The Socialist Council of Urola Kosta recently opened an abandoned building in the Aita Mari district of Zumaia (Gipuzkoa) to set up the Etxape Socialist Centre. The project was publicly presented last Tuesday and explained that the new space aims to "strengthen and create instruments and projects of self-defense of the proletariat".

The building is owned by Eroski, but it has been empty for 20 years. As soon as the Socialist Centre is informed, the members of the Socialist Council contacted Eroski to agree on the conditions of use of space and to try to reach an agreement. They asked him to open a process of dialogue and to offer a guarantee not to empty the Socialist Centre. However, the company has not yet given a clear response and submitted a complaint about the opening of Etxaper.

On Wednesday at noon, a head of Eroski went to the Socialist Centre with a locksmith and cops. There was an illegal eviction attempt, but the colleagues who met in front of Etxape managed to pull back.

However, the police presence and persecution has been constant in the last two days. At Tuesday's presentation press conference, for example, the Ertzaintza approached Etxape and tried to seal and close one of the tickets. On Wednesday afternoon, Municipal Police officers and Ertzaintza agents also violently attended, when more than twenty people were working at the Centre. The police took the street and brought the material they were using for neighborhood work, as well as identifying a person. Then, for several hours they had the Socialist Center taking the previous street.

In recent days, a total of eight people have been identified at the opening of Etxaide. These people have been identified during political propaganda or in the area of the Socialist Center.

Here is the video published on Wednesday by the members of the Socialist Council to explain the facts: