In the early morning of October 27th, 2014, the squatted social centre La Gatonera in Madrid was evicted. We send strength to the comrades; nothing is finished.
Below is their communiqué from the day of eviction:
The State orders, the Press targets and the police evicts La Gatonera: this is how this story begins once again, that far from being a novelty, ends up being a suspicious routine. A disgusting routine that, by force of repression and fear, gradually makes an entire movement and a whole history of anarchist struggle get accustomed to having this sensation, which has become way too normalized, in its interior. The importance of so many generations that have striven, each one for years, to demonstrate that another life is possible, that there is an option outside the system in which we live, that they target us because we no longer want to be part of their miseries and because we seek to be able to manage our lives.
By evicting the social centres, they attempt to turn fear into the only outlet, paralyze the struggles that go to the root of the problem, normalize repression and make those who struggle assimilate it, thus offering a recuperative and totally controlled option such as the institutionalization of all kinds of struggle so they won’t get out of their hand, either with the formation of new political parties of the Left, the cession of spaces, or the negotiation with any type of institution. We can only draw a conclusion from this: the legal struggle has no effect; otherwise it wouldn’t be legal.
However, they have not realized that there are still people willing to go a step further, people who won’t leave this situation alone, either because of personal dignity or because of collective solidarity. The eviction of La Gatonera was nothing more than the closure and demolition of a building, but that building was made up of the people who turned it into an anarchist space, a tool of struggle, complicity, encounter, gathering and creation of new relationships.
They evicted us from the building located in Amistad street, but they haven’t even remotely achieved their goal: to scare us.
We want to be clear on this and make them understand it: this is not the end of anything, it’s the continuation of a seven-year project that will be carried out wherever, however and whenever we decide.
At the same time we are aware that, even though this is part of a wider plan against social centres in general, the eviction of La Gatonera did not occur by chance. We stood firm on previous occasions, not giving in to blackmail and trying to remain as faithful as possible to our ideas. We received both eviction and personal threats, our social centre was boycotted on several occasions, not to mention the mishaps we had with the forces of order from time to time. We did not resort to complaints, victimisms or formalisms. Our way of confronting matters has been to continue on our line that, at the end of the day, has brought us to this terminus. We proudly assume the consequences, because all this tells us that we’re causing them trouble, and so we are on the right track.
This has only just begun. They have ignited a spark that will help us take the struggle to the next level with more passion than ever before and much more firmness and rage.
To those who have stood in solidarity with us, when it was needed, we say we feel very proud of all of you. All those who have made La Gatonera possible, those who have preserved the essence of the space, and those with whom we’ve worked so hard together.
The response we see as coherent is to continue the struggle, visualizing this response as one sees fit, maintaining the original idea La Gatonera has always tried to fulfill: the decentralization of neighbourhoods and direct action.
To you: mobsters, politicians, cops, businesspeople, exploiters, mercenaries, assassins, snitches, torturers…
… this has only just begun.
The struggle continues.
DEATH TO THE STATE, LONG LIVE ANARCHY.