After 79 days of occupation, the farmers' union ELB and Lurzaindia have managed to curb the sale of land in Arbona, according to trade union sources. At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, the Foral Police explained that the matter has been definitively withdrawn. The agents have made it difficult to sell land at a speculative price of EUR 3.2 million and not to use crops for that purpose.

However, the road is not over. Land Seller, M. Borother has been willing to start a new negotiation process with SAFER. It is alleged that Borotrak has proposed to the entity that it purchase the land at a price of one million that it has set, although SAFER has valued it at 100,000 euros. The OECD and Lurzaindia will continue to occupy Arbona until the end of the process.

At the press conference on 9 September, both associations were optimistic about the achievement and the work they have done. Dominique Ameztoi, a member of the ELB, stressed that a “country project” has been developed in Arbona, to which more collaborators have joined in recent months.

At the end of August, a group of citizens set up the Berroeta Five Occupation Support Group with the aim of revitalizing the occupation. Moreover, the Single Community of Iparralde has also been incorporated into the project, with the aim of intervening in sales negotiations. Officials will meet next Monday to decide on the details of the occupation and the conditions under which it will take place.

Speculative prices

Among the goods intended to be sold in Arbona are a 15-hectare estate and a linked house, which the seller intends to transfer for EUR 3.2 million. Since the start of the operation, ELB and Lurzaindia have denounced that this is a case of speculation in Iparralde on numerous occasions. In fact, the company SAFER, which manages the French Livestock Department, has recognised that the price of Arbona’s assets is excessive: They have set their real value at EUR 100,000.

The associations have denounced that with this type of sales land is “stolen” from the peasants and ask that the house and the lands of Arbona be sold separately. Thus, the sale of the plot could be managed by SAFER, which would ensure its agricultural use. Farmers have asked for cultivation to be set at around 11.2 hectares across the road.

SAFER started the process on 16 July, following the step of the partial priority of buying. The owner of the land had until 16 September to give an answer. At the end of the day, it was the buyer who went back a week earlier.

The steps of the occupation

The OECD and Lurzaindia began the occupation of Arbona on 23 June. As of July 15, the robbers entered the main house, where they have remained so far. In the meantime, a number of peasants have worked on the land and have organized a number of initiatives to promote occupation in order to bring more agents together.

By September, a timetable for the occupation of the lands of Berroeta has been organized. The road from now on will be for days and towns: each municipality will take care of the occupation for 24 hours. They have announced that for two months, concentrations, debates, concerts, workshops and animations will be organised, among other acts of protest and protest.