After lunch on April 29, at the height of the 35th anniversary of the Gaztetxe, the Municipal Police tried to enter the occupied house, indicating that the concert announced for the night could not be realized because the Gaztetxe is not licensed to perform such activities, which has been operating without a license for 35 years. From the Gaztetxe it was reported that the sound technician and member of the assembly who approached to speak with the police was “thrown to the ground and beaten”. If we go ahead with the concert announced, “we will go in with everything and they will be wounded,” the police threatened, according to Gaztetxe. The same afternoon a mass rally was held to denounce the attack, scheduled concerts were maintained and the police did not attend.

On April 28, the day before, the Ertzaintza arrested a baker on Santo Domingo street in the neighborhood, called Yaser, when he parked the bread distribution van in front of the bakery. According to the police, a 22-year-old racist worker “faced” them when asked for documentation. The family, for its part, denounced the brutal initial attitude of the Ertzainas and the beating of Yaser.El Yaser's brother, father and cousin who work in the same bakery also said they received blows from the police. Several patrols from both the Ertzaintza and the Municipal Police came to the bakery and the whole street was cut for a while.

 

An ancestral problem

Criticism of police action dates back to time immemorial in the Casco Viejo de Vitoria, but the organizers of the mobilization on Friday have pointed out to ARGIA that in recent months the presence and interventions have increased. They point out that, as an example, the Municipal Guard has been trying “for months” to obstruct the activities of the Gaztetxe and that “police attacks, especially against racist neighbors” do not cease. It is common for cars from the Ertzaintza or the Municipal Police to be observed in the neighborhood, often spiking traffic rules. In Plaza Aldabe, one of the main confluences of racist neighbors, the presence of patrols is constant, with phenotypic controls frequent depending on the skin color.

Police and insecurity

Although the situation is not new in recent weeks, in the context of the electoral campaign, some police interventions in the Casco Viejo have had a great political and media impact, supported by the defenders of “security” and more police. The organizers have stressed that the Casco Viejo is one of the neighborhoods with “greater presence” of the police and that the Basque Country remains “the territory with the most police per inhabitant of the European Union”. The police have not been related to security, but to insecurity: “We want to denounce that the Police does not provide security to the Casco Viejo, but feeds the insecurity of many neighbors.”

Wide and varied call

The demonstration has been supported by dozens of agents, highlighting the diversity: Adurtzako Gazte Asanblada, Ariznabarra Berpiztu, ASME Asociación Sociocultural Mauritania Euskadi, Auzo Bizi Etxebizitza Sarea, Elkartzen Sarea, Ernai Gasteiz, Errekaleor Bizirik!, Errota Anitza, Errota Zaharra Auzo Elkartea, Gasteiz Txiki Auzo Elkartea, Gasteiz Inor Ez Etxerik Gabe, Gasteiz Askapena, GKS Gasteiz, Movimiento Feminista de Vitoria, Gasteiz Grupo antimilitarista, Gaztetxea de Vitoria Coordinator, Gazte Asbleo Asblua, Asbleo Gasteiz.