info from La Directa,etc: At the end of one of the anarchist Mayday Marches last Sunday an abandoned city-owned listed building was occupied to be converted into a self-run social center for refugees called Mukhayyam.
Prospects looked good since the leftwing city council has banners reading ‘Welcome Refugees’ just round the corner. However on theTuesday morning 200 riot police evicted the building (see video). The mayor Ada Colau claimed she knew nothing about it and the Catalan Govt (also left wing) had ordered it ( they weren’t city police).
eviction video
Dozens of activists had occupied after the ‘anarchist and feminist’ demonstration of Mayday to remake it as a welcoming space for refugees (Spain has promised to accept only around 16,000 but a mere 18 have been cleared so far).
At eight o’clock on Tuesday vans of the Mobile Brigade cut off all the streets near the building in the Gothic Quarter. A squad of agents charged the front doors of the building and smashed in with a battering ram at 7.00 in the morning. It was a door with a high architectural value, included in the catalog of heritage of the City of Barcelona.
At the time of the police assault there were 17 people inside the building. One of the activists explained to the paper La Directa: «The officers interrogated, identified and photographed us, and wanted to know if we are members of the anti-racist feminist collective».
4/May/16. Asturias: A man aged 30 died after being arrested by police evicting him this afternoon . There have been over 600,000 evictions since the housing bubble burst, with properties sold off by banks to Corporations. In Spain eviction doesn’t cancel mortgage debt payments which continue till you die and then pass to any guarantor.
«Once we were held, they took our mobile phones and evenmade photos and sent them on their lists of WhatsApp, taunting us,» detailed one of the occupants. 
Improvised demo
The 17 people detained were released gradually and joined an improvised concentration with supporters whoi welcomed them on Calle Avignon. «None of us have been shown any eviction order» they affirmed. The Office of the Spokesman of the Catalan Police has failed to explain whether this order exists or not to demands from La Directa. «We are making efforts, we will call you when we know» they claimed.
Teresa, president of the Neighborhood Association and Street Traders of Calle Avignon, has talked with members of the assembly of the social center and expressed sympathy for the project: «We were talking yesterday evening with them and they said we could go hand in hand, I liked what they said, they also want to do something for the neighborhood. »
After the eviction they expressed disagreement with the police deployment: «We were not allowed in or out.» «They have broken the front door, have cut the chains of the gates and say they want to brick it up (which later happened). » he said.
The occupants, once expelled, have demonstrated for an hour on the street Avignon and then moved to the Plaça de Sant Jaume. Today at eight p.m. they have called a rally at the square.
See anti-eviction demo video below
Anti Raids Network @AntiRaids ….Solidarity w/ @MukhayyamBcn Barcelona migrant solidarity project evicted by cops
More Occupation News
Last year the Catalan parliament passed unanimously a law giving mortgage evictees a ‘second chance’, as those evicted nationally reached 600,000. Now the provisional PP extreme right Govt have asked their appointed Supreme Court to annul the law.
It will be cancelled immediately while the foregone decision is pending, handing another huge windfall to their banking friends. The notoriously corrupt and far right court also cancelled a Catalan law prohibiting fracking in Catalunya.
contacts: Tw: @MukhayyamBcn Telegram: FreeSpotBCN Mail: mukhayyamfreespotbcn AT riseup.net
Más de 200 antidisturbios han desalojado el edificio de la antigua Lonja de Barcelona, reconvertido en el centro social Mukhayyam desde el pasado domingo. Decenas de activistas entraron en el marco de la manifestación libertaria y feminista del Primero de Mayo para acondicionarlo como espacio de acogida para personas refugiadas. A las ocho de la mañana de este martes los furgones de la Brigada Móvil han cortado las calles del barrio Gótico más cercanas al edificio. Un pelotón de agentes se ha dirigido a la puerta principal del edificio y, ariete en mano, la han golpeado y reventado. Se trata de una puerta con un alto valor arquitectónico, incluida en el catálogo de patrimonio del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona.
n el momento del asalto policial había 17 personas en el interior del inmueble. Uno de los activistas ha explicado a la Directa: «Los agentes nos han interrogado y fotografiado, querían saber si somos miembros del colectivo feminista antirracista». «Una vez nos tenían retenidos, nos han quitado los teléfonos móviles y nos han ido grabando y fotografiando de una en una. Incluso con sus móviles particulares nos hacían fotos y se las enviaban por sus listas de WhatsApp, mofándose de nosotros», ha detallado una de las ocupantes. «En las escaleras principales se han hecho fotos de recuerdo», ha añadido la activista.
Concentración improvisada
Las 17 personas retenidas han ido quedando en libertad progresivamente, y en la calle Aviñón una concentración improvisada les daba la bienvenida. «A ninguno de nosotros nos han mostrado la orden de desalojo», han asegurado. Desde la Oficina del Portavoz de los Mossos d’Esquadra, a preguntas de la Directa no han sabido explicar si esta orden existe o no. «Estamos haciendo las gestiones, os llamamos cuando lo sepamos», han manifestado.
Teresa Caja, presidenta de la Asociación de Vecinos y Comerciantes de la calle de Aviñón, ha dialogado con integrantes de la asamblea del centro social establecido en la Lonja y ha expresado su simpatía por el proyecto: «Estuve charlando ayer al atardecer con ellos y les dije que podíamos ir cogidos de la mano, lo que decían me gustaba, también quieren hacer algo por el barrio». Después del desalojo, Caja ha expresado su disconformidad con el despliegue policial: «No nos dejaban ni salir de casa». «Han roto la puerta principal, han cortado las cadenas de las verjas y dicen que lo quieren tapiar. Si lo hacen presentaremos una denuncia como asociación», ha declarado.
Los ocupantes, una vez expulsados, se han concentrado durante una hora en la calle Aviñón y posteriormente se han desplazado a la plaza de Sant Jaume. Hoy a las ocho de la tarde han convocado una concentración a la misma plaza.
The Free 
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