14th May: Occupation Ends in Vandalised Bank

The on-campus bank which was decorated, whilst it was being cleaned

An occupation of the library in the Mundet campus of the University of Barcelona (which hosts the pedagogy, psychology and teacher-training departments) has taken place from Tuesday 12th May till Friday 15th May.

A group of 20 occupied the campus library as a continuation of the action held the previous week (and holding the same demands). The first night the students slept under the vigilance of 8 sub-contracted security guards. Attempts to hold dialogue with the vice-president over the three days proved fruitless, as she would only say, “this is a library, it closes at 8pm and therefore no one can stay here. No mattresses can enter, neither can you sleep, eat, smoke or drink.”

During the occupation the library was decorated and a branch of Santander bank inside the campus was vandalised with red paint and slogans criticising its presence in an educational institution. Following these events the students decided to leave to avoid recriminations.

"The chains of their legality will not stop the creation of a different social conscience"

"We are no-one.
We are alone and so alone with our dignity and our rage.
We have seen and heard.
Our voice is small on account of being the echo of this word, our sights are short for so much and such dignified rage. We are others, something else.
If this world has no place for us, then another world will have to be made.
We need to meet more, to get to know each other.
What's needed is that which is missing."

29th April: Students Occupy Education Ministry

Following a demonstration through the city, students took direct action against the education ministry. At 2pm a group of college students entered the government building, passing by the security measures in the entrance. They arrived at the 5^th floor, home of the of the education minister, Ernest Maragall, and demanded to see him, but he was unavailable for comment. They then hung a banner reading “Colleges against mercantilisation and for the public”

Students hold an assembly in the offices

At 3pm some students tried to enter with food for their companions. Upon being denied entrance they linked up and ran at the line of police, trying to force their way in. The police response was to charge, beating the students with truncheons. At 3.45pm a group of riot police arrived at the scene to proceed with an eviction. Once the riot police were in the building, the press were not allowed to enter (this is common practice in evictions and ensures police impunity for the torture that often occurs inside and off camera). The students were identified and taken outside, to be met with cheers from the assembled crowd.

Police handling the minors

The action took place at the same time that unionised teachers from all over the Catalan territories rallied outside council buildings and the education consortium.

As well as protesting against the entrance of police into their colleges last week, these actions are in opposition to the Catalan Education Law (LEC), a brief description of which can be read here.

28th April: Occupations and Demonstration

Today a demonstration was held to demand moratoriums in the subjects that will be affected by the Bologna Process in the next academic year. In preparation, students held a series of occupations in the city.

Video of the actions in Santander Bank and the ERC headquarters

A series of occupations took place in Barcelona today with these demands:

1. Moratoriums in all the subjects that have been adapted to the EHEA in order to open up a debate process regarding the reforms.

2. The resignation of Josep Huguet, minister for Innovation, Universities and Business, because of his desire to privatise the university system.

3. Amnesty for all the students who have been expelled, disciplined, fined or charged.

The university students – supported by college students and mobilised unemployed people – occupied the headquarters of Banco Santander (the largest bank in Europe), the headquarters of ERC and PSC (Catalan Republican Left and Catalan Socialist Party, ruling parties in Catalonia) and the University Commission. These direct actions were in solidarity with everyone who is being exploited and ripped off by the government's new “bail-out” package for the banks, which will give even more money to the rich from the pockets of the poor.

The Santander occupation began at 11am, when a first group of 30 people entered the unsuspecting bank, shouting slogans such as: “Not banks, nor companies! Get out of our libraries!” and “Like this! Don't take one step back! Against Bologna: Direct action!”. Once inside, they hung a banner in the vestibule reading “You colonise our education; we occupy your headquarters”. The squatters then sat down and held a class with a lecturer who was present. The lecture was about how job precarity, enforced by the extreme capitalism we are currently suffering, turns the worker into a slave. The occupants invited the bank employees to sit and enjoy the lecture as well, but they were reluctant, probably because of their short-term contracts.

