El futuro sobre plano (2004), by the Madrid-based punk rock band Biznaga, is an expression of rage in the face of the severe housing crisis in the Spanish State and a call for social mobilisation. The lyrics reflect the current housing situation in the country: financial speculation by vulture funds, lack of social housing, gentrification, mass tourism, evictions… but they also call for the contestation of the city and for reclaiming the right to inhabit it with dignity.
The music video combines footage of demonstrations and direct actions for housing with shots of activists showing their defiance, in a tribute to all those who fight day by day for the right to housing in the Spanish State. The band thanks various tenants’ and housing unions, such as those in Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga, for providing the footage and for their trajectory in social struggle.
Biznaga was formed in 2012 by Álvaro García and Jorge Navarro, later joined by Jorge “Milky” Ballarín and Álvaro “Torete” Casado. The song El futuro sobre plano is one of the tracks on ¡AHORA!, their fifth studio album, a fierce critique of capitalism that addresses issues such as housing, resistance and mental health, and brings together songs defined by the band as “love statements in times of war”.
In their interviews, Biznaga are just as outspoken as in their lyrics, and they call for contesting the present in order to secure a future:
We must not think about the future; we must rethink, reclaim and contest the present now. We have to do it now. Songs do not change History, but they can provide a beautiful soundtrack to change.