Esquerra Republicana ERC admits its failure with housing after more than a decade in power
Diana Riba admits that there is not enough public housing to guarantee the right to housing
Housing is becoming one of the main topics of this legislative term in Catalonia. Left-wing parties, with polls against them, are trying to take advantage of the crisis to shape the narrative and gain social relevance. ERC has been one of the parties that has most vigorously repeated the left's script on this issue.
One of the things these parties keep repeating as a mantra is that it's necessary to expand the stock of public housing. However, these parties are the ones that, directly or indirectly, have been governing over the past decade. Therefore, they fall into their own trap.
This is what happened with ERC MEP Diana Riba, who has implicitly acknowledged her party's failure in housing policies. In an interview on TV3 this morning, she stated that "with 1.2% (1,2%) public housing, the administration can't guarantee the right to housing." The question would be why ERC hasn't promoted the construction of public housing during all these years.
It's important to remember that ERC made Artur Mas president in 2012. Since then, they have participated more or less directly in every government invested in Catalonia. Therefore, Riba is admitting that beyond the narrative and posturing, they don't have any plan.
The left and its failure with housing
The most glaring case is that of Pere Aragonès's government, which governed for three years (one and a half alone) and had authority over housing. The ministry led by Ester Capella didn't carry out enough housing construction to improve the problem. Nor did it manage to stop the skyrocketing increase in rental prices.
However, theirs isn't an isolated case. Comuns display the same political cynicism when they criticize PSC's housing policies in Barcelona. They forget that they governed for eight years, and that under their government Barcelona led the increase in housing prices.
What this shows is that over more than a decade, the housing policies promoted by the left have been a failure. Even so, they keep defending their model and imposing it both in Catalonia and in Barcelona.
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