Basque Country: Altsasu occupied by military police in fiestas

Spanish military police (Guardia Civil) occupied on Friday the town of Altsasu (Sakana valley, Navarre) in the middle of its fiestas after fascist-like rampage by the Spanish-imposed provincial governor Carmen Alba. 

In 2011 the same fascist proconsul attempted to indict Mayor Garazi Urrestarazu on a festive parody of a royal discourse, now she charges again against the Ospa Eguna, which may be translated as Celebration Day (ospatu = celebrate) or as Go Away Day (ospa! = go away!, coll.) but hardly as Runaway Day, as the ignorant Alba said. 

Whatever the case she has unilaterally declared illegal the festive acts on the absolutely arbitrary grounds that such acts "have not been communicated to the state administration", as if we'd have to tell the occupants about every single local activity we organize in our towns and villages. The acts include a demonstration and the burning of a doll.

The military cops literally surrounded the town with controls and even entered the festive area threatening in Spanish to "clean it up of shit" (what "shit"? are you going to shoot yourselves dead?) 

In spite of all that the activities continued as intended, no matter that a helicopter roared threateningly above the fire of the doll. People showed a lot of bravery dancing and playing among the threatening police occupants.

Witnesses declared:

It was brutal, disproportionate! 

We suffered an incredible police deployment: the people were surrounded by automatic guns. 

For example, when some 200 people took part in the bertso* dinner, they were surrounded by almost the same number of armed cops. Forced identifications and verbal intimidation were common in the day. Town Hall representatives explained that:

It was to drive you crazy. We did not enter into the provocation and in a bertsolari* town as we live in, citizens went on improvising, and also sortzikoak, polkas, Basque dances and games they performed to impress the military policemen, as saying: "here we are and we will stay here". 

Repression no! Go away. Leave Altsasu in peace.

I must say that nothing of all this was in TV news yesterday, neither in the Spanish channels (of course) nor in the Basque ones.

Sources[eu]: Gara, Naiz Info.


* Bertsoak are a form of improvised song, usually in humorous duels, traditional among Basques. The singers are known as bertsolari(-ak).

Update (Sep 2): it has been known now that a young man was arrested, apparently for "answering back" to the verbal aggressions by the police forces → Topatu.info.

Basque Country: fascist terrorist group threatens mayors with death

Mayors and councilors of EH Bildu denounced the threats

The cell known as Falange y Tradición was in the recent past involved in terrorist threats and embryonic terrorist organization. Their components were eventually arrested but later released without charges. 

The fascist gang clearly enjoys protection from the regime's twin party as was evident when one of its members was invited to Basque TV (ETB) under the anti-democratic rule of the Spanish regime's parties, issuing all kind of racist insults and threats. 

Now, under a new name, they have arrogantly decreed "death penalty" to the mayors of Baztan and Elizondo unless they place the Spanish flag and get rid of Basque ones and pro-prisoner banners. 

Text of the Spanish imperialist death threats

According to Sare Antifaxista this new "Navarrese Nationalist Grouping" is nothing but Falange y Tradición, whose leader J.I. Irusta and other members are well known.

What is clear is that the Spanish institutions are behind this criminal terrorist group, which is clearly pushing Basque patience to the extreme. If a murder happens, it is probable, I believe, that the whole unilateral "peace process" goes down the toilet altogether because you can't really ask the People not to defend their lives against direct murderous attacks like this one. It's clear to me that any such political murder will cause retaliation and this may cause a violent spiral that ends this rather fruitless "peace process" altogether.

Psy-op?

It's very possible that this is the kind of psy-op that Mariano Rajoy has been pondering to distract the attention from the socio-economic disintegration of Spain. Britain is a tad too big to push them too far but the Basque People may become a scapegoat of the inability of Spain to face its own dramatic problems. 

In this sense there's hardly anything that the Spanish nationalist stablishment could wish more than the return of the open war. They have done everything in their hands to sabotage any peace arrangement of any sort and it seems clear that they believe they are better with ETA than without ETA. They believe that Spaniards are stupid enough to forget their huge problems with unemployment, home evictions, lack of social support public infrastructures, deep corruption and collapse of the legitimacy of the whole post-Francoist political system. 

They are surely wrong. But they probably think they lose nothing trying old distraction tricks. 

But, if you ask me, I am pretty sure that such an escalation could end in the Yugoslavization of Spain, which is just too fragile internally in too many fronts (not just Basque Country and Catalonia but national dissidence is also growing in Galicia, Andalusia and even Canary Islands, while the rest is in deep social turmoil) to withstand any further conflicts. We are not anymore in the Fordist Era, Mariano (and the rest), Fascism simply does not work today: people just won't obey.

