The Municipal Police of Donostia-San Sebastian has come to the afternoon of May 29 to Plaza Gipuzkoa and has found something that was not expected: a camp in the park in front of the Provincial Council, hundreds of people, camping and preparing the place for the night. And among all a boy, with the twisted txapela of the Civil Guard in the head, dressed in a sweatshirt and a water pistol like the one that Goku wore in the Dragoi Bola series. He approached the agents and said:

"Hi, problems?"

“Yes, have you asked for permission?”

No.

“And who is organizing this?

– Everyone and everyone.

“And how long will you be?”

"Until we get kicked out."

“All right.

– A good day.

The demonstrators have gathered in the square shortly after the massive human chain ended against the Zubieta incinerator, called through social media. The Gipuzkoa Zutik initiative has only just begun and has already put the first item on the table: Can't citizens organize anything in a square without asking for permission?

The call stated that they brought joy of living and sleeping bag, and proposed meeting at 16:00 hours. People come together in various circles when we get to 16:30, they come up to one of them and they leave us a place to sit. They are taking the floor individually, each person presents himself and explains what he can influence through the camp. It is clear from the outset that this is not just going to be against the incinerator, that the Zubieta plant is a symbol, a metaphor for a way of making politics, and that the congregants associate it with other problems.

All the rounds have been exhausted. A silence. It's been a few seconds without anyone talking, long enough for those in the circle to look at themselves with a nervous smile, to realize that they don't know each other and that they don't have the habit of doing things together, and to realize that no one is going to immediately submit a preconceived plan. What we have is that there are people who want to do something wrapped up in a circle. And now what? “Well, I think we can,” one has started. And gradually others have been encouraged. They do not know yet, but they are already part of Gipuzkoa Zutik, like all the people who, in one way or another, are going to do something in the coming days.

Multiples of a political experiment

From now on time starts to dilate and many things will happen at once. These lines are being written since 5 June, a week after 29 May. During this time, the camp of Gipuzkoa Plaza has produced much more information than a normal social movement can generate in seven days. These are concrete actions, proposals that are going to be made and that are going to be along the way; ideas and relationships; many conversations, new complicities that are going to be created.

“These are the real General Meetings of Gipuzkoa,” says someone in the plaza. The 19:00 assembly is the central point of the movement, but despite the importance of this axis, the specific working groups have great autonomy; and thanks to the small commitments of each person, the speed will multiply as the days advance. This political experiment has the doors open to the creation of multiples, anyone can set in motion the dynamic of starting to work on something that concerns them.

This has also led to the movement to other parts of the city, where the CAV and Navarre have been trapped. One of the most significant appearances of the first week was Friday, under the slogan “Tourism concerns us”. Disguised as tourists on the Paseo de la Concha, they explained to foreigners the damage that the incinerator will do to those who visit the city. “No bad thing they come for a week! We live here,” says the message that has been posted on social networks to call this action. They protested with humor that the authorities organize the city to attract tourists, leaving the needs of the locals in the background.

But this is not just happening in Donostia: in several localities there have been signs in which they have joined the initiative and on Saturday, while the Boulevard is filling with a colorful demonstration, a group of six people is distributing information at the Bioterra de Irun eco-fair with white divers and anti-pollution masks that are becoming a symbol of the movement. The handsheets say that the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, in supporting these kinds of fairs, talks about sustainable development, but “wants to build an incinerator that opposes it”.

The square as a starting point, not as a destination

Wednesday, 1 June: The Municipal Police has come to Plaza Gipuzkoa. Those present have been ordered to dismantle the camp and, when they have met to decide what to do, the agents themselves have begun to bring the tents and personal items. The call has been broadcast on the networks, many people are going to collaborate, take backpacks, tables, flags, food utensils and everything that can be saved, and move along Elkano Street towards Boulevard. Seven radio stations tell what's going on. A person who was in the square entered directly and among the explanations he gave he said: “We do not defend a place, we defend an idea.”

