Since August 17, a metal barrier has crossed the building of the Romo de Getxo district for members of the Casa de Elders who oppose the demolition “the barrier of shame”. On that day, on the occasion of the holidays of the people after the people's parties and without testing the surveillance shifts in the building, the Ertzaintza and the Municipal Police approached the Centre of Elders in Rome. The Ertzaintza closed the area and in the first hour of the morning the workers of the company Redenor began the work of preparing the demolition, among the rage cries of the attendees. Some of the users of the House of Elders said “I cannot believe it”, because they did not believe that the municipal government (PNV and PSE) started demolition work without a judicial mandate. Others, more suspicious, repented of not staying there, not organizing surveillance shifts like the days before.

That same afternoon the order for the demolition works to be halted came from the Bizkaia court, where the total precautionary measures requested in the morning by the Casa de los Valles Mayor were approved. On September 9, it was reported that the appeal filed by the municipal government against the precautionary measures has not been estimated and that until the judge ruled it would not be possible to demolish the building of Lope de Vega 12.

Since then there have been constant meetings and other performances in the corner linking the streets Lope de Vega and Kresaltzu. Although the Elderly House is controlled 24 hours a day by the police, the fence has changed throughout this month: messages, posters, balloons, etc. have been placed, expressing their requests.

Desire to stay in the House of the Elders

The agreement between the City of Getxo and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia to demolish the House of the Elders has created a conflicting situation. The aim is to demolish the building that has so far been the refuge of the village’s elders and to build an “intergenerational center” in the same place (residence for 2nd and 3rd graders and 40 apartments for children under 35 years old), who have received 82.5% of the necessary budget from the European Next Generation programme. To this end, the members of the House of Elders received an expulsion order dated 24 June.

In the neighborhood there are opinions that are contradictory to the intergenerational center project; there are those who believe it can be a good opportunity, but there are those who in practice see deficiencies in the project: that being a project at the level of Bizkaia will not serve to meet the needs of Getxo; that it is demonstrated that adequate attention is not guaranteed to the users in a format of large residence; that it is difficult to guarantee the coexistence between the young and the dependent of the That is, although the project has been presented with great success and beauty, in practice it does not respond to the needs of the different realities of the elderly and young people of Getxo.

The association Ibar Nagusiak Etxea de Getxo states that it does not want to enter into the appraisals of the project, since its objective is not to oppose the municipal government project, but to protect its home. To carry out this project, it has been limited to saying that there are empty buildings in Getxo, such as the Getxo II Institute, in which the municipal government was proposed to do so, but that they did not receive an answer. “Here this intergenerational relationship that wants to drive the intergenerational center can be given every day because we have this open. We are the ones who manage the space and believe that this place should be for the use of the people of Rome. The Women's Assembly of Itzubaltzeta held here the feminist days, and this year the food of the women of Rome was celebrated here. Romos del Cantábrico, of the church…. But the goal of the City Hall is to make the intergenerational relationship following the European models. That’s what they’ve sold in Europe and that’s why they’ve given them money,” said the association’s director, Paco Rama, in an interview published in ARGIA on June 21.

The Municipal Government has offered as an alternative the use of the Romo Kultur Etxea, but some members of the Elderly Center consider that this space does not meet their needs. Senior House member Rafa Martín set the following example in the interview with ARGIA: “The last gymnastics class of the day is for people with reduced mobility, some come in a wheelchair, others with help… to reach the RKE they have to take the elevator and if one day it does not work they will not be able to enter.” In addition, they have denounced that the RKE space for the elderly is only one third of what they have in the House of the Elderly, and that they do not have a bar or garden for them, they have to ask the bedel to open the windows and ventilate the space... They are clear: this space does not promote their self-management and is not suitable to be able to perform all the activities of the House of the Elderly, nor to provide answers to the elderly.

The struggle of the years to stay in the House of the Elders

The Lope de Vega 12 building was a donation to the town, but was later acquired by the nuns. The latter, in 1980, requested the demolition of the buildings and the construction of officially protected housing, but the response of the neighborhood, including the Association of Neighbors, was contrary. They were not allowed to do so and the purchase negotiations began, as the City Hall saw the need for municipal equipment to carry out the actions. Some parties thought that the donation of the people should be returned by the nuns, but eventually it was decided to buy back. It was purchased for 41 million pesetas, 50% by the Deputy. On 21 November 1987, the Hogar de Día was inaugurated (name it had before becoming the Casa de los Valles Mayor). In 2001, the Ibar Nagusi Etxea Association was created and it was agreed with the city council that the centre will be managed by the association.