But they are desperate: they can really try anything to distract the attention.

Basque Country: fascist aggression in Pamplona

A man who wishes to remain anonymous was victim of a well organized violent fascist attack by three men, apparently young, completely dressed in black and wearing masks. 

The attack happened in the San Fermin fiestas of the historical Basque capital. The victim fell a hit on the back of his head and when he turned around was hit again on the face with an extensible baton. The third strike broke his finger, as he tried to protect his head. He then fell down and made himself a ball, "like when the bulls get you" remaining that way the rest of the aggression, in his own words: pretending to be dead. 

Eventually the attackers stopped the aggression and left. Even if the attackers were three, the beatings were produced by one of them, the other two acting as escorts only. 

It seems apparent that some fascist organization is trying to gain some ground in Iruñea-Pamplona, because in recent weeks there has been graffiti, a homophobic attempted attack and also another attempted attack against the see of Basque labor union ELA. 

The fascist nature of the attack seems clear in this context and also because who else would make such an organized beating. The victim wore a t-shirt with an unspecified popular demand printed on it.

However the exact nature of the fascist group remains a mystery so far. 

Source: Ateak Ireki[es] (incl. video of the victim narrating the aggression in first person).

Basque Country: political arrests in Navarre

Three Five arrested, see updates below.

Artzai Santesteban has been arrested tonight in Antsoain by Spanish police forces under unclear accusations of taking part in "an incident" during these San Fermin fiestas. It is speculated that it may be the placing of the gigantic Basque flag but no details have surfaced yet. 

He seems to be a scapegoat because he has been previously persecuted once and again: he was arrested in Italy under the political accusation of being member of Segi (Basque Left-Nationalist youth movement) and then deported to Spain, where he was in prison for more than a year. 

He was also accused of burning several cash machines, without evidence, the case being archived.

Last year he also became scapegoat of an inconsequential fight which took place within the riau-riau between Basque and Spanish nationalist individuals. Only Basque Nationalists were arrested. 

Just months ago he was declared not guilty for an attack against a police van. As in the other occasions, there was absolutely no evidence, excepted declarations obtained under torture. 

He still awaits trial for being member of Segi.

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].


Update: not one but three people have been arrested, according to Naiz Info[es].

Besides the already mentioned Artzai Santesteban, Endika Garai and Jon Karmelo Lizarazu are the other two victims of this instance of political repression.

It seems that the accusations are not related to the hanging of a Basque flag before the City Hall but to the clashes that, triggered by police violence, took place in Txapitela St. when a march attempted to access the City Hall Square with another large ikurriña:

Video by Ateak Ireki

In those incidents Navarrese MP Txelui Moreno was injured by police batons on the head. Allegedly a municipal policeman was also injured by a bottle, although this is not apparent in the video. 


Update: two more have been arrested so far: Ekaitz Esteban Baruke and Eneko Pérez → Ateak Ireki[es].


Update (Jul 18): the five have been released but another person, Monika Mendiberri was arrested tonight in the Old Quarter of Iruñea-Pamplona accused of "destruction" (arson?, vandalism?) → Ateak Ireki[es].

The victims of political persecution denounced the ruling party UPN to have done that in order to hide their own misery. One denounced beatings while under arrest. → Ateak Ireki[es] (incl. press conference video).

Basque Country: how the gigantic national flag was placed before the City Hall (video)

You may not know it but the word bizarre comes from Basque bizardun (bearded), via Spanish bizarro (brave, dashing, manly). You may consider, or not, this a little bizarre but it is certainly fully bearded. 

Bizardun productions presents: The making of the 2013 ikurriña:

 

This direct nonviolent action put the Basque national icon in the forefront of San Fermin fiestas again. The authorities decided then to delay the beginning of the fiestas nothing less than 20 minutes, something absolutely unprecedented. 

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].


Update (Jul 24): Tasio at Gara imagined the unpopular UPN authorities planning the 2014 txupin in order to absolutely impede the Basque flag to be present:

Translation:

THE INTERIOR COMMITTEE OF PAMPLONA CITY HALL PLANNING THE TXUPIN OF THE YEAR 2014

Councilor A: Here in Santo Domingo we deploy the 5th infantry battalion, clearing the area for the sapper company of the Legion...

Councilor B: In the roofs we place the sharpshooter company just arrived from Afghanistan.

Councilor C: The [armored division] Brunete we put in Mercaderes St. The tanks in white and red to dissimulate a bit... the guns covered with sashes.

