Can you tell us about your case? How did you end up on the roof of the Cork?

That day I was going to do sports in the morning, when my mother told me that they had begun to evict the Cork. I went to Htara and around 8:00 we were about 10-15 people outside. The three friends who slept inside were there, some with slippers and no ties, some in shock about what happened inside the building. Members of the private security company had drawn up a line at the entrance to the youth centre and had just started to work on the excavator inside the building.

Why did you go up to the roof?

The eviction was illegal and so was the demolition. Somehow we had to stay, and it was clear that we couldn't get in as far as the insurance companies were concerned. The only option was to go up to the roof and stop the machines.

Are you the one who walked in the cork?

Many years ago, in the Youth Assembly of the neighborhood we came to the conclusion that we needed the youth center and we fought for it. Once I started the youth project, I spent a few years studying abroad and living a little further. However, we felt that the project belonged to all the neighbors and we felt it. I decided to go up to the roof to defend what the neighborhood needed.

What happened on the roof?

We went up three people from the back. We had a look at how to do it before. When we went up, we saw all the bosses: the company, the security, the workers... they didn’t expect us to go up and we caught them with surprise. We went to the edge where the excavator was working. He went on for a while as we shouted, and finally the boss told him to stop. Two insurance companies from the private company went up and came straight to us, almost without saying a word. They came with a very arrogant and prepotent attitude with the right hands in their hands. One of them said: “Who is the first?” We told him we weren't going down, and they came to me. He took me in between and we walked back and forth for several minutes. They took me by the arms and finally threw me to the ground. When they put my left arm behind me, they also did it with a lot of force and later I suffered an injury there. The other one put his knee on my face and there I saw that I had nothing to do. They put my hands on me and they took me out. They came to bring us down, yes or no.

Did you get off the roof with your hands on?

To begin with, I told them that I had very tight hands, but they told me to screw it up. Then they took me to the edge, because they put a metal staircase up to the roof, and they wanted me to go down from there. I gave them a resounding no. “We’re going to release you and get you down,” they said. Again, I wouldn’t go down. Then a third person appeared while we were in tension. He was dressed and called Immanuel. They let me go. We believe that this imanol was the one who acted as a liaison between the workers of the security company and the construction company, and participated in the illegal eviction. Three people who had been sleeping since the morning were beaten up by ten hooded people, and this may be one. One of us recognized the Cork outside. He told us that it was for our safety and that we would go down, and that we would not go down until the arrival of the Borderlands. Because the eviction was illegal, we wanted the police to come. About 5 to 10 minutes later a patrol came, they went straight up, made us identify and told us to go down. Looking at the panorama, we went down.

What did you see from the roof?

The street looked fenced, they went to do it so early, people slept and they did it at full speed, then to get the signature of the technician of the City Council of San Sebastian. There were more and more people coming down. From 10 to 15 at the beginning, more than 50 would have been easy before we came down. There was a protest on one side; and there were plenty of security guards in the parking lot, the chief of the construction company, his right hand and a couple of other people. They were clear, the goal was to demolish the building so that it could not be recovered again. They started by destroying one of the pillars.

Why did you file a complaint?

Because there was an attack, and then I had pain in my elbow for over a month. We wanted to sue the security company because we wanted to put on the table other things that could have come out of here so that they could help for the trials that are coming up.

How was the trial on Wednesday?

Pretty fast. The judge was very familiar with it, as it was a “minor offense.” We put what we had to say on the table with photos. They said they attacked us for our safety. That the pillar was down and they risked their lives to help us. I don't know what's gonna come out.

What impression do you have when it has been more than a year since the Cork was thrown?

It happened, and everything is still at a standstill, with the building knocked down and the project hit. We had conversations with the city council at the beginning, when the subject was hot and they washed their hands. Afterwards, however, it all came to nothing, since the matter was left aside when it cooled down. A year later, the trials began. There are other trials in May and July, and I think the issue of Cork will get hot again.