“Our answer is disobedience. We do not allow them to take the young people, with this people it is possible. Long live Basque youth!” The words were pronounced a year ago from the kiosk of the Boulevard de Donostia-San Sebastián. On the street, a crowd of people had gathered to protest the young people who wanted to imprison them. Solidarity took the form of a popular wall.
Although the issue was ahead, the case of the eight young people from Donostia-San Sebastián who wanted to be imprisoned on charges of belonging to Segi broke the schemes. Despite the efforts of the main media to go silent, Espacio Libres is at the center of the present day. What factors made the initiative a turning point in the fight for civil and political rights? Examples:
On the one hand, forms of struggle adapted to the new times. Faced with injustices, the call for mass civil disobedience was the intention to keep it without the use of force. Accompanied by the Eleak movement, the organizers accurately set the criteria. In addition, they gave and thanked various forms of solidarity: bringing food, collaborating in the implementation of the cultural program, translating videos for dissemination abroad, creating a popular wall in it...
Secondly, an effective communication strategy. Volunteers managed to place the initiative on the Boulevard in the international media around the world. The theme counted with the dissemination that popular movements have achieved few times until then. Google's search for Askegunea has now resulted in 101,000 results in many languages.
Thirdly, it was a plane built from the accumulation of forces and positive positions. They felt the need to do something about the government’s immobilism, to connect with the citizens and to attract people who until then had felt this kind of issue so far. The young people who challenged Madrid asked for and received protection. Day by day, instead of weakening teamwork, they invented expanding it.
Thus, the dawn of 19 April, in which those present will not forget it, ended the bittersweet chapter of the fight against political trials. The Basque Government sent 300 Ertzainas to comply with the judgment given by the Spanish National Court, which has also rejected the Basque Parliament. After several hours and eleven blows, they were taken to jail in the cry of "the accused we love you".
However, it is undeniable that the popular wall that is consolidating with the symbol of the orange globe makes political arrests increasingly difficult. It has also influenced the scope, dimensions, costs and impact of the operation. Let us remember what happened to Lander Fernández in Rome, Urtza Alkorta in Ondarroa and Luis Goñi in Pamplona.
There are still 200 people at risk of going to jail for political reasons. It is difficult to put an end to these trials, because they are grass for a government that does not want to move the conflict from the scheme. But no one has put on the table a more credible path than disobedience. It has collectively raised strength to achieve that and more. The main key is to act as a people. Meanwhile, the photographs of Donostia-San Sebastián, Ondarroa and Pamplona/Iruña have remained for the history books. We will see what will happen to those who come.