Cop A: I bet a thousand that next year's ikurriña is even larger. 

Cop B: That's not fair: you are playing safe.

Luckily for all 2014 will be their last year in power... unless the sky falls over our heads, so to say. 

Basque Country: San Fermin parade march under the demand of the People to oust the government

The San Fermin institutional parade that every day officially opens the fiestas has found itself drowned by the massive popular demand for the extremely corrupt and illegitimate government to resign. While the authorities marched under heavy police protection, the crowds chanted: "UPN kanpora!" (UPN out!). 

The Navarrese People's Union (UPN) is a "regionalist" party tightly allied with the Spanish Nationalist Right (PP) and is not just extremely opposed to the recovery of the Basque identity, language and culture of Navarre, never mind joining the other Southern Basque regions politically, but also has demonstrated in the last years to be one of the worst institutional looters of Europe, being so extremely and blatantly corrupt that they will no doubt lose the government for the first time in decades as soon as there are free elections. 

Video of the parade:

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].


Txupin for prisoners get harassed by police

A group of Navarrese citizens also wanted to make the fiestas reach, even if just symbolically, to the prison. Therefore they launched their own alternative txupin (sound firework) near the prison (photo) and organized a lunch.

A van of the Spanish National Police showed up, forcing the identification of the activists with very aggressive attitude, while from prison it could be heard the protests against the cops: "assassins", "antiterrorist law for them", "son of a bitch"...

When the activists were already leaving, some police agents used their batons against them. 

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].

Basque Country: San Fermin fiestas begin with unprecedented delay

The highly unpopular, and therefore illegitimate, Navarrese and Pamplonese authorities have made once again all in their hand again to impede the popular demands from being present in the txupin (firework shooting, official beginning of the fiestas), notably Basque flags.

Their Spanish nationalist zeal was such that they delayed for the first time in history the txupin in order to allow police forces to remove a Basque flag that had been hang above the plaza by a group of people wearing berets and fake beards.

The march that carried a large Basque flag to the City Hall Plaza was blocked by police forces, with some use of violence. Only after they folded it they were allowed to continue. Smaller flags were allowed in however.

In the incident, people chanted in favor of prisoners to come back home and for police forces to go away instead. They also demanded that ruling Spanish Nationalist party UPN to resign.

Sources: Naiz Info[es], video from Ateak Ireki.

Basque Country: hundreds commemorate the Battle of Noain (video)

Basques from Navarre and the other regions paid homage to the fallen in the Battle of Noain, one of the last stands of Navarrese resistance against the Castilian invasion of 1912-21, demanding once again the right to free self-determination. 

Source: Ateak Ireki.

San Fermin Fiestas: corruption and looting cope popular banners

It is traditional that the renowned San Fermin fiestas, to begin on July 7th in Iruñea-Pamplona, include banners of political satire made by the popular peñas. This year they are almost monothematic: corruption and looting in Navarre. Example (La Única):

Never so few stole so much!!
500 years stealing

Other themes are the demand of public housing and stop to home evictions, the demand of return of Basque prisoners and exiles, the dangers of private hospital "cuisine", rejection to social cuts and overwhelming police repression.

Source: Ateak Ireki[es] → gallery of all banners[eu/es].

Navarre: massive demonstration against the corrupt government

Some 10,000 Navarrese citizens marched this Saturday through Iruñea-Pamplona to demand the resignation of the beleaguered corrupt President Yolanda Barcina (UPN, unionist right) so she can be tried in Navarre (and not in Spain). 

Barcina resists in her role of President of the Chartered Government thanks to the "passive" support of the other large unionist party PSOE. Polls predict that the twin-party system that has ruled the Old Kingdom for decades will completely lose control of the Navarrese Parliament, and therefore the Government, as soon as elections are held, but these are not scheduled to happen until 2015 (however they can be called in advance, something the Navarrese People clearly demands).

People at the march chanted slogans like "Thieves out of our institutions", "UPN out", "There is solution: Barcina resignation and bankers to jail", "Out Enrique Maya" (mayor of Pamplona), "One, two, three, four, let them give back what they stole" and also "this is Ali Baba's cave", while in front of the UPN see. 

Source: Gara[es].

Basque Country: metal commerce workers protests

Metal commerce workers, who are on strike for their collective agreement, occupied the European Center for Innovation of Navarre (CEIN), a public-owned think tank for corporate innovation, where one of the capitalist negotiators works (how ironic that a capitalist leader works for a public company!)

