In September of 2013, thirty boat squatters floating at the Jack London Aquatic Park were served with eviction notices. They had thirty days to clear out or else their boats would be impounded and scrapped. An ad-hoc committee of the EPA, state police, and OPD formed a campaign to clean up the waterfront. Instead of dealing with the severe pollution of diesel emissions at the port or raising sunken ships, they targeted the boat community. The city of Oakland had decided that the small boat community was too unsavory for the upcoming condo developments to look at from their 18th story windows. The city evicted these squatters from the Jack London Aquatic Park, which is right along the Oak St edge of the 5th Avenue Development Project. Fireworks sat down with one of the evicted boat squatters who told us about boat squatting, the eviction process and its connections to rapid gentrification in Oakland.
[Read More]
Oakland: Boat Squatters Face Eviction
Barcelona: ”Let’s Squat 1000 more Banks.. ”
The 3rd time lucky ? There’s a new eviction lawsuit against the Expropriated Bank, which is one of the most active Occupied Social centers in Barcelona, with dozens of varied activities every week.
[Read More]
Barcelona: Can Vies Victory?
Evidently the authorities dont dare to risk a community uprising in their Barcelona pot of gold. After a big local demo and a host of community resistance it was announced the eviction of the iconic Can Vies centre, occupied now for 17 years, was cancelled. … or was it??
[Read More]
Amsterdam: Joe’s Garage, April news
Despite the continuous efforts by the government to keep squatted spaces under the threat of repression and eviction, new autonomous and creative projects keep on emerging in Amsterdam. On March the 1st, the buildings on the Vechtstraat 1, 5, 7 were squatted.
A new social centre, De Strijd, on Vechtstraat 7, opened just two weeks after the occupation. The ongoing workshops (language classes, martial arts), vegan kitchen, and give away shop immediately transformed these buildings from objects of real estate speculation into spaces for the experimentation of radical politics. The support of the neighbours and the large participation of many groups of activists show the vital importance of creating autonomous and collective sites of struggle to contrast the political desertification of the city. [Read More]
Galicia: Cops evicted a squat in A Coruña
On March 25th, 2014, a huge contingent of police force evicted the Palavea squatted social centre in the city of A Coruña, northern Spain. Dozens of anti-riot police vans, backed by vehicles of the Civil Guard, assaulted the building at 7.30am, giving an end to three years of self-management, commitment and rebellion. During the operation there was only one person sleeping inside, a woman evicted from her house some months ago, who had found shelter in the squat.
The assembly of the squatters called for a demonstration against the eviction on Saturday, March 29th, at 7pm in front of the Obelisco monument. [Read More]
Calais: Defend the Squats, Defend Ourselves, Defend the 62
On April 13 the groups “Jeunesse Identitaire” and “Sauvons Calais” (Save Calais- who were responsible for multiple attacks on a squat in Calais including throwing molotovs in an attempt to burn down the house), as well as local fascists and known Neo Nazis from further afield are holding a demonstration at 14:30 on la Place d’Armes, a central square in Calais, against “mass immigration, insecurity, pro-migrant people and corrupt journalists”. In Calais, we know that these demonstrations are often a thinly veiled disguise for fascist elements to come together and launch attacks against squats, encampments, and individuals,as proven by Sauvons Calais’s ‘demonstrations’ at the squatted farm house which resulted in frequent and persistent stone attacks on the building and on many individuals, and the eventual burning of one out building. Small affinity groups and large mobs were able to act with impunity and without repercussion from state forces. Cops stood and laughed at the farm whilst fascists fired fireworks at the building. [Read More]
Calais: Legal situation of houses squatted last month
The bailiff came for all the three houses – Rue Massena, Auber and Vic and issued papers.
A court date was proposed in the papers. The lawyer succeeded to delay the court procedure for all houses. A new date has been set for 1st April. They don’t give us much time at all. Houses are safe for now, they are lived in by communities and continue to be maintained and improved everyday. We continue to make the legal case.
