Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Bilbao: another social center evicted

The building has been empty for decades but as soon as people take it over to give it some social use, the owners and the authorities attack its newly acquired soul and kill it again to languish as a piece of useless, abandoned, skeletal urban territory.

Patakon Gaztetxea* was evicted early this morning by a strong display of Western Basque Police (Ertzaintza), accompanied by the owners of the building and some alleged attorneys. The doors were wielded with steel planks.

There are the following activities scheduled in protest:
  • Right now: press conference
  • Today at 19:00 - demo
  • Thursday at 11:00 - cacerolada** at the town hall

Source: Sare Antifaxista[es/eu] (includes several other photos).

Update: Check also the website of Patakon Gaztetxea[es/eu]. The press conference is also in video already[es/eu]. As the members of the Youth Assembly say: a gaztetxe costs essentially nothing and reaches to many more people than many of the costly "cultural" expenses of our wasteful institutions.

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Notes:
* Gaztetxe (Basque): lit. youth home, akin in practical concept to occupied social center.
 ** Cacerolada: making lots of noise by beating pots (cazuelas in Spanish, a quite spectacular South American protest tradition).

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