On Monday, five people will be judged in the context of the eviction of the feminist space Talka, in the Euskalduna Palace. What crimes are charged to them?

The five neighbors were identified in the context of the occupation and eviction of Talk in Correría Street and charged with an offence of usurpation and occupation. More identifications were also made, so the repressive offensive could be extended over the coming months. In addition, we wish to denounce that another neighbour has been subjected to the Moorish law: in the attempt to evict him on 8 May, and always according to the version of the Ertzaintza, to shout from the window of his house in favor of Talka and against eviction.

They reported that the expulsion was illegal. Why?

The eviction was carried out without judicial authorization on 8 and 15 May. The Ertzaintza cordoned and cut the street allowing a company hired by Adolfo Domínguez to plug the access door to the area.

In December there were already people identified since the occupation of the premises and, according to the law, they had to be informed of the eviction process, but there was no notification for lack of legal procedure. Apparently, if you have great economic power, you do not need legal protection so that both the Ertzaintza and the Municipal Police can defend your private interests.

Why did you occupy that space and not another? What's the story of this place?

We have long denounced that the City Hall of Vitoria-Gasteiz, with PP and PNV in the city council, has a favorable attitude towards the interests of large corporations and multinationals. Especially in the Casco Viejo it is evident that his intervention gentrifies the neighborhood, climbing and evicting the neighbors. In addition, we have an added problem in the neighbourhood: many old homes need repairs and many neighbours have economic difficulties in dealing with repairs. Casco Viejo is one of the neighborhoods with the lowest incomes in the city, the City Hall sells the neighborhood for tourism, but not counting the neighbors. It does not intend to guarantee decent housing for neighbours and defends the interests of speculators. The case of Adolfo Domínguez is an example: From being a local property owned by the City Hall, it happened in a suspicious way to the hands of the multinational, and nowhere did such a sale appear.

The occupation of two premises in the neighborhood is not a random decision. In addition to providing communal use to the spaces, we wanted to put the needs of the neighbors on the table and denounce the gentrification of the neighborhood.

In December 2018, Talka members occupied the Alava-Velasco Palace, which was Adolfo Domínguez's store in December 2019. The police have driven you out of both of them, but they are still working.

Our work has never been interrupted with evictions, we continue to act in the neighborhood. That's why we say they're judging a way of living the neighborhood. Occupation is a political tool, among many others, to channel our needs and aspirations. The eviction of the Álava Velasco Palace took place around 8 March, when it was the main space to organize the second feminist strike in Vitoria-Gasteiz – as in the case of the Adolfo Domínguez site, the eviction of the Álava Velasco Palace was carried out without judicial authorization and the police forces carried out escort duties of businessmen. The eviction of Correría Street took place after 1 May, in a state of lockdown, at the time when our political rights were violated. The trial for these events will be held between 25 and 5 November. As the dates show and describe very well, it is a judgment against our way of understanding life and life.

Since we were born, we said we collided, because feminism couldn't be understood without shocks, and today we reaffirmed ourselves in that. Neighborhood advocacy and neighborhood life cannot be understood without conflict or conflict. The neighborhood is not harmony, the neighborhood is not peace and in the neighborhood there is no room for everyone. Here is a huge collision between those who understand the neighborhood as a product of exploitation and a source of economic wealth. We are committed to building a political community that responds collectively to the individual needs of neighbours and neighbours, in defense of lives. Defending lives is not a Baladan phrase, it is fighting for lives that are habitable for neighbours and neighbours, and combating corruption, evictions, police, speculation and repression. We are being evicted and judged by organizing ourselves as women, as rappers and as trans, by forming a neighborhood defense network, by collectively facing neoliberal violence against our neighborhoods, our lives and our bodies. From feminism we will continue to defend and make the neighborhood.