Squatters will even come from the Guadarrama mountain range in order to stop the evictions planned for this Thursday of El Kubo and La Ruïna, two of the flagships of the squatter movement in Barcelona. At least that’s what they say on the networks. Their mission is to meet at half past five in the morning in the Vallcarca neighborhood, and from there go up to Plaza Bonanova, in the upper part of the city.
Meanwhile, they continue their campaign aimed above all at generating concern, to see if in this way the authorities suspend the eviction at the last minute – as happened last spring -, sneaking into other formerly usurped and long-uninhabited properties to hang warning banners. . “We have the keys to all the houses…”. And also further fortifying El Kubo and La Ruïna, with blowtorches, construction fences and anything. For the squatters, the defense of these properties represents the defense of an alternative way of life.
“They are also bringing in cans, what if they are gasoline? –say some surrounding residents–. Because they also say on the networks that if they evict them they will set fire to the neighborhood.” The most likely thing is that the drums are empty, and that they fill them with sand, earth or anything to use them as barriers and make it difficult for the Mossos to enter. This is what they usually do in these circumstances.
“Well, I’m not going to take the kids to school anyway.” A nearby educational center has already written to parents to tell them that Sant Joan de la Salle street will be closed, that they should avoid approaching Plaza Bonanova, that some school activities will be restricted… In addition, for weeks the police have been recommending to merchants the surroundings to protect their shop windows, and that the best thing they can do this Thursday is not open, at least during the morning.
The truth is that in the surroundings of the occupied properties, calm has reigned since the spring, since the suspension of the last eviction attempt and the cessation of the inflammatory messages from the controversial extrajudicial eviction company Desokupa, which tried to take advantage of the third to make yourself known and present yourself as the scourge of the squatters. Those days the tension grew so much that the eviction operation was postponed to avoid possible riots. The authorities, however, are now completely determined not to delay these evictions any longer.
Many people from the upper part of Barcelona who live here are not happy to live with two usurped buildings. They say that they discredit the neighborhood, that the properties are not for the smartest to keep. But they are much more concerned that these evictions will unleash a campaign in the neighborhood.