Neighbors of the building located at number 269 Dr. Atl Street, in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, denounce that in this condominium, classified as “social interest housing” – acquired at low prices and with a subsidy for services such as water and property to support residents – an accommodation was enabled that is now offered on Airbnb.
“It is a condominium of social interest built in the early twentieth century, which is cataloged as artistic heritage and is inhabited by low-income people, including several older adults and single mothers who are owners thanks to the fact that they acquired a space with a program of the National Fund of Popular Rooms (Fonhapo)”, explains R, a neighbor of the building, who prefers to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
In 2020, one of these apartments was sold to a person outside these families benefited by Fonhapo. It is currently offered through the Airbnb platform, which has caused annoyance among the condominiums, because of the entry of strangers to the building and because the new owner placed security cameras in common areas.
“The point is that, in addition, the owner is a person who has given him to intimidate the neighbors with the argument that he comes from a family of businessmen with a lot of money, and he wants to fix everything like this. When the collective claim was made for the cameras he installed – which point to the central courtyard and the corridors of the condominium – we initiated a conciliation process before the Social Prosecutor’s Office (Prosoc), but he did not show up and the video surveillance devices are still there, “says R.
In addition to the complaints about the installation of the cameras, R mentions that the owner of the apartment made remodeling to the property without having the permits of Fine Arts, a fact for which he was denounced before the corresponding instances and fined. After this, the relationship with him became more hostile, and whenever there is a complaint about the discomfort, he responds to the dissatisfied to talk to his lawyers.
J, a neighbor of Dr. Atl 269 for 44 years — and who also requested anonymity for fear of reprisals — is another resident upset with the modifications made by the owner of the apartment that now houses tourists. “As a woman I feel harassed, because until before the arrival of this person, our building was very safe, but now I feel watched, and as a mother and grandmother of women it does not seem to me that a stranger is recording us who knows what for.”
“Tourists come and go, but they are completely unknown, and he as the owner is not there, plus he never formally informed the administration that he was renting the space. All this has caused problems of coexistence and trust among the neighbors, “says J.
Read: “From one day to the next we are disposable”: the expansion of Airbnb-type housing in Mexico City expels neighbors from downtown areas
Also for H, another neighbor who asks to keep her name hidden, the cameras are invasive, which has led her to forbid her son to go out to the yard to play, in addition to that, she says, she fears for his safety because of the unknown people who arrive as guests. Like the other neighbors, he points out that complaining to the authorities is useless, and has only increased tension with the owner of the Airbnb.
“He is very arrogant, the truth is that I do fear that one day he will do something to me, or that he will misuse the videos of my son or the other children who play in the yard. We feel very insecure because every eight days, at least, strange people come and go, and whatever situation arises, neither the owner nor the hosting company will take charge, “he laments.
A taxpayer-subsidized business
According to the Fonhapo website, through the Housing Support Program, the federal government “grants subsidies to Mexican households in poverty with incomes below the welfare line, with a lack of quality and housing spaces,” through which they obtain subsidies, such as the payment of property and water.
It was through this fund that the neighbors of Dr. Atl 269 were able to buy the apartments in which several families have lived for generations. R explains that “although the architecture is luxurious, it is a popular neighborhood acquired through social housing programs, as established in the deeds of each department.”
“This neighborhood at some point in history was owned by a single owner, but the tenants bought it through this credit and the social interest condominium regime for low-income people was established. It is not right that as taxpayers we are paying for qSome people make a profit, because those of us who live here are people who, although in some cases have higher education, live on precarious wages. It gives me courage that popular life is exoticized from such a classist and conflictive attitude, “claims R.
“It is wrong what he is doing, because the taxpayers are the ones who are subsidizing an Airbnb, when this money would have to go to the support of low-income people, of people who really need to live in a space like this neighborhood, and not taking out one thousand 300 pesos per night to accommodate who knows who,” Adds.
See also: “No more gentrification or there will be revolution”: citizens protest against agreement between CDMX and Airbnb
On the platform, this accommodation is offered with the promise of “living a true Mexican experience. Recently remodeled with Porfirian architecture, it is located in a building more than 150 years old, located in the heart of the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, where artists live and still breathe a local and authentic atmosphere.
Since the announcement of the head of the capital government, Claudia Sheinbaum, on the agreement signed by Mexico City with Airbnb and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), academics, activists and neighbors of different neighborhoods have warned that the growth of the lodging company in the capital has caused the increase in housing prices and the expulsion of tenants because the Apartments where they rent will be converted into short-term accommodation.
In some cases, such as that of the residents of the Vizcaya building, located on Bucareli Avenue, the owners have organized themselves not to allow the apartments to be rented to tourists. In others, tenants have not had the same fate, as happened in the Victoria building, on López Street, where the owners have already warned them that they must vacate the property, because from now on it will be rented through Airbnb.
In Dr. Atl 269, R and J point out that the struggle of organized neighbors will continue to seek that the Airbnb host, at least, agrees to remove the security cameras – although it is one of the elements with which it is promoted – and to integrate into the communication channels between tenants, so that they can improve coexistence and trust. They cannot do more, since nothing prohibits this space of social interest from being rented.
H isn’t sure if she’ll stay to fight for a good neighborhood environment and greater security in the condo. With mixed feelings, between anger and sadness, he says that he is considering moving to another place where he does not have to deal with discomfort, although he knows that this implies giving in to the pressures of the owner of the Airbnb, who – according to what he has told them – hopes to get more apartments to include them in the platform.
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