They were then evicted by Spanish military police (Guardia Civil), so they then organized a sit-in before the Irigaray hardware store.

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].

Update on the Basque General Strike report, also after-strike actions by unemployed workers

For the wider information see the original May 29 report.

Indiscriminate police brutality against the El Corte Inglés afternoon picket in Iruñea-Pamplona:

Clashes in the old quarter of Iruñea-Pamplona in the evening:

The video ends when police censored the reporters.

On may 31 unemployed workers of Pamplona-Iruñea took over employment offices under the cry: "they don't form nor provide work, better closed" and "share of work". Low quality video:

Source: Ateak Ireki (link1, link2, link3).

Navarre: opinion polls show the collapse of the twin party regime

The latest electoral opinion polls in Navarre show that the ruling twin-party regime would collapse if elections would be held now. Right now, a highly unpopular minority government by the Navarrese People's Union (UPN, a regional brand of the all-Spain reactionary People's Party, PP), shattered by brutal corruption scandals which have plundered the coffers of the Old Kingdom, is only held in place by the tactical neutrality of their former associates of the Socialist Party (PSOE, the other traditionally major all-Spain party) but the clamor for early elections is widespread, with levels of discontent that are unprecedented and even higher than elsewhere in the Kingdom of Spain.

Estimated electoral results in Navarre if elections would take place now (May 2013)

This would allow for almost only one realistic majority: a left-leaning and mostly pro-Basque coalition of GeroaBai, Bildu and United Left.

A theoretical alternative might be UPN-PP-GeroaBai, which should not be disdained considering the growing influence of the right-wing bourgeois "pro-Basque" EAJ-PNV party in this coalition (all the rest are independents, as all other NaBai parties have joined Bildu already), which flirts a lot with the Spanish Nationalist right-wing, but considering the peculiarities of Navarrese politics, I would consider this option unlikely at least initially, especially because of the extreme discontent of Navarrese society towards UPN these days.

The tendency suggests that the more the elections are delayed (to as late as 2015), the greater the political shift.

Election tendency in elected Chartered Deputies (total: 50)
2007 and 2011 are actual election results, 2013 is projection from opinion poll
In 2007 Bildu (nor any comparable force) was not allowed to run
NaBai and GeBai are shown as the same even if they are not identical formations at all

If the tendency continues as between 2011-13 and the elections take place in 2015 (as most suspect), then a purely mathematical extrapolation (in seats) could be:

• Bildu: 19 seats
• GeBai: 17 seats
• United Left: 7 seats
• UPN: 7 seats
• PSOE: 3 seats
• PP: 2 seats
• UPyD: 2 seats

Naturally that I find hard to imagine such a sweet scenario of radical change in the Old Kingdom but that's what raw maths suggest. If this projection would materialize, a purely left-wing government of Bildu with United Left would be natural (26 projected seats, absolute majority) and the bourgeois camp would find impossible to maneuver within the Navarrese Parliament, what would be a most welcome necessary change.

But, most optimist expectations aside, the situation looks grim in Navarre for the pro-Spanish bourgeois camp. It's all their merit, or rather their fault, it must be said.

Source: El Mundo en Cifras[es].

______________

Note: 

Nafarroa Bai (Yes to Navarre, NaBai) was formed as a coalition of Aralar (a breakaway faction of the Basque Nationalist Left), Basque Solidarity (EA, social-democratic Basque Nationalists), independents and the right-wing Basque Nationalist (or Traditionalist) Party (EAJ-PNV), almost extinct back then in Navarre. 

However when Bildu coalesced in 2010-11 from the illegal Basque Nationalist Left (ex-Batasuna, now Sortu), EA and a breakaway faction of United Left (Alternatiba), as well as a wide independent grassroots movement, NaBai became limited to Aralar, EAJ-PNV and independents like the current charismatic leader Uxue Barkos. Soon Aralar realized that they had almost no room in most of the Basque Country and were being overshadowed by Bildu and decided to join them.

This left NaBai almost devoid of any partisan support, with the notable exception of the Christian-bourgeois EAJ-PNV, which saw in it their opportunity for a comeback to the Navarrese political scene after their shameful betrayal in the 1980s (which triggered the schism that created EA). The result is Geroa Bai (Yes to the Future, GeBai) which had an important success in the Spanish general elections of late 2011, getting one deputy (Uxue Barkos).

Basque General Strike report

Dawn picket under the rain

 May 30th. General Strike in the Basque Country.

