italy and France. Now, there are more than 166,000 families that have been left without homes as they have not been able to pay their mortgages. This report documents the moment in which these families are evicted, the fight of the Platform for those Affected by a Mortgage (PAH - “Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca”), community co-operation and the empowerment of individuals thanks to the PAH. Until recently, Spain, in its own way, was emulating the American dream of the happy family. Banks and the government created a climate in which it was impossible not to want to have your own property. Many were caught in this spider’s web. Those who are being evicted are from an impoverished middle class. They are poor but with middle class insecurities. Spain is a country that has gone from having nothing to having holidays paid for with credit.

Text by Catalina Gayà

GRAND HOTEL 15-M

Italo Rondinella — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:54:16 +0000

Widespread multitudinous protests on 15th October in more than 1000 cities worldwide were organised through social networks using the slogan “United for global change”. Following these protests a group of 50 “indignados” occupied a hotel, next to the Plaza del Sol in Madrid, that had been empty for years. The occupation has received the support of the 15-M movement. They have decided to use the property to accommodate families evicted as a result of being unable to keep up with their mortgage payments and people who have lost their homes for other reasons. Mrs. Esperanza is 75 years old and has lived in a second floor room for over a month. She became homeless in 2010 after being evicted from her house. She does not have children or a husband and, according to her, the 15-M movement has become her family. Luis is also 75 and he was evicted from his apartment in September. He participated in the hotel occupation on the night of 15 October. He is an activist for the campaign “Stop Evictions” which is supported by the Platform for those Affected by Mortgages. This a charitable organization established in Barcelona in 2009 that is now active in 33 Spanish cities. It is fighting for people’s right to a home and for mortgage law reform. Ronald is 47 years old and has already asked to be admitted to the hotel. He is about to be made homeless due to mortgage non-payments. He is from the Dominican Republic and lives in Madrid with his wife and four children. His mortgage increased in one year from 700 to 1400 euros. The Caja Madrid bank rejected his request to renegotiate the mortgage and his apartment was auctioned in 2010. Since 2008 the property crisis in Spain has left 140.485 families homeless. The People’s Grand Hotel, as its occupants have re-baptised it, has five floors, a basement and two terraces. Its long corridors have red carpets and its rooms have brown doors with gold numbers. The place has become the summer headquarters of the Sol General Assembly. The Madrid Popular Assembly organises meetings at the hotel for the representatives of all the local popular assemblies. The former hotel reception area now hosts lectures by intellectuals and economists. Carlos Taibo, a successful writer and Professor of Political and Administrative Science, talks to and debates with a diverse group of young and old people. They all sit in front of him on a discoloured green carpet. Wet weather in Madrid suggests that winter is approaching. In the old wooden panelled hall of the 15-M Hotel people are arguing that another world is possible. In the bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms and hallways, slogans are visible. At the moment the 15-M movement is based in the hotel. Sooner or later they too will be evicted. However, they promise that when that happens they will find other places in which to continue their fight.

Text by IR

THE FIRST DIGITAL WAKE

Italo Rondinella — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:40:13 +0000

EMBT BARCELONA

Italo Rondinella — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:14:47 +0000

DRY MARTINI

Italo Rondinella — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:24:27 +0000

ILLUMINATIONS

Italo Rondinella — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:19:52 +0000

ARQUITECTAS

Italo Rondinella — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:19:24 +0000

SUPERBARRIO GÓMEZ

Italo Rondinella — Fri, 06 May 2011 11:25:16 +0000

MY GRANDMOTHER, AGAIN.

Italo Rondinella — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:13:07 +0000

SECRET DINNER PARTY

Italo Rondinella — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:34:12 +0000

There is a tram stop in front of the entrance to the Barcelona Zoo in Wellington Street. Be there at 20.00 tomorrow evening. These are the instructions that I receive in an e-mail from a certain Mr. Frank. He also informs me that I am one of only twenty fortunate individuals that have been invited to attend the first secret supper organized outside of New York City. Mr. Frank is a veteran of this type of event. Atypical social gatherings in extraordinary venues. In fact, they are venues that you are normally prohibited from entering. Eva, the friend who put me in contact with Mr. Frank, lives in Brooklyn. There, she says, secret suppers are very popular. They started in 2006 as a refined response to the rave party phenomenon. The focus of a supper is not the guests but the location. Events have been held in abandoned metro tunnels, old factories, or ancient buildings on city outskirts. None of the guests know beforehand where they will be going. We board a tram heading towards Badalona. When Mr. Frank asks us to get off all becomes clearer. We find ourselves in front of three power station chimneys in the Sant Adrià de Besòs district just north of Barcelona. The night sky is blue and the clouds, reflecting the last natural light of the day, have turned pink. We gaze up incredulously at the motionless cement bipeds that tower 200 metres above us. The post-modern atmosphere makes me feel as if I am in Blade Runner.

Text by IR