Fuerteventura Tenants’ Union calls for stoppage and march on 11 November to demand lower rents

Fuerteventura’s Tenants’ Union has called a protest stoppage and march in Puerto del Rosario for Wednesday 11 November to denounce the island’s housing crisis and demand urgent measures to bring rents down.

The organisation is urging residents, social groups and workers to pause their activities and join a day of protest intended to convey growing discontent to the authorities over the difficulties people face in finding a home.

Under the slogan that the islands have “many houses without people and many people without a house”, the union says rising rents, the spread of holiday lets and a lack of public alternatives are driving residents out of their own municipalities.

The march will set off at 11:00 from number 64 Primero de Mayo Street, opposite the Island Directorate of the General State Administration. Protesters will head up León y Castillo to Constitución Avenue and continue to the roundabout by Las Rotondas shopping centre. From there, they will return along Profesor Juan Tadeo Cabrera Street and Primero de Mayo Street to the starting point.

Calls for rent pressure zones and lower rents

The main demands include the effective implementation of the Housing Act in the Canary Islands, particularly the protection mechanisms for tenants in vulnerable situations.

The union is calling on the Canary Islands Government and the competent authorities to urgently designate rent pressure zones in Fuerteventura. This legal tool would make it possible to introduce rent-control measures in areas that meet the established criteria.

It is also calling for rents to be reduced so that housing costs are in line with workers’ salaries.

Another demand concerns holiday lets. The union wants their expansion in residential areas restricted and properties used for tourist accommodation returned to the market for long-term rental to local residents.

Against evictions without alternative accommodation

The campaign is also calling for evictions of people facing socioeconomic hardship to be prohibited when the authorities have not first secured them decent, permanent alternative accommodation.

Fuerteventura’s Tenants’ Union says urgent action by the authorities is needed to address what it describes as a “housing crisis” and guarantee the right to decent housing.

The organisation is encouraging everyone on Fuerteventura to join the protest. It says its communication channels and information assemblies remain open to advise people affected by rental problems.