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INPRIMATU
San Juan de Luz and Baiona cut roads against speculation
  • They denounce, among other things, speculation with the Olha de Senpere house and the privatisation of land use. They cut off the road opposite the San Juan de Luz station and the roundabout that gives to the A63 highway of Baiona. The action was called by the Ostia network, ELB, Lurzaindia and the Senperese Collectives.
Aitor Gurrutxaga Muñagorri 2023ko abuztuaren 29a

At 10:00 in the morning several groups had called to denounce the speculation of the house Olha de Senpere. With the help of the tractors, they cut off the access road to the San Juan de Luz stop, the Sutar roundabout in Baiona and the roundabout that gives to the A63 highway.

The Ostia Network, the Basque Farmers Union (ELB), Lurzaindia and the Senperetarra Group have called for mobilisation. The slogans they have used have been "the real popular crop" and "Senpere is not for sale". The police have deployed a large device, bringing the helicopter closer and many trucks and obstructing the demonstrators, they have denounced.

Awareness

"We have the new episode of an inexhaustible chronicle of Olha's history," they explain. "The sale and disappearance of laborantxa lands, their artificialization, speculation are multiplied in Euskal Herria; despite mobilizations and resistance, part of our heritage has ceded to what most offer, eliminating the housing and land accessible to young people and other inhabitants".

"The seller and the buyer have renounced the public protest, the peasants' warning and the call of a part of the political class," they add. "Apart from the fact that their unfair treatment cannot withstand, their egoism and fear have terrible consequences, and some will be awakened! D’Elbée and Telleria would seem feasible. Dismissed you! If we could not deny this sale, surely because our pressure has not been fast enough, nor large enough, but the complexity of the house of the people of San Juan de Luz has not contributed, not even because both actors are local. And what the low involvement of local elected officials and policies says, even though half of the plurals of the people have signed the petition. They themselves are responsible for getting up against this type of operation on behalf of the citizens! ".

Although they have not raised any objections to the sale, they have stressed that "after this experience, if some have been hungry, they will need committed citizens, farmers who complain, who will find groups willing to fight". They say that this action has involved mobilization, has generated "awareness". "We've seen young people and people who didn't take part in an occupation, getting up and fighting transactions between those vendors and shoppers that we have to declare devastating. The sale of Olha has taken place, our occupation stops... but the struggle to take care of the land continues."

Casa Olha de Senpere

The owner of the house put on sale an estate of 50 hectares, many of them wooded, for an amount of 1,300,000 euros. Safer valued EUR 700,000 but the owner refused to do so. Currently the house belongs to the family Adam of San Juan de Luz, manufacturer of macaroni. The militants of land and housing have done their actions only to know the speculation. The case was first reported in May and the house was occupied in June. However, they have not been able to hinder speculation because on 2 August the notary informed the collectives of the sale.

Below are some current images: