The Spanish Mortgage Crisis and the Re-emergence of Moral Economies in Uncertain Times

Abstract

During the Spanish housing bubble, the mass access to mortgages for private homeownership, and the subsequent acceptance of the debtor–creditor agreement, was founded on common perceptions of secure income, endless economic growth, rising housing prices, and investing for the future. Assumptions about the prosperity of household economies were consistent with linear understandings of life projects, where the purchase of a home was a landmark event. Since the onset of the economic crisis which triggered an increase in home repossessions, people have questioned the principles of finance capitalism and their own prioritization of homeownership over the substantial risks of investment and indebtedness. The events of the economic crisis have led people to reconsider the moral economy and their basic rights to subsistence. The experience has already had an enduring effect on how people articulate the past times of financial prosperity, the present era of poverty, and their expectations for rebuilding their futures. “Regressions” in the usual course of life projects have meant that people are going “backwards” rather than “forwards” in their life trajectories, spreading confusion and anxiety among those threatened by home repossessions. This line of enquiry invites contemplation on the potential future entanglement of moral economies with the temporalities of capitalist booms and busts.

Keywords:

• Spain
• Moral Economy
• Repossession
• Capitalism
• Mortgages

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Irene Sabaté http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8470-0765

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Wenner Gren Foundation [Post-PhD Grant 2014] and the Catalan Government [ajuts per a Grups de Recerca Consolidats – GRC 2014, awarded to the Grup d'Estudis sobre Reciprocitat, Universitat de Barcelona].