Kukutza was a ''gaztetxe'' (

self-managed social centre A self-managed social center, also known as an autonomous social center, is a self-organized community center in which Anti-authoritarianism, anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venue ...

) in the neighbourhood of Recalde,

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

. It operated as a

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

free space between 1996 and 2011. It was used as a youth, unemployed and cultural centre. In those 15 years it had 3 different buildings. The first one, Kukutza I, was used in 1996 and just for 3 months, then Kukutza II in 1998 and for 2 months, and finally, Kukutza III, open between 1998 and 2011 and had a large activity programme. It was set in an abandoned factory and closed in 2011 because it was violently evicted by the police. From the very beginning, Kukutza provided the neighbours of Recalde with cultural and spare time activities, which were not offered by institutions. In the case of Kukutza III, it was a meeting place for many local groups. Moreover, it had influences in the whole of

and even started being a reference point for artists from all over the Basque country.

Kukutza I

In 1996, Kukutza I was

by the young people of Recalde, Irala, Indautxu, Basurto and Zornotza. It was the first "gaztetxe" in Recalde, and was a building that had been empty for 11 years. Three months later it was demolished, without any notice. Two days later the "gaztetxe" Mina del Morro od Santutxu was also demolished, and the same year the Mayor of Bilbao, Josu Ortuondo, also ordered the eviction of the "gaztetxe" of the old town of Bilbao.

Kukutza II

Kukutza II was occupied in 1998 on Larraskitu street in Recalde. The

Ertzaintza The (, or ''People's Guard'') is the autonomous police force for the Basque Country, largely replacing the Spanish Policía Nacional (National Police) and Guardia Civil (Civil Guard). An Ertzaintza member is called an ''ertzaina'' (). ...

(Basque Public Guard) tried to evict from the first day onwards but they were unable to do so. In June, toxic substances were found and the place was closed provisionally. In June 1998, it was definitively evicted, with 4 people arrested.

Kukutza III

Occupation

Kukutza III began August 6, 1998, with the occupation of the old factory Cerezo in Recalde. There were many legal problems with the building, and the neighbours of Recalde asked for it to be used as a cultural centre. Although some institutions claimed that the building was perfect for cultural activities, the town hall did not give it any protection.

Activities

The centre hosted many types of activities, such as dance and hiking groups, a library, a canteen, a pub, theatre classes. In 2011, its eviction was ordered so it could be replaced with housing, but now nothing was built and local shopkeepers have stated the neighbourhood has lost its life. To protest the eviction, hundreds of users of the project made a ten-minute

lip dub A lip dub is a type of music video that combines lip synching and audio dubbing (copying audio from an existing recording) to make a music video. It is made by filming individuals or a group of people lip synching while listening to a song or ...

video.

Eviction and demolition

On September 21, 2011, the police helped the

in the eviction of the building, an action which was later criticised by the ELA union. The police entered the building at 05:30 and fired plastic bullets at activists. The demonstrations protesting against the eviction resulted in many riots all over Bilbao for the next few days. As a result of the riots, 810 rubbish bins were knocked over, and some of them were also burnt or broken. In addition, 10 vehicles were burnt and the '' batzokis'' (social centres of the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...

) of Recalde and the old town were attacked. The damages were estimated at €140,000. 64 people were arrested in the demonstrations and 76 medical reports of injuries and 53 complaints for police brutality were recorded. The mayor of Bilbao,

Iñaki Azkuna Iñaki Azkuna Urreta (14 February 1943 – 20 March 2014) was a Spanish politician of the Basque Nationalist Party. He was mayor of the city of Bilbao, Biscay in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, from 1999 until his deat ...

, and the home affairs councillor, Rodolfo Ares, defended the police action in these incidents. However, it was called to be disproportionate by the

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

Iñigo Lamarca Íñigo Lamarca Iturbe (born 13 July 1959) is a Spanish lawyer and served as Ararteko (Ombudsman), of the Basque Country between 2004 and 2014. He previously served as president of GEHITU, and is the first gay man to hold the office. Life He was ...

.La actuación de la Ertzaintza en Kukutza fue desproporcionada
, ''EiTB'', 24 May 2012.Goikoetxea, Agustín
El Ararteko pone en cuestión el violento desalojo de Kukutza III
, ''Gara'', 25 May 2012 The building was then demolished on September 24.

Judicial processes

Although most of the prosecutions against the police were closed as a result of the impossibility of identifying the implicated officers, one was found guilty and had to pay a fine and victim compensation for assaulting a woman "unnecessarily". He was filmed kicking her in the stomach. In addition, most of the people processed for taking part in the demonstrations were absolved.El abogado de los acusados denuncia que el solar de Kukutza sigue vacío
''Naiz'', 28 January 2015. Four teenagers were convicted for attacking a policeman. Two German activists were found not guilty. In February 2015, one of the people arrested in the eviction was convicted to 3 years in prison for aggravated assault on officers.Solo un condenado en el ‘caso Kukutza’
, ''Deia'', 8 February 2015.

Successor

In October 2012, a factory outside Bilbao was squatted as a successor to Kukutza. It is called Txirbilenea.

Bibliography

References

External links

Blog del gaztetxe Kukutza
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La historia y el trabajo del gaztetxe Kukutza
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Kukutza: Crónica de 3 días de ocupación de un barrio
�. {{Authority control Autonomism Geography of Bilbao Infoshops Squats in Spain Self-managed social centers