As the Rome branches of the Communist Front of Italy and the Communist Youth Front, we express our fullest solidarity with the hundreds of people who have been thrown out of their homes at “Spin Time“.
Over the past few days, we have learned of the cynical manoeuvre that, in practice, led to the eviction of “Spin Time”. Following the fire that broke out in one of the building’s rooms on 29 July, the occupants evacuated the premises. Afterwards, under the pretext that the building had allegedly been declared unfit for habitation, the police prevented the residents from returning to their homes, leaving hundreds of people without a roof over their heads.
What has happened in recent days shows that the housing emergency is a real and systemic problem in our country. At the same time, it exposes how the government intends to deal with the country’s real problems by reducing them to mere matters of public order.
The country’s major cities have become open fields at the mercy of speculation and unchecked touristification, while working people are steadily pushed out towards the outskirts and the historic centre of the capital is turned into an empty showcase designed for tourists. Thus, in the absence of adequate public housing policies, while property developers and speculative investment funds have been consistently favoured by successive governments and successive municipal administrations in Rome, we now find ourselves in the absurd situation where a building that was once publicly owned was sold in 2004 to the investment fund “Investire SGR“, only to be immediately leased back by the State Property Agency for the following twenty-two years and would now be bought back by the Municipality in order to address the emergency faced by the residents of “Spin Time”. All this at a cost far exceeding the proceeds from the building’s original sale.
Every possible effort must be made to improve the material conditions of those who have been forced out of the building on Via di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, while an adequate solution for everyone is found as soon as possible, as demanded by the huge crowds that have mobilised in solidarity over the past few days.
Housing must be a right for all.