Since then, and due to the different approaches, there have been several plans for the remodeling of the building, but always with the condition of guaranteeing the possibility of returning to the building, although the association would have had to move for a while. However, in 2013 the municipal government informed the association that they were going to be transferred to the RKE, due to the cost of the building remodeling (between 6 and 8 million euros). Faced with this communication, the members of the association met at the general meeting on September 27, 2013 and decided to stay in the Lope de Vega 12 building. They started defending the right to stay: In 2015, the association presented to the municipal government a project developed by the Official College of Basque Architects, in which it was said that the Cheap Houses, the Elderly House, the Euskaltegi and the Church are the urban center of Romo and that they should be protected, because their infrastructure is in good condition and they are the heritage of the people.

In 2016, the platform against the demolition of the House of Elders was created. In 2017, the Casa de los Valles Grandes conducted a referendum on partners to ask them what they prefer: to stay or go to the RKE. The meetings normally included between 100 and 120 people, but on that day there were 540 people to vote and 84% (about 453 people) voted in favour of staying on Lope de Vega street. In October the issue was discussed in the municipal plenary and although 11 votes of the municipal government supported the demolition of the building, 14 votes of the opposition supported the non-demolition. The association asked the municipal government to comply with the decision, instead of imposing its electoral program. However, ignoring the petition, the municipal government in November said it was going to fulfill its program, arguing that the most voted parties were entitled to it. Thus, in May 2018, the hairdressing, fission and podiatrist services of the Elder House were transferred to the RKE without notice, despite having a contract signed with the association until the end of the year. According to the members of the association, since then they have had difficulties with the city council, making it difficult to carry out their activity.

In 2018, the space for seniors was expanded on the third floor of the RKE and the association has denounced that the calls of the House of Elders were diverted to the RKE, from where they were served on behalf of the House of Elders. They also report that telephone calls were made in parallel to the association's partners, indicating that the Elderly House moved to the RKE. In this situation, the members of the Pensioner's Home made a closure for the maintenance of the building (the Municipal Guard identified all the people of the closure). After the closure, the City Council stated that without a majority it would not derail the building, so the association decided to end the closure and put forces in the daily work. From then until 17 August 2022, the space has been open, without municipal personnel, thanks to the work of voluntary personnel.

Non-profit

The partners who have been the source of the report have told us that the process of these years has been dark and full of lies. They say they have let the place “corrupt”. In the words of Ali de Celis Iglesias, they have cared and kept the space together and paid out of their pockets to the contracted professional staff: “For example, in the past, bar staff did not have to pay for the services in order to offer the menu at a price that would allow the bosses to pay. But the relationship with the municipal government when the last family that took over the bar came was not good, and all of a sudden we were told they had to pay the gas themselves. We have been constantly hindered from getting tired, but we haven’t gotten tired.”

Far from giving in, with the yellow flock, the bosses are still protesting on the streets of Rome. Two years have passed by performing a concentration of half an hour each morning in the Chess Square of Las Arenas, with music and circling, filling the space with its demands. This decision to continue fighting manifested itself even more on the date marked by the expulsion order: food, txalaparta workshop, concert… organized an all-day program for June 24, and for the building not to be empty, organized surveillance shifts with neighbors of different ages. And until August 17 the Police appears and the building has been fenced, there have been several activities carried out during the summer to fill the street and show the protest: frog championship, popular food, bingo, dance, food of those over 75 years old, book presentations… In these activities the support of several citizens to the House of the Elders has become apparent. In fact, in the last consultation, 98 per cent of the 1,500 people voted against their demolition, and several months earlier they gathered 4,000 signatures in favour of maintaining the building.

A future full of doubts

The members of the association are concerned about the beginning of the new course, as they do not have a space to start and welcome it. They point out that, thus, many bosses have no choice but to go to the RKE for workshops or activities.

Santi Aristimuño, partner of the association that draws and writes phrases in cartons for mobilizations, has reviewed the list of activities offered last year by the House of the Elders: dances, tai-chi, pilates, memory workshop, active aging, euskera, drawing, chorus, patchwork, dot and beetle, physical education, library, talks, tertulias in the garden, billiard courses. Thanks to this extensive offer, 86-year-old partner Ane Servando discovered his passion for painting at the age of 80. It now tells us concerned that it does not know how it will continue to draw the picture. For him it is important to draw in a group helping each other, providing an adequate space for this, with adequate ventilation to protect himself from the contamination of the paintings.

They ask the municipal government to reopen the building, to keep in the proposal presented these workshops, to increase the day centre and to join the workshops between adults and young people. However, the organizers and users of the Casa de Valles Mayor do not know if they will be able to carry out their proposals this year. They do not know if they will be able to sing together, sewing, painting, moving the bodies… But, smiling, we have been told that they will not stay at home, that they will not allow their bodies to fall asleep in the corner between the streets Kresaltzu and Lope de Vega, or that they will keep rolling in front of the RKE building or in any corner of the neighborhood, in the fight for their house, keeping on the older ones.