[Published on the Calais Migrant Solidarity blog]
Istanbul: Squat attempt in Beşiktaş
On Saturday noon, March 22nd, 2014, a group of nearly 50 people from different left spectra gathered at the central Eagle Statue in the district of Beşiktaş (on the European side of Istanbul) to jointly occupy a former Greek school, which is located nearby, and has been standing empty for many decades already. The activists intended to liberate the space and turn it into a non-commercial social centre.
Their attempt was met with negative reaction from conservative residents, as well as immediate aggression by fascists, who carried wooden sticks and harassed the group as soon as they entered the building. [Read More]
Brighton: 3 days stand-off at a squatted church
Just over a week ago, an interim possession order was served on a squatted church in Brighton. Deciding to resist the IPO, the squatters barricaded the building, and took to the roof in protest and a large group of people gathered outside.
A Banner was hung from the roof stating “The meek shall squat the earth” in reference to some religious nonsense found within the church, and a black flag was flown whilst the squatters maintained a presence on the roof for 3 consecutive days.
Out of the numerous police patrols that passed, one cocky sergeant decided to parade around the church and threatened that the police would return at 5am in the morning to evict the squatters. [Read More]
Amsterdam: New info about Vechtstraat and Amstelkade squats
Since the 1st of March and after more than two years of being empty, Vechtstraat 1 (except attic and penthouse), 5H and 7 were squatted.
The whole parcel (Amstelkade 23 t/m 27 and Vechtstraat 1 t/m 7) was bought by Alex Meijer B.V in 1987, some years later Ovast Ontwinkeling B.V (owned by Wim Oostveen) bought this company and all the real estates. This company and around 25 more are registered at the same address in Utrecht and the natural person related to them is Wim Oostveen; he is not only a speculator businessman, he also belongs to the nasty game of politics in Utrecht (Stadspartij Utrecht).
After the research we found out that this man is very good at avoiding the responsibilities attached to his enterprises, as is the case in the Vechtstraat buildings, where the city council of Amsterdam on the 23th of October 2013 ordered him to renovate all the appartements that have tenants. [Read More]
Netherlands: Camelot is using people in need of housing as ‘real estate pawns’ and as ‘out-sourced dwellers’ that only serve to facilitate speculation
Accusation of Camelot Europe by Bond Precaire Woonvormen
Camelot Europe is an international vacant property management company, that started in the Netherlands. Their business is vacant property management services to provide real estate clients with a ‘cost effective, high quality and flexible solution’ to protect vacant properties against vandalism and such. Camelot provides these services in the UK, Ireland, Scotland, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium and is now attending Mipim 2014.
Its ‘services’ to the real estate sector are in fact a way to maximise profit from vacant properties by exploiting people in need of a house. Camelot was one of the first Ductch ‘antisquat’ companies that came up with the idea of having people in need of housing live in empty buildings as ‘property protectors’ on temporary flex-contracts and without any tenants rights. These dwellers can be kicked out of their house on a two weeks notice, are deprived of privacy as Camelot will randomly inspect their premises to see if they ‘behave properly’, and are forced to agree to a set of conditions that constrain their freedom of behaviour and mobility. [Read More]
Amsterdam Metropolitan Area has no place on Mipim
Accusal of Amsterdam Metropolitan Area by speculation research collective SPOK
The Mipim is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. As all previous years, a lot of Dutch companies and local governments will be present, the latter also paying € 1600,- for an entrance fee probably paid for from our taxes. One of the local Dutch authorities present for the Mipim festivities, that really should have stayed at home to work on solving the serious housing shortages in its area, is the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.
Despite the continuing Dutch policies promoting home-ownership, in Amsterdam alone 270.000 people are searching for an affordable house to rent. They cannot afford or are not interested in buying a house. Nor can they rent on the liberalised (expensive) rental housing market in Amsterdam where prices have become extremely high, as one of the results of the home-ownership promotion policies. [Read More]
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