The purchase of Casa Orsola - groundbreaking housing initiative or dangerous precedent?
Durada: 20 min
22/02/2025
Casa Orsola was built in the early 20th century by Italian businessman Joan Orsola; it is a beautiful modernist apartment building, located in the Eixample district in central Barcelona. However, in recent years it has become a symbol of the housing crisis, as tenants have been priced out by real estate speculation. In an unprecedented move, Barcelona City Council and Hàbitat3 are planning to acquire the building in order to halt the eviction processes and convert the apartments into protected housing. Lea Beliaeva Bander returns to "Filling the sink" to report on this initiative which has sparked widespread criticism. Together with host Beth Cohen, she explores what the joint purchase of Casa Orsola would mean for the residents and how the project would function on a practical level. This week's Catalan phrase is "No hi ha pany que tanqui" meaning "There is no lock that closes". It is used to describe problems that have no easy solution, such as the housing situation in Barcelona.