All Articles

When we look at the present and see how capital profits grow rapidly while the living conditions of the working class stagnate or decline, we understand the need to recover collective memory and avoid the paralysis imposed by individualism. Current rights (such as the eight-hour workday, maternity protection, or equal pay) are the result of organization and social mobilization, not spontaneous concessions. This article revisits five historical milestones that demonstrate the transformative power of organized struggle. The first major milestone … Read more

The struggle for decent housing has been a constant feature of Spain’s recent history. From the earliest protests against evictions to the current demonstrations against property speculation, neighbourhood and citizens’ movements have marked key milestones in the fight for this fundamental right. One of the largest mobilisations took place in 1931, when the CNT called a rent strike in Barcelona in response to the mass evictions caused by the 1929 crisis. Around 100,000 families joined the strike for eight months, … Read more

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 … Read more

On 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution, led by the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), brought an end to Portugal’s Estado Novo, the longest-running dictatorship in Western Europe. In a non-violent uprising, the population took to the streets to support the military, placing red carnations in the barrels of their rifles. José Afonso’s song “Grândola, Vila Morena” was broadcast on the radio to serve as a signal to the groups that simultaneously seized the various seats of power, and it became … Read more

On 17, 18 and 19 April, activists from ECOAR))) took part in the second germination of the Revoltes de la Terra, in Bages, Barcelona. A mobilisation of thousands of people from different collectives, a gathering of the environmental, pro-Palestinian and territorial defence movements. A mass mobilisation to confront the company ICL (Israel Chemicals Limited), which is causing an ecocide in Catalonia and collaborating with the genocide in Gaza. On Saturday 17th, the protest saw hundreds of activists sabotage a long … Read more

The Strategy of the Snail (1993) is a Colombian film directed by Sergio Cabrera and written by Humberto Dorado. It is considered by many critics to be the finest film in Colombian cinema, and has won awards at festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival and the Biarritz Latin American Film Festival. Based on a story by Ramón Jimeno, the film tells the story of a community of residents in a building known as La Casa Uribe who face … Read more

🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBxQbU2VLWY The documentary “El lado oscuro del turismo: la crisis de la vivienda en Mallorca” (2024), broadcast as part of the “ARTE Regards” programme by the European cultural channel ARTE, examines the impact of tourism on access to housing on the island. The film, originally titled in German “Re: Wohnungsnot auf Mallorca”, was broadcast on 19 December 2024 and remains available in the ARTE media library until 17 December 2025. The report combines economic data with testimonies from residents affected … Read more

Libertarian municipalism is a political and social proposal developed primarily by the American thinker Murray Bookchin starting in the 1980s. This current of thought, rooted in social ecology, is based on the premise that human scale and proximity are indispensable conditions for truly democratic management of public life. In contrast to the concentration of power in large states and bureaucracy, libertarian municipalism proposes reclaiming the capacity to make decisions in the most immediate spaces: neighborhoods and towns. The central idea … Read more

In the last decade, the housing market in the Spanish State has undergone a profound transformation with the massive entry of so-called investment funds, popularly known as “vulture funds.” Their strategy has consisted of acquiring entire portfolios of properties at reduced prices, taking advantage of the financial crisis and the privatization of public housing stocks. A notable example was the 2013 sale of nearly 1,900 public housing units from the Madrid City Council to the fund Blackstone, which were later resold … Read more

The Chilean song that emerged before Pinochet’s 1973 coup and spread from the Seattle Battle to the Arab Spring In June 1973, in Chile, the political situation was unsustainable. Marches, pot-banging protests, and strikes foreshadowed a dramatic outcome. In this context, composer Sergio Ortega gathered with the band Quilapayún to fulfill a commission from the Central Committee of the Communist Party: to create songs that supported Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity government. Between a curanto in the garden and Brahms’ chords, … Read more