Barcelona

Barcelona mayor candidates turned into homeless individuals

City News

The organization Arrels turned Barcelona mayoral candidates into homeless individuals to denounce the neglect of this social group. They used artificial intelligence to manipulate electoral posters to show how Ada Colau, Jaume Collboni, Xavier Trias, and Ernest Maragall would look if they were living on the streets.

The AI transformation of the mayoral candidates into homeless people aims to raise awareness and demonstrate the implausibility of a homeless person running for mayor in the city. By this project, the organization highlights the social and political exclusion faced by those living on the streets.

Through the campaign #ningúsensedrets (no one without rights), Arrels calls for policies to combat homelessness at the municipal level. In their statement, the organization emphasizes that homeless individuals are “excluded from the right to full citizenship: they cannot run as candidates in elections, make political proposals, or have an impact on society; often they do not even have the right to vote.” According to Arrels, only 32% of Barcelona's homeless population can vote in the elections.

Since 1987, Arrels has been providing care and support to the homeless population residing in Barcelona. There are more than 4,800 homeless people in the city of Barcelona now. The exact number of those who sleep on the street is 1,231 people. At Arrels they give priority to those who have lived on the streets for years and find themselves in the most vulnerable situations. If you want and can make a donation or get involved in a good cause, here is their website. https://www.arrelsfundacio.org/en/


Kris, for this news an illustration of the AI poster could be taken from here
https://www.arrelsfundacio.org/timagines-que-els-candidats-i-candidates-a-lalcaldia-de-barcelona-visquessin-al-carrer/