They were several thousand to parade in the streets of Bayonne on Saturday April 1. Demonstrators gathered to demand access to dignified and equitable housing, and to denounce "the harmful effects" of a real estate market that has become inaccessible for the inhabitants of the Basque Country. Responding to the call of the platform Se loger au pays, made up of thirty-two associations, unions and political parties, they are calling for "regulation" of the local market and "legislative developments and policies in favor of housing for all ".
In ten years, the population of the Basque Country has increased by 9.6% with a significant increase, in parallel, in the number of second homes and seasonal rentals. Each year, 3,000 newcomers settle there, mainly on the coastal fringe and its surroundings, while the price per square meter has increased by more than 35% in four years, with peaks of 8 to 10,000 euros per m2 in cities like Biarritz or Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
On this day when the winter break ends and European Day for the Right to Housing, protesters held up banners with messages such as "tax the millionaires, not the tenants" or "tourism too intrusive, we want to be able to live at home". . In their sights, the "proliferation" of furnished tourist accommodation, but also of second homes, which represent 21% of the housing stock in the area.
The demonstrators demand in parallel a control of rents and an increased production of social housing, in the face of the current shortage.
In November 2021, a demonstration with a similar slogan brought together between 6,500 and 8,000 people in Bayonne.
