Foreclosures and Evictions in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria during the Economic Crisis and Post-Crisis Period in Spain

Juan Parreño-Castellano,Maite Armengol-Martín,Tanausú Pérez García,Jordi Boldú Hernández,Josefina Domínguez-Mujica

doi:10.3390/urbansci2040109

Juan Parreño-Castellano, Maite Armengol-Martín + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2040109

Copy DOI

Journal: Urban Science	Publication Date: Nov 22, 2018
Citations: 11	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Abstract

At the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, the number of foreclosures and evictions increased dramatically in Spain. The severe economic situation and the lack of mitigation measures by public institutions seemed to be the main causes. However, the start of a period of economic recovery since 2014 has meant that the number of the evictions continues to increase. In this article, we analyze in detail this phenomenon in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Based on the disaggregated judicial data on the records of ejections and transfer of possession by foreclosures and evictions for the period 2009–2017, we carry out a study according to judicial procedures and proceedings and nature of the parties affected from a time-based and spatial perspective. This information allows us to discern that the causes that have led to the loss of housing are more varied than expected; that these circumstances have affected both societies and individuals, diverging on the period of incidence; and that the loss of housing has a different spatial impact in each stage. We conclude that both dispossession and loss of use are two structural occurrences coherent with the capitalist model of secondary accumulation developed in the world in the last 20 years. In the case of Spain, we have recognized these phases and modes of accumulation beyond the incidence of the crisis, revealing the structural character of the phenomenon analyzed.

Highlights

Since the middle of the 1980s, Spain’s economic policy backed property construction as the main instrument for generating wealth and economic growth
In our study of the actions taken in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, we have been interested in exploring the procedures involved, the types of action used, the nature of the parties involved and the intra-urban location of the properties affected
Dispossession in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was concentrated in the early years of

Summary

Introduction

Since the middle of the 1980s, Spain’s economic policy backed property construction as the main instrument for generating wealth and economic growth This enabled its productive system to consolidate and allow property investment to become the main source for the creation of surpluses for economic agents and savings for the population [1]. Since the end of the nineties, bank credits boosted this circuit, facilitating financing for the purchase of homes for a large part of the population For this purpose, the mechanism used was the securitization of loans on secondary markets, as in most developed countries [2], which led to a spectacular increase in the prices of the homes and to a high level of private indebtedness. When the global crisis began in 2008, with the consequential collapse of the credit markets and the increase in asset interest rates, property demand fell speedily, triggering difficulties for many property transactions underway for the sale of property and causing residential investments to fall sharply.

Methods

Results

Conclusion