The class was followed by a group discussion and a second group arrived, taking over from those who had to go to work. A group also gathered outside the door to the building, hanging banners across the building and dealing with the media.

Inside posters were made from the bank's propaganda and the entire bank (including a show-car) was covered in the movement's stickers. One girl, dressed up as a corpse, laid down in front of the car with a sign declaring that the invasion of private interests into the higher education system kills the formation of critical thought. There was some excitement when a group of girls wanted to use the bank toilet but were stopped by security guards and cashiers, a group of people forced the door open and the squatters were able to use the toilets for the rest of their stay. This situation showed clearly that, although the banks and other capitalist institutions value money more than people, the power to challenge them is in our hands.

The bank closed at 2pm, and the occupiers were told by police officers that they were committing an offense by remaining. However, there was no eviction and the students decided to stay until the 6pm demonstration, at which point they left of their own accord.

Another group of students, together with some 20 transport workers, tried to occupy the PSC (Catalan Socialist Party, one of the ruling parties) headquarters at 12pm. They were stopped from entering by the building's defenses and the swift arrival of the police. Outside, manifestos were read by the workers and students, communicating their problems with the Catalan government. Later, the police tried to charge one student with breach of the peace, on the grounds that she was responsible for the action. In the face of this, those rallied outside the building started to pass around the megaphone, each person claiming that they were the one guilty of organising the activity and therefore preventing the charge. The event was ended after an hour as the transport workers had to go to work.

At the headquarters of the ERC (Catalan Republican Party, another of the ruling parties), a group managed to enter an inner courtyard and later, by fighting with the security guards, the front door. Once at the entrance, a group of five chained themselves to the building and the others circulated information about the action to the public. The students planned to continue this situation until the time came to join the demonstration, but were interrupted by a police eviction. Once outside the building, the thirty or so occupants made a mini-demonstration through Barcelona towards the other protesters, blocking roads with a banner as they went.

The demonstration was attended by 300 people. As usual, the police presence was totally out of proportion, 17 riot vans followed the march and 5 more were waiting by the road leading to the government buildings. At best, this was a pointless display of force, trying to intimidate a movement that has already shown that it cannot be stopped by repressive state brutality.

The protest ended outside the University Commission in the centre of the city. A group of students, who had chained themselves inside the building as part of an occupation, came out voluntarily to cheers from the crowd and a communiqué was read denouncing the privatisation process.

25th April: College Occupations

In addition to actions held by current university students regarding the implementation of the Bologna Process in Catalonia, groups of college students, those facing a future crippled by the privatising reforms, are mobilising. This week, a campaign of college occupations is occurring in the Catalan territories, organised by student assemblies.

On Monday 20^th April Around 100 students from four colleges in Sabadell (near Barcelona) passed the night in l'Escola Industrial college in the centre of the city. They slept in the patio because the headteacher wouldn't let them in the building, and thus avoided eviction. The occupation was organised with different events scheduled over its three day duration. The purpose of the action was to make the teaching institution an informative space, since information regarding the educational reforms is being blocked from those affected.

The Menéndez y Pelayo college was occupied on the night of 22^nd April. They were evicted on Thursday 23^rd April at around 9pm, having resisted for an hour but later leaving after threats of expulsion. The police beat the students inside, partially protected by nightfall, as passers-by heckled at the repressive forces to stop. Between 20 and 30 students were evicted.

On Friday 24^th April the Ramon Berenguer IV college (Barcelona) was occupied at midday by around 30 students planning to hold a series of activities in the liberated space. The police were called almost immediately and a rally was held outside the building with students, parents and members of the community. Those inside decided to continue with their planned events. An eviction process started but was halted at 1am on Saturday morning following an agreement made between the headteacher and the students, who left at 6pm on Saturday. It's notable that throughout the occupation, the students were met with the support and solidarity of community members, to the extent that they woke up on Saturday morning to hot chocolate and biscuits brought to them by neighbours.

