In L’Hospitalet, Catalonia, Les Juntes is working to uphold the right to decent, affordable housing through community organising. In collaboration with other neighbourhood organisations and cooperatives, Les Juntes acquires properties from banks and investment funds and transforms them into cooperative housing. The homes are collectively restored together with people facing eviction or housing insecurity, including migrants and women-headed households, among others.
The cooperative is run through an assembly-based decision-making system, in which residents share responsibility for housing, care, and everyday life. In addition, Les Juntes promotes community ties and is part of a neighbourhood mutual-aid network that aims to address violations of other rights, such as the right to food sovereignty and to culture.
As part of this neighbourhood network, Les Juntes also promotes legal training spaces and supports migrants in completing the administration for the regularization process, a fundamental step in accessing social protections, rights, and employment. This support is provided collectively, through the exchange of experiences and knowledge among members themselves.
Born out of local organising and peaceful resistance to gentrification Les Juntes offers a practical, humane alternative to eviction, policing and displacement. By reclaiming homes and rebuilding community, the project shows how cooperative housing can strengthen rights, restore dignity and create fairer cities.
Among its future plans is to come together with various collaborating and supporting entities to form a Community Land Trust, aimed at collectivising ownership of its assets.
