A few days ago, we received a letter from the court summoning us to a civil trial against the Expropriated Bank in the Gracia hood of Barcelona. We did not know that there was a civil process opened against our space (Banc Expropiat de Gràcia), and so we did not expect this letter. The oral hearing will take place next Tuesday, June 11th — that is, in less than two weeks.
Anyhow, we knew that this moment would come, because every squatted space must at some point face justice and the defense of private property. When we start to solve our problems by ourselves, when mutual support and self-organization motivate us, a cop or a judge will always knock on our door. This is why we refuse to just sit around doing nothing.
In the year and a half that the Expropriated Bank in Gracia has been squatted, a huge amount of people, activities, assemblies and projects have injected life to this space. We do not want all of this to be lost, thus desire to avoid the eviction.
Our aim is clear: that Catalunya Caixa withdraw the complaint. To make this be, though, it is necessary to take action — not only the individuals who use this space but also all those who believe that this squat should not be evicted, and those who can show their solidarity in any way they want. We are aware that you might not know how, or doubt of help we would like. Here are just a few ideas:
– Disseminating information about the squatted bank and the campaign against the eviction: spread the word, let’s not let it be stuck or cornered on the Internet, where the case will not be known.
– Convincing them that an eviction will not be profitable: in every bank branch there’s a big suggestions box; how might it be said? Think, think…
– Throw your garbage to their branch door: if they generate shit, let’s let them collect it as well.
– Let the art inside you flow; their windows are out for the sentence: “The Expropriated Bank will not be touched. Withdraw the complaint…”
– Gatherings in front of banks or occupations of branches, so they won’t be able to carry out their usual operation.
The only criteria we have for support is that it be marked by the very same political content we have had in the Expropriated Bank the whole time. We have always gone for self-organization, autonomy and horizontality in our struggle against capitalism. Therefore, even though it is Catalunya Caixa that is bringing up the case, our struggle is still against the whole of the system in which this bank takes part, in which we also include political parties, mass media and all of the State’s institutions. Any display of solidarity is very welcome as long as it respects this: we don’t want the judge to like us, we don’t want to appear on TV and we don’t want any kind of support from a political party.
We are also aware that it will be, unavoidably, necessary to cross the barrier of legality. Since we invite you to send us demonstrations of your support, we would like to give some pieces of advice to all of you who do not know much about computer safety:
– Don’t send us anything from a computer that may be linked to you (job, home, friends, etc.). It is much better to do it from an internet café.
– Don’t send us anything from an email account that may be linked to you. Open a new account (with fake data, of course) and send the piece of news. Don’t ever log in that account again.
If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to come to the squatted bank. If you want to get information about the eviction situation, send an email to elbanc[at]riseup[dot]net or visit our blog.
If they only understand profit, let’s speak to them about losses.
Withdraw the complaint!
