Last week one of the most active squatted social centres in Barcelona, Miles de Viviendas (thousands of homes) got word that they were facing eviction and a quick call out went around for support and resistance. What followed has been an explosion of activity outside the front door of this 6 story 2 year squatted ex police barracks in the heart of Barcelonetta, the village like seaside part of Barcelona. This building is the HQ of the Miles collective and amongst many things that happen here a successful Pirate University has been happening along with a local Pirate TV station for the neighborhood.

There has been a recent upsurge in evictions of squats and social centres in Barcelona, the latest of which is this one. Who knows what sort of reaction will follow?

May 29th Update: Miles evicted this morning about 6am. There will be a gathering and manifestation at 6pm in the local market square of the barrio.

Video: Short film of the eviction and interviews | Audio

[ Barcelona and the ongoing attack against its squatted social centres || Desalojado el inmueble de miles de viviendas pese a la fuerte oposición social y vecinal. ]

Barcelona has had a long history of self organisation, anarchism in action, bloody battles and for nearly a year from july 19th 1936 to this week 70 years ago it was a model of a city living a successful active anarchist revolution (0). For many still around the world it is a model, both in those days during the spanish civil war and also today due to the fact that it still is an amazing space of creativity, organisation, and positive direct action. Fascism existed here from the bloody end of the civil war in 1939 to the death of Franco in 1975 and in the last 2 decades it has been somehwere with a huge number of squats opening up, many of which became social centres, places that offer as spaces for organisation, socializing, experimentation, for the growing body of the social movements, both locally in Barcelona and further afield in the wider world.

In the last few years there has been a huge and ever increasing rise in the evictions of squats in the city, especially the vibrant social centres that act as open spaces to demonstrate alternatives to the current economic model that is being pushed here, and elsewhere around the world.

Along with the pirate university (1) which they have set up and are trying to spread further afield, this group of self proclaimed pirates recently set up a pirate TV station in the neighbourhood. Before this they had been busy recording material and having it played in local bars and the like. They have also been a very important point of meeting, organisation, media creation, action from for the local neighbourhood who are resisting the councils plans at gentrification by banging pots and holding their own discussions about what type of Barri they want: Barceloneta Es Rebela (2)

By calling to people to come, make and do, or simply to be, both outside the front door of the house or inside in the front room, they have demonstrated just how vibrant a space can be. Each night there have been parties, film screenings, theatre and circus shows, music gigs and by day there has been on street workshops : kids art zone on the street, clothes making, free shop, new urban garden. These activities have been participated in or attended by both people from both the "activist" community and the local community: a fine example of how a central activist space is not purely a "political ghetto". On that note I watched an excellent film in there on Mayday recently made by some of the group who are connected with Brazil's Landless Workers Movement, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) À Margem do Concreto (at the margins of the concrete) (3) : 5 busloads of men, women and children storming and taking derelict 13 floor hotels, being fought by bomb throwing cops and a legend aul lad who when sent to prison had succeeded in having the whole prison boycotting coca cola within 3 days....

Some people here claim that in the first few months of 2007 there were more evictions of squats in Barcelona than in the previous 2 years together, with many targeted spaces being highly active and organised social centres which serves as nucleuii for local organisation and action as well as being spaces that simply demonstrate alternatives to an ever increasing crazy world of consumption, no freetime, spending, unhappiness. Here in Miles, as stated by @ above, they demonstrate by doing. Whether or not the above figure is accurate it is clear here from speaking with people that there is a clearing of these hubs of resistance, the social centres, as well as the okupas that are simply used as living spaces, which is a political act in itself. But the thing that I have found with this ever growing "war against okupas" if you like, is that the attitude to evictions is "uno deselojo, otre occupacion" (one eviction, another occupation) but it is becoming increasingly difficult to simply open more spaces and recently the authorities have changed their mechanism of working the law without changing the laws themselves whereby a newly opened squat can be evicted within a week by the "deselojo express", whereas in the past once the legal process was begun it could take weeks, months, years to get resolved during which time the occupied space grows and becomes active and for a short while is yet another node in the network here. But with the new mechanisms there does not seem to be an equal response from the okupa movement. When I reported last about the Makabra eviction (4) I included in the title, as noticed and commented on by Iosaf : ¿what reaction will follow? I expected that there would be some a lot of actions on the streets both here and beyond by those who support the squats and try to make it increasingly difficult for these evictions to happen without some form of reaction. I say this having talked with many people in Ireland who did "stuff" to offer support and solidarity to their friends in the Danish squat of Ungdomshuset (5) and also having been at the PGA (peoples global action) assembly in Toulouse, one of the 5 decentralised meetings which focused on "urbanism, squatting and access to the land", which disapointingly had no representatives from Barcelona. (6) In the case of Makabra they successfully played a media game and then organised a great occupation of Can Ricart, which got UN housing directors backing, only to be evicted by Mr Ricart and now that collective has, it seems, fallen to pieces, some here, some there, but no more circus, clowning, actions, occupations....perhaps they have another trick up their sleeve? I dont think so though, I think they are tired. But should there be, or could there be a more active, confrontational, more hassle for the authorities, type of response... RTS´s, road blocks... who knows?

And just a last word or 2 about the social centres and all that, having been part of the Dublin collective for a year or 2 just before they moved into the river facing site: The social centre scene here is amazing, there is so much on, always a choice of activity: music gig, film, cheap food, workshop, library, free bike workshop, gym, climbing walls, free net, free shop..... the list is endless. Some social centres are not squatted but rented spaces, but many are squatted. Some squats are ghettos, non spanish speaking people with little or no wish or real connection to their local community, but others strive for that interaction and from that become supported and fought for by the community due to the projects that have grown from the squat or centre. In terms of organisation, there is the INFO USURPA (7), which is a 3 a3 page vertical weekly callender which lists all the present social centres of the city and its environs, currently about 40, and lists the activities of the week. Most centres print this or pick it up from a centre of distribution in the city along with the weeks other flyers, posters etc and they paste them to the wall of their centre. An easy way to find out whats on. Along with this there are about 4 radio stations and a whole load of papers and zines that keep people up to date about things. There is also a okupa office that offers practical support to people looking to squat, caught up in legal difficulties, seeking advice or info etc, this happens in Ruinamelia okupa. Theres still much to learn from these centres and much more boundries to be pushed or erased. But for the time being thoughts and energies are with the Miles pirates, on this rainy day.

So what can you do?

Currently they have hung washing lines outside the building, you can see the knickers that Emily has hung with the freshly sprayed "somos 1000´s". Part of the reason for this is that it recently became illegal to hang your washing outside the windows, under the new law Civilsme, or Cynicisme, as its commonly referred to here. They are making knickers type banners and giving them out to their friends in the community. Perhaps Dublins social centre, Seomra Spraoi (room of play) which too has got its marching orders, (8) might hang a knickers banner in solidarity with its brothers and sisters in Barcelona.

Perhaps also people might send postcards in solidarity to the pirates of Miles, we could make a nice postcard line to accompany the knickers, and I bet they´d appreciate the thought and little action.

Miles De Viviendas
Av Joan de Borbo 11
Barceloneta
Barcelona
Catalunya

Allez les pirates

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