As well as fighting against the implementation of the Bologna Process, colleges are fighting against the new LEC (Catalan Education Law) and LOE (Organic Education Law). These laws will detract from schools' autonomy (obliging them to source funds from businesses), discriminate against immigrant students, give the head-teacher (now chosen by an administrative body) new powers and create an external ranking agency which will value – rather than the acquirement of knowledge – foreign language capacity, IT skills and student behaviour as a basis for funding. This funding system will harm schools in poorer areas creating an educational divide between the rich and the poor. These reforms are clear examples of social control tactics used to keep the poor “in their place”.

A student strike is being called for the 29^th April.

13th March: Student Eviction from Pompeu Fabra University

At midday on 12^th April 2009 students occupied Pompeu Fabra University. They informed the university senate that the occupation was to end on Sunday. However, despite these assurances, the rector of Pompeu Fabra University, Joan Josep Moreso, called for police to evict students from the building at 10pm on Friday 13^th March 2009.

At this time the faculty is open to the public, therefore the library was full of people and students were still in class. Police surrounded the building and prevented people from leaving. They then began to violently evict the occupying students. They hit the floor with their batons and kicked over chairs in full view of the public. Some of the students left the premises voluntarily but 17 students remained behind. Approximately 200 students congregated at the entrance of the university to show their support for the remaining demonstrators.

At first, police dragged students out of the building via a side door but shortly after they started to remove them through the main entrance. A number of students were injured during the eviction, some of whom were attended to by medics. One of the students, a member of the Mundet campus (pedagogy faculty) assembly, has been detained at Les Corts police station. The reason for his detention is unknown.

The eviction follows the police eviction of students from the Poble Nou campus “Ca l'Aranyó” which occurred on the 13^th February 2009.

We are concerned that the presence of police inside public university buildings is becoming commonplace. The university rectors accuse us of imposing a minority will, however the results of the referendums clearly demonstrate that we represent a majority (1). Pompeu Fabra University ignored the results of the vote and instead has started taking disciplinary measures against students and violently silences all peaceful protests on campus.

1. The percentage in favour of paralysation in referendums held in the four public universities of Barcelona:

University of Barcelona – 93.1%

Autonomous University of Barcelona – 98.7%

Pompeu Fabra University – 88.7%

Politechnic University of Catalonia – 89.7%

24th March: Status of Student Occupations

On 24th March 2009, 30 students occupied the Law faculty and 50 students occupied the humanities faculties in “Raval” (both campuses of the University of Barcelona), a further 40 students occupied the Autonomous University of Barcelona's Education faculty.

You can consult their respective demands by visiting their blog sites at:
UB Law Faculty
UB Raval
UAB Education

At the same time, the 'Japanese-Style strike' in Pompeu Fabra University continues! This strike consists of students occupying the library to study for as long as possible and refusing to leave. The library would normally close at 1.30am. [1]

As well as those faculties already occupied, three other faculties will also be occupied. These are: Mundet (pedagogy), Geology and Fine Arts (all faculties of the University of Barcelona). The following communiqué has arrived from our friends in Fine Arts:
“From the Assembly of the UB Fine Arts faculty, we communicate that tonight the students have closed themselves in the faculty to demand the faculty's deaconship to publicly make their position clear regarding the eviction and brutal police charges on students last Wednesday 18th March. At the same time, we demand the resignation of Dídac Ramírez, current rector of the UB, since we consider that he has refused to engage in dialogue with the student body. We also demand the resignation of all the politicians responsible for the repression of students mobilised against the Bologna Process and a purge of the Autonomous Police Force (the Mossos d'Esquadra). Yours sincerely, Fine Arts Assembly.”

[1] . A 'Japanese-Style strike' is a tactic used by Japanese workers who work overtime and overproductively in order to flood the market with commodities and decrease the profits of their company. Around 30 students have been carrying out this action since 15th March. The student blog can be seen here:

http://assembleaupf.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/vaga-japonesa-capitol-8-2/