Situated in one of 35 barrios, or suburbs, this is just one example of the squatter housing that exists in the city. This is situated quite centrally and like all the other barrios of illegal housing, is supplied with power, water and gas by the local authorities!
I visited one of the squatter barrios just before new year with a Dutch photographer doing an article on migration from the very bottom of the Americas to the very top in Alaska. He believed that Barrio Escondido was populated by mainly Bolivians and Peruvians and wanted to find out just what brought them to Ushuaia.
It turned out to be a very interesting visit, but we met no Bolivians or Peruvians. The barrio was mainly populated by Argentines and the housing ranged from shacks constructed of anything salvageable, most of which is packing materials supplied by the big companies, to beautifully constructed homes. There were no roads or services, particularly sanitary services, but there was power, gas and some water supplied by the authorities.
The only problem with this scenario is that the majority of the people squatting there, and you have to remember that to do this they were cutting down native trees on the outskirts of the National Park and just setting up, were fully employed, and, ironically many in the local government. The homes contained televisions, computers and most of the mod cons. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that day, so missed photos.
As you might imagine these barrios create some very interesting discussions! With those who work, pay taxes and save to buy a house and land a little miffed by the squatters. The squatters argue that the tourist trade has pushed up the rental costs and that they can't possibly pay the prices, but if I can find an apartment and pay local prices I am sure they can. Though I agree that apartments are few and far between it certainly seems easy enough to just go out chop down a few trees and start building.
1 year ago
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