The strike began at midnight with pickets forcing the closure of Opencor, a chain of convenience stores that open 24 hrs/day 365 days/year, owned by the infamous Spanish mafioso corporation El Corte Inglés, which does not allow free unionization, let alone striking. A picket of some 60 people managed to have it closed in spite of violent police intervention.

Picket activity continued before dawn, with all industrial areas almost completely closed down. Police intervened in several cases. 

Closed and decorated bank (Pamplona)

At least nine people (Berria says 13) have already been arrested by Spanish police in Pamplona, some of them are accused of having material to sabotage buses. Arbitrary arrests also happened in Greater Bilbao in at least two cases with ad hoc accusations like "lack of respect for police agents" or "insults and disobedience". Another person was arrested in San Sebastian accused of "disobedience" and "resistance".

Sabotage to electric feed of subway and trains took place at several locations. The line Bilbao-Balmaseda was unaffected because the company decided to use diesel machines for the occasion, but other lines suffered important delays

A fire in a trailer of Fagor also seems to have been intentional. Several ATM machines have also been attacked.

Empty industrial zones

In most industrial companies a following of the strike close to 100% has been reported. A major exception seems to be Volkswagen Navarre which only lost 35% of production. 

In public services and education the estimate is between 52% and 100%.

Public transport is working at c. 55% levels, above the 30% minimal services established by authorities (meaning almost 80% following, after excluding the forced minimal services). 

The Western Basque Government pretends (totally unreal!) that the following of the strike is under 20%. The Navarrese government is even more cynic, claiming a mere 5% of following.

In Navarre the following is very high. In Bortziria (Five Towns, NW) all industrial activity was nearly stopped (95-100%), in Leitza 100%, in Sakana the following was a bit weaker because there was another general strike in the district just a month ago, but still ample following, in Iruñerria (Pamplona urban district) 50-100%. The Steel Commerce sector, which is in indefinite strike in the Old Kingdom, reported a following of 70-100%, their union delegates are all concentrated in the Agustine Friars' School. The Pamplona bike-picket this time could operate normally (having suffered repression in the last strikes).

March in Txantrea (Pamplona)

Major demonstrations took place in the four provincial capitals. Another person was arrested in Pamplona after the march, while many dozens were identified by Spanish police forces.

Demo in Bilbao

Demo in Pamplona

The more repressed pickets were those exerting their right to free speech near the mafioso macro-corporation El Corte Inglés. In several cities police charged against the pickets, including one in Pamplona which surrounded the building with bloody clothes in protest for the very direct resposibility of this company with the recent Bangladesh worker massacre.

Bilbao: police vs. pickets at El Corte Inglés

Solidarity with Bangladesh at Iruñea-Pamplona

In Iruñea-Pamplona also, there were clashes in the center of the city as police harassed and attacked youth pickets, some of which eventually responded with fire barrickades. Video:

Video of the police violence against El Corte Inglés picket in Bilbao:

Video of some of the youth block actions in Iruñea-Pamplona:

Sources[es/eu]: Naiz Info (link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6 photo-gallery), Ateak Ireki (many micro-blogs, some most important: link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6, link 7, link 8, link9), Berria (link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4,).

See also: Jun 1st update.

Basque Country: military police imposes state of emergency in Navarrese town

The Spanish military police corps Guardia Civil occupied on May 12th the town of Barañain (Navarre), threatening the population and impeding any concentration of more than 20 people, just as used to happen under Fascism. 

The reason, the pretext? A Basque political prisoner, Xabier Sagardoi, was returning home after spending years in the Spanish prisons and there was a welcome act.

Source: Ateak Ireki[es] (incl. photo-gallery).

Basque Country: capitalist syndicate headquarters occupied in Navarre

Some 30 labor unionists of the Patriotic Workers' Union (LAB) occupied this morning the see of the capitalist syndicate (Confederación de Empresarios de Navarra) in Iruñea-Pamplona. Their demands: continuity with content of the sectoral and provincial collective agreements because while the working people is suffering the oligarchy is making huge profits.

Follows video of the action (discourse in Spanish):

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].

Inquisition attacks another Basque counter-information website, arrests one

The Spanish Inquisition (Audiencia Nacional, political tribunal created by the fascist regime) has opened procedures to shut down Burlataherria, a website of information on the town of Burlata, near Iruñea-Pamplona. 

The fascist tribunal has arrested one of the collaborators of that website on spurious accusations of "apology of terrorism" for the informative coverage that the site gave to the welcome acts to political prisoners of the Navarrese town since 2009. The same person was previously accused for the same reasons and acquitted.

A protest has been called for today evening. 

Source: Burlataherria[es].