- Under the slogan “There are no flames burning all the slaughterhouses!”, hundreds of people have traveled the streets of Portugalete in defense of the self-managed area that suffered the fire two days ago. The members of the gaztetxe assembly are clear that the fire has been provoked “with bad intent”.
On Tuesday, 25 August, the town of Biscay hosted a massive demonstration in favor of the gaztetxe Sastraka of the Vizcain town of Portugalete. "There's no flame to burn all the scrubs! Go ahead with gaztetxe Sastraka! they have proclaimed hundreds of people across the streets of the town.
The Gaztetxe has been grateful for the citizenship that has joined the call and has clearly explained its intention: “Now is the time to take further steps in the response to self-management.” But, in addition to reaffirming their plans, the members of Sastraka have also expressed their suspicions about the fire that has been declared.
“Malicious”
The members of the Gaztetxe Assembly have presented the assessment of the event at a press conference: “We have no doubt that the fire that has occurred in the gaztetxe has been caused by bad intent and we have strong evidence to confirm it.” This is indicated by their painted on the walls and on the ground and informal conversations with firefighters throughout the year.
In addition, young people have pointed out that “it is not the first time that such a building has been set on fire by economic and speculative interests in Portugalete”. The members of the gaztetxe recalled what happened before with the Hotel Viejo and the Mar Zinema, among others.
Criminalisation factor
Young people also stress that in recent times the main media have launched a "war on occupation". To the extent that these media have dedicated themselves to “frivolizing and criminalizing” the action, Saststraka has denounced that they have put public opinion “at the service of the interests of capital”.
Presumption
The mayor of Portugalete, Mikel Torres, has said that when dealing with a building "there is a risk of something like this happening" and has argued that the old school of Carmen where gaztetxe is located has a "wooden structure". However, although Torres wanted to attribute to young people the presumed authorship or recklessness, fire investigation has not yet yielded conclusive results. The mayor, therefore, has charged responsibilities before knowing the specific causes of the fire.
💥 It has been exciting to see hundreds of young people gathered in defense of Gaztetxe on the streets of Portugalete today. Now is the time to take new steps in the response to self-management, you will have news of us because they will not move us from laziness. pic.twitter.com/7zSCPnQtUL
— Sastraka Portugalete Gaztetxea (@SastrakaPortugalete) August 25, 2020