In response to this “serious” eviction action and to the “shameful statements” made by Asier Abaunza, Councillor of the Department of Urban Planning, during his public appearance on December 13, 2016 with the Councilor for Security, Tomás Del Hierro, the Office of Occupation of Bilbao (BOM) has declared that it is “prepared to take the necessary measures to address the situation”. It is precisely the assembly of the youth center that, through the Office of Occupation, has been conducting the situation together with the Municipal Mediation Services since the opening of the closing file of the youth center.

The members of the youth assembly agreed to close the building and agreed to continue the negotiations. As a result, "the surprise was immense" when on November 30 of last year the Ercion came with the intention of evicting the youth center. The lack of knowledge of the action by the Mediation Services "demonstrates the little value that the City Council gives to this path, denying it management and decision-making skills," according to the Office of Occupation.

Although there was a closure order, this "does not legitimize the eviction, the incarceration of goods and the walls of the building". The regulation referred to in the dossier does not include these powers. Consequently, for the BOM, the action is "totally illegal". In fact, the City Council has no jurisdiction to evict a building without resorting to the courts. "A premise that has not been fulfilled in the case that concerns us," says the lawyers of the BOM. And this behavior is "even more serious" when the building is not municipal property, "it can be recovered through the corresponding procedures without putting public resources at its service."

The lawsuit states, "The fact that a public body such as the City Council of Bilbao ignores the legal procedure and carries out such an eviction is a very serious legal fact. Any behavior under the slogan that the building is occupied. In reality, however, the lack of a legal title does not restrict the rights of those who are using the building. That is, whether occupied or not, the building and the person who uses it must have the same legal guarantees as the rest of the citizens."

For this reason, it is considered "shameful" that in the statements mentioned above, Asier Abaunza appears as a "protector of legality". "He sold his potential policy of collaboration with self-managed projects that move within the legality in front of other political parties." Addressing Abaunza they add from the BOM: "Mr. Councillor, the first one who is not complying with the law is your Town Hall. Therefore, we do not consider your mind legitimate to instruct anyone."

The courts hope to clarify to the City Council that "not everything is valid" against an occupied building. The assembly of Etxarri included several projects, and both members of the BOM and friends of Etxarri hope to "be able to recover the building that has been illegally taken away". In the meantime, the Occupation Office will continue to "claim the legitimacy of the occupation on the streets and in the courts."

This news has been published by Uriola de Bilbao and brought to LUZ thanks to the CC-by-sa license