Matches -The Squat
A little history lesson:
Barcelona is capital of Catalunya, a region of Spain where the people speak Catalan. The citizens are a fiercely independent bunch, immensely proud of their language, culture and history. Given the chance, Catalans would happily secede from Spain and have their own country. The language was outlawed by Franco, serving only to strengthen the pride the people felt for their culture. It’s been a point of contention for so many years now and the citizens here are highly politically aware, with a wider scope then just Catalan nationalism.
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It seems there are protests every single day in Barcelona. I’ve seen demonstrations regarding the building of new Metro stations, the wages that pensioners receive, several about the rights of new immigrants and many involving Catalan nationalism. Add to this Earth Day celebrations, GreenPeace’s presence in the harbor, Communist rallies and endless pontificating, on street corners and in bars or cafes, about this subject or that…it all gets a bit overwhelming.
Another form of protest, much quieter and more interesting in my book, is the idea of squats. I’m sure many of you already know what a squat is but I’ll explain a bit for those who don’t.
It starts with a building that has been abandoned by it’s owner, private or public. People move into the building and maintain it (to varying degrees) and thus it becomes their home, rent free. Simple as that. In New York there are even laws that say if the new inhabitants maintain the building and pay the taxes, for a certain time period, it becomes their building.
There are many squats in Barcelona, a city with strong socialist affiliations, but no such laws it seems, which is really a shame when you get a chance to see one of these communities. Malte’s friend Ben, and his friends, have made quite the little home for themselves, but still the police come almost every day threatening them (while other police say it’s okay that they are there). When I visited I met people from Germany, England, Italy and the US. They’ve planted a large public garden and were repairing the door and lock the day I was there. Evenings bring communal dinners and conversation, and everyone I met was a genuinely interesting character. They have a beautiful little home. Just across the street was another squat, an old converted theatre, with at least a few inhabitants in their 50’s. The whole area had a community feel, where everyone on the streets knew each other.
Having missed the metro one night, I stayed there with Malte. Everyone welcomed me without hesitation. Unfortunately, we woke up in the morning to commotion. The police were there again saying that Ben and his friends had no right to fix the door and lock. They broke the lock which the residents had just replaced the day before. Happy for the day, they left. It seems the police are worried about another group of squatters they kicked out of the same building. The police cemented up that doorway but are not satisfied that those squatters will not return. There was also something going on about people getting access to the building so that they could use the roof to get into surrounding buildings, all abandoned. Quite a scene and very stressful for the people living there.
Now, while some of you would wonder why they go on living there, I’ll ask you, “Why not?” Yes, it’s an alternative lifestyle, as well as a bit stressful, surely. However, I find it really interesting that a group of people would come together to take something no one wanted and make it better. Not only did they fix up their own space but they built a garden which the other local residents can enjoy. Is it technically someone else property? Yes…but whoever that is didn’t care enough to maintain it and it’s not been used for years.
I’ll sign off on this issue for now, but I’d be interested to hear your comments…
Tags: Spain
LizG
that is really interesting Liz! Did you take any photos?
I’m so glad you finally got other pics uploaded yay~
It seems that local politics are the same everywhere, wealthy “land-owners” influence local police to pke and prod those with ideals different from their’s, thus increasing intrests in those ideals. Though it could just be a way of keeping tabs on areas where Catalan insurgency could flurish. I’m voting for a mixture of the two.
BTW-Glad to see your having a good time and immersing yourself in the city.
Much love from the Bull, can’t wait for the next blog!