The Councillor for the Sants-Montjuïc district, Marc Serra, and the head of the Cabinet of the Housing and Rehabilitation Department, Vanessa Valiño, participated in the celebration of the inauguration of La Chalmeta, the housing cooperative of the Marina del Prat Vermell neighbourhood in the Sants-Montjuïc district. The inauguration of the homes of La Chalmeta took place in the building itself, in an open day that also included a family-friendly concert by the group Ambauka and children’s workshops of circus and make-up.
The event began with speeches by the representatives. The Councillor for the Sants-Montjuïc district, Marc Serra, spoke of the importance of the transformation and the process of urban and housing improvement which is gradually being carried in the neighbourhood. “Thanks to La Chalmeta, young people have been able to become independent and families have been able to obtain an affordable home. It’s very important that they can do this in their own neighbourhood”, he said. He also highlighted the organisation, the community, the diversity and the popular character of La Chalmeta: “This articulation must be achieved not only by means of stone but also through people, with social dynamisation”. For her part, Vanessa Valiño, the head of the Cabinet of the Housing and Renovation Department, explained that the project is the result of a joint effort. “It has also been made possible because, in addition to the City Council, there has also been a cooperative movement of assignment for use which has implemented new forms of coexistence, along with many neighbours who have worked long hours to make this project a reality”. In this respect, Valiño emphasised that La Chalmeta is not an isolated project: it forms part of a significant commitment to promoting public housing and cooperative housing in the city. In late 2020, the City Council of Barcelona, through its Municipal Housing and Renovation Institute, and the non-profit organisations of the social and cooperative housing sector, signed an agreement to handle and streamline the land assignation processes. This agreement covers 1,000 homes to be built on land or renovated in buildings owned by the Council, 60% being for affordable social rental and 40% in cohousing. “La Chalmeta is fulfilling its aim of achieving cooperative housing at a truly affordable price where the diverse population of the neighbourhood can enjoy it”, she added. The inauguration ceremony was also addressed by the member of the Llar Jove housing cooperative, Paco Herrero, who explained how the project came to life and how important it was for it to be for the people of the neighbourhood, and by the President of the La Chalmeta Neighbours’ Association, David Lorente, who said: “During the process we’ve been able to imagine living here, sharing as a community and deciding things together. We have to continue imagining this neighbourhood as we want it, and La Chalmeta is the beginning”. The speeches were followed by a performance of John Lennon’s song Imagine, followed by guided visits to several homes.
Since October, one of them has been the home of Rosa Garcia. “La Chalmeta is special because you form part of a family and building neighbourhood communities in the city is very difficult”, she says. “You not only have to pay a lot for your home, but you feel alone and you don’t control the details of the process. But here you’re in control: it takes an effort, but it’s a pleasure. From a social perspective, the creation of this network provides for many things, such as emotional wellbeing at an individual level and the social health of the community”, she adds.
Karen Aber Pans, who has been living here since September, values La Chalmeta very positively for the fact that this type of model “is also extending to the most popular neighbourhoods”. She also gives great importance to the contact between neighbours. “As the months go by you realise that you’re living in a community in a very organic way: before entering your home, you pass through the common space”.
Affordable housing for 32 families
Located in the courtyard of La Chalmeta, this building, developed and managed by the cooperative Llar Jove – Marina del Prat Vermell SCCL, is the result of the tender conducted in May 2017 by the Barcelona City Council through its Municipal Housing Board for the construction of a building in an assignment for use regime for 75 years.
After five years, La Chalmeta has now become a reality, housing a total of 32 families. In total, the building consists of 4 homes with 1 bedroom, 12 with 2 bedrooms and 16 with 3 bedrooms, which range between 44 m2 and 80 m2 of floor area. It also has common spaces, which like the private spaces are adapted for persons with reduced mobility.
The architectural project, drawn up by the studios Pau Vidal Arquitectes + Vivas Arquitectes Barcelona SLP, Coop Geeni SCCL, Gestió Casa Jove, Arquitectura Sana and FGC Advocats, among others, proposes a building with low environmental impact and healthy construction for both the families and the surroundings, and with the aim of significantly reducing energy demand. At the same time, it empowers the residents with various training sessions on the use and maintenance of the building to incorporate healthy living habits, such as ventilating the home and saving energy with the best types of light bulbs and offering advice on making good use of technology or guidelines for cleaning, and so on.
Cooperativism and promotion of the social fabric in the neighbourhood
La Chalmeta is one more example of cohousing, a widespread model in northern Europe which is being powerfully implemented in Barcelona as an advantageous option. The model promoted by the City Council is characterised by community life and the self-organisation of the members of the cooperatives, who participate from the outset in the decision-making process on the planning of the building. With this model, the stakeholders are also neighbours, and in addition to an annual contribution they pay a quota for the use of the home. La Chalmeta is formed by a participatory, diverse, inclusive and intergenerational community, and one of its main goals is the dissemination of cooperative values and integration into the neighbourhood, creating a neighbourhood fabric that is cohesive, committed and open to the city. For example, one of its spaces is the Keras Buti food cooperative, which implements a social and solidarity economy by promoting consumption of local and ecological produce, in addition to relating with the neighbourhood by way of the recovery of the historical memory. In this respect, the 32 families form a community that applies cooperative values in every respect, implementing them in all of its decisions, from the forms of governance, coexistence and uses of the common spaces to the external relations with the neighbourhood to create a community environment outside the building itself.
The building is named precisely in honour of the cooperativist Micaela Chalmeta (1858-1951), the founder of the Barcelona Female Socialist Group and the grandmother of the journalist Marina Ginestà.
Cooperative housing in the city
This is the fourth cooperative housing development constructed in Barcelona driven by the City Council and delegated to different cooperatives. Along with the promotions of Princesa (in Ciutat Vella), La Borda (in Can Batlló, Sants-Montjuïc) and La Balma (in El Poblenou), 85 family units are already living in homes of this type. In addition, two more developments are approaching the completion of works: those of La Xarxaire in La Barceloneta and El Pla dels Cirerers in Nou Barris, which total 37 more homes. The City Council has also assigned nine plots of land to different cooperatives, creating nine more cooperative housing buildings which will house 195 more apartments. The planned developments are pioneering experiences as cooperative homes for senior citizens and persons with intellectual disability.