Brief History of Barraquismo and Self constructed houses

I/ Introduction to Barraquismo
 

           In the beginning of the XX^th century in Barcelona, a new urban phenomenon appeared with the arrival of immigrants from other Spanish regions. The city, facing a crisis of dwelling, was already lacking a sufficient number of housing and without any specific type of plan people started to make their housing in the already existing neighborhood such as el Somorrostro, Pequín i el Camp de la Bota, the littoral, Tres Pins i Can Valero, Montjuïc... These urban nuclei became more and more popular and were the beginning of an intensive urbanization that led to shantytowns and constructive anarchy especially reinforced during the post-war period.

**Interview of people that arrived in Barcelona and lived in barracas or witnessed the process of urbanization.**

Overview barraquismo © 2008 MUHBA    www.museuhistoria.bcn.cat

2/ Landscape of the shantytowns 

Typologies of shanties: construction methods, materials and dimensions

The shanties of the various nuclei belonged to diverse typologies which were adapted to the pre-existing paths, to the lay of the land and to the internal organization of each shantytown as a whole. On the hills of the city there were shantytowns with a certain air of the southern Mediterranean, while by the sea they had a more maritime appearance and even included some stilt houses.

Shanties were erected on land which was purchased or assigned or was public property. Some were built of quite solid load-bearing materials: bricks and baked-clay roof tiles, while others were more precarious, with waste or recycled material: wood, cardboard and fibre-cement panels. The dimensions were minimal and varied according to the services and equipment of the home: kitchens, latrines, wash-house. The interior space was often divided into two areas: one for living in general and the other for sleeping, separated by curtains. With the passing of time, the shanties and the shantytowns improved both their constructed condition and equipment, with the incorporation of electrical devices and home appliances.

** Photos***

THE SHANTY: A MICROCOSM OVERLOOKING THE STREET © 2008 MUHBA    www.museuhistoria.bcn.cat

3/ Documentary TV3

Barraques- La ciutat oblidada 1.51 min

http://www.tv3.cat/videos/2333059/Barraques-La-ciutat-oblidada

 

Un reportatge de: Alonso Carnicer i Sara GrimalMuntatge: Agustí PochDocumentació: Miracle Tous

 

Social conditions and evolution towards improvement ?

 
  
  The neighbourhoods of barracas were usually in areas that were not considered as constructable and the conditions of living were extreme. Isolated from main institutions, and neglected by the municipality people in barracas lived usually in precarious settings : overpopulation, no access to water and electricity, inexistent sewer ... the sanitarian conditions were deplorable.


   In 1923, in the weekly publication Justícia Social, Emili Mira coined the term barracòpolis (shantyopolis):

 

“ Toilets and even water itself are all but unknown in Shantyopolis. Many people suffering from illnesses live together with the other members of their families, often sharing the same mattress. Places insufficient for a single person sometimes shelter seven, eight or even a dozen people. The people here are dressed in rags and often go nearly naked. Their faces are pale and emaciated”.

 The civil war and Franco's dictatorship, left neighbourhoods of self-constructed houses under political repressions and several intents of eradication, but after the war people started to claim their rights. 

To solve their problem, lacking of any help from the city-hall, people of these neighbourhoods started activist movements in order to improve their living conditions. The emergence of associative groups such as Associacio de veïns (neighbor's association), and the solidarity of people with each other led to the improvement of living conditions in barracas, and the appearance of new infrastructures such as creation of schools and public transports.       
 Nowadays, the barracas from the 50's have disappeared but it was part of an evolution : if people have not been relocated into new buildings, the habitants would buy the land, and shanty house would become a more decent self-construction. Over the years and according to the family budget, owner would build their own house and have a strong emotional attachment to their house and neighbourhood  .
         

Calle de las barracas de Francisco Alegre (El Hoyo), Barcelona, sobre 1974. Mariano Velasco.
Archivo del Patronat Municipal de l’Habitatge de Barcelona