argia.eus
INPRIMATU
Carlos stays
Marta Abiega @abiegamarta 2021eko urriaren 04a

“Thank you,” Carlos told the people gathered in the assembly, “thank you for your time and support.” As I listened to him, I came up with an image, a sand that torments me. He said, "Wait a moment, please," to the judicial commission that had come to evict, that of the man who opened the window and put an end to a whole life of torture, plunged into despair, but with a firm gesture, without a living will, that had been freed. What is despair? In human beings there is nothing but a loss of hope.

Quiet, Carlos, unlike the Basque Government and the Bishopric of Bilbao, the people who fight for social justice do not need recognition, because we feed on this struggle that is yours and ours.

"The bishopric received fifteen floors to be used for social work. Fourteen of the fifteen floors have remained empty for ten years.

The Bishopric received fifteen floors to be used for social work. For ten years, fourteen of the fifteen floors have remained vacant. Surely, as with the rest of the church's property, the church will not pay the corresponding Real Estate Tax. Only one of the floors lives. Carlos has lived there all his life, 60 years. First, with the mother, who became older and dependent, and with the sister, the subordinate, who was always in a wheelchair, then only with the sister, and in the end alone, because life takes away our affections with impunity.

Amaia, a long-year-old neighbor of Carlos, says Carlos took his sister home on the narrow stairs, because the building had no elevator. Patriarchate Carlos was uncompromising and cared for both mother and sister until his death. If she had cared for her father, she would have been able to receive the corresponding help from a caregiver, but as a mother – besides a woman, a pensioner – the patriarchal state considered that her care did not deserve financial help.

Over the years, the house became its second home and its memories began to sprout from its cracks. But what does that matter to this patriarchal Bishopric who wants to leave on the street? Absolutely nothing. The Bishopric is only interested in the speculation of the sale agreed with the Basque Government, as if this ambition was not a pecuniary capital. Our institution has bought the homes with public money, of course, and has said that it will use them for social rent – paradoxes of life – after the publication of the memories and experiences of Karlos and his 60s. We met the church. From somewhere will come the expression “Take away one saint to put another.” It is possible that the saint is always the same, the poor saint, always naked throughout history, because it is a contributing church, allied with the powers.

What the Basque Government and the Bishopric are unaware of is that the neighborhoods of Bilbao have organised themselves against expoliation and usury and that, for social justice, Carlos is going to stay.

 

* Marta Abiega is a neighbor of Carlos