It is an important nuance, as Gipuzkoa Zutik has a difference with the other occupations of plazas that have been known so far in the Basque Country. In the Askegunes that have organized themselves to denounce political trials, for example, part of the story is always in the hands of the police: the action ends when the officers arrest protected persons. Injustice can take place in the public square and in an atmosphere of solidarity, but the starting point is always injustice. In Plaza de Gipuzkoa, however, the starting point is to start creating justice, starting with the acts that are done in the plaza, which makes the police a secondary actor.

Although, that same afternoon, before the camp returns to Gipuzkoa Square, the Ertzaintza will try to select and stop a person among the people who were in the peaceful demonstration. The next day, the large autonomic police unit will also appear and will arrest two people for a crime of disobedience – the judge has filed the case two days later. It seems that as the weeks have passed, the authorities have wanted to stop turning a blind eye and introduce Gipuzkoa Zutik into a dynamic of reaction so that citizens can associate it with a public order problem by covering the social problems they want to raise.

In the meantime, the assembly has continued to make small leaps: on the same day, on 2 June, when women are less involved in the assemblies, a purple wig has been put on every time men speak. The wig travels from one head to another and so, at least, they have made the problem of lack of parity visible. Participation on an equal footing will be the next step.

We are faced with a prefigurative political experience: As the anthropologist David Graeber has described, the daily practices of these kinds of movements reflect the world one wants to create. Convinced that the types of relations we consider normal are not the only and best option, today it begins to function as the social model to be achieved. It's as simple as that. As complicated as that.

How to overcome pre-established social classifications

Marina Sánchez explains why it is difficult in her speech on feminist economy on June 3. In their opinion, the system divides society into parts and assigns roles to each person. This dispersion is a power mechanism that allows maintaining problems that should be collective to the private sphere, such as who speaks in an assembly. “When we start to value life we realize that there are different ways of living,” says Sánchez for a group that listens attentively to him.

And yes, here some begin to value it, “Life is the greatest” has not become vain in one of the main slogans of Gipuzkoa Zutik. Now, given the diversity of lives, the job is to create formulations that speak to more and more people. The overcoming of the personality schemes we know is a concern of many in this square. The philosopher Ekai Txapartegi put on the table the question of 31 May: “How do those who see us in this square perceive us? From our authenticity, how can we neutralize people’s initial attitude of not being one of us?”

Depending on where we are, it's not an easy task. The armed conflict that still feels close has inherited very identifying frameworks and are a useful tool to try to marginalize many of the demands. Suffice it to say that behind it is the Abertzale left. PNV politician Iñaki Anasagasti knows something about this, as he has linked Gipuzkoa Zutik with ETA in a text he has written on his blog – to understand the tone, suffice to say “Alert Euzkadi! !” has ended with words. However, this behaviour can become a double-edged sword: if the movement achieves the sympathy of society, such classifications will become more and more incredible for public opinion.

Amador Fernández-Savater spent Sunday at Plaza de Gipuzkoa, where he stayed until the end of the season. When he was invited to speak, he predicted that identity conflict was still going to have a lot of weight in this movement, but, hearing the explanations he has received, he found it a movement that resembles the M15. Go to Gipuzkoa Zutik “in the period of falling in love”, with the initial energy, at the moment when things go out for themselves. From his experience in Madrid five years ago, he explained that the time for maturity comes and that there will be problems along the way. If they are overcome, the equipment will be strengthened. He has also noticed differences with the camp of Plaza Sol, where obtaining consensus was especially important, which delayed the passage to the acts, while here the less central nature of the assembly has favored the adoption of initiatives by smaller groups. He has also referred to the creation of new languages and iconographies, as well as the cleaning of the plaza, because if the one who comes from the outside sees a friendly space it will be easier to participate.

We already have the time to close the edition when we have made the last call to Plaza Gipuzkoa. They've made the news on Twitter.

According to witnesses, this sunny Sunday has passed through the park many children and, seeing the people sitting on the grass, tourists have also become locals, forming part of the camp landscape. It is difficult to foresee what else will happen when you read this text.

More information:

In Gipuzkoa Zutik we perform a daily live follow up. Latest news, photos and analysis on our liveblogging.