New space liberated – The Self-managed Occupied Gym.. La Salud

by GOA May 27, 2018
On Sunday May 27, after a week of occupation, we opened the doors of the new Self-managed Occupied Gymnasium.

The Occupied Health Gym “La Salud” is an old gymnasium in the neighborhood of La Salut de Gràcia, which has been abandoned for the last 5 years. We want it to be an open space in the neighborhood, which will allow us to strengthen the ties of our community. We want the neighbors to feel free to enter, participating in scheduled activities or proposing new ones.

We live in our neighborhoods besieged by speculation, gentrification and capitalism, which every day leaves us without a house, without spaces, without the possibility of carrying out a dignified life.

We have to pay ever higher rents, work more hours for a more precarious salary. We have little time to be able to take care of ourselves and take care of others. We have to leave our neighborhoods to those with the highest purchasing power, while real estate, builders, banks and individuals fill their pockets.

They force us into a miserable life that goes through the commodification of time, spaces, bodies and relationships.

We opened this gym to take care of ourselves. We do not want our Health to depend on the economy. We see the need to open a space where we can work our bodies, to prioritize the health of each one’s purchasing power and to be able to train ourselves in the different sports disciplines that interest us.

okupas de Gracia

We want to move forward, together, towards a better self-knowledge of our bodies.

We open this gym because we need to organize our self-defense. We need to be prepared if we want to fight against the police, judges, politicians, city councils, negotiations, fascisms, patriarchy. Everything that upholds this unjust system.

We need a space to make ourselves strong, to prepare a daily resistance based on ties and relationships of respect and companionship. We need to know how to attack.

We need to know how to run quickly too, just in case. Dodge the blows and be able to answer. We need to know our limits, to share them with our partners and to grow a community based on mutual support. We need to self-organize ourselves, because we have the strength to do it and we do not want to delegate it to anyone, technicians, politicians or presidents.

Only then are we free to decide for ourselves.

We need to be able to reapply ourselves of a healthy life to defend ourselves from all of this. We need to be able to train without having to pay a monthly fee to keep our bodies in shape, creating a place of trust, free and safe. Where they have no place, no masclisms, no fascisms, no other behaviors or shit attitudes. We need to be able to decide on our body and our health.

The Occupied Health Gym “La Salud” is an old gymnasium in the neighborhood of La Salut de Gràcia, which has been abandoned for the last 5 years. We want it to be an open space in the neighborhood, which will allow us to strengthen the ties of our community. We want the neighbors to feel free to enter, participating in scheduled activities or proposing new ones.okupas in Gracia

The Self-Managed Occupational Gym «Health» is our counterattack.

We welcome you and we invite you today, after 12:00 a.m., at the inauguration of the gym at Maignon 44, underground Lesseps!

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 original in Catalan

Nou espai alliberat – Gimnàs Okupat Autogestionat La Salut
by GOA La Salut	27 May 2018
Avui diumenge 27 de maig, després d’una setmana d’okupació, obrim les portes del nou Gimnàs Okupat Autogestionat «La Salut». Vivim als nostres barris assetjats per l’especulació, la gentrificació i el capitalisme, que quotidianament ens deixa sense casa, sense espais, sense la possibilitat de dur a terme vida digna. Hem de pagar lloguers sempre més alts, treballar més hores per un sou més precari. Tenim poc temps per poder cuidar-nos i cuidar. Hem de deixar els nostres barris a qui té un poder adquisitiu més alt, mentre immobiliàries, constructores, bancs i particulars engreixen les seves butxaques. Ens obliguen a una vida miserable que passa per la mercantilització del temps, dels espais, dels cossos i de les relacions. Obrim aquest gimnàs per cuidar-nos. No volem que la nostra Salut depengui de la economia. Veiem la necessitat d’obrir un espai on poder treballar els nostres cossos. Primar la salut davant del nivell adquisitiu de cadascuna i poder formar-nos en les diferents disciplines esportives que ens interessen. Volem avançar, juntes, cap a un millor autoconeixement dels nostres cossos. Obrim aquest gimnàs perquè necessitem organitzar la nostra autodefensa. Necessitem estar preparades si volem lluitar en contra de la policia, els jutges, els polítics, els ajuntaments, les negociacions, els feixismes, el patriarcat. Tot el que vertebra aquest sistema injust. Necessitem un espai per fer-nos fortes, per preparar una resistència diària basada en vincles i relacions de respecte i companyerisme. Necessitem saber atacar. Necessitem saber córrer ràpidament també, per si fa falta. Esquivar els cops i poder respondre. Necessitem conèixer els nostres límits, per compartir-los amb les nostres companyes i fer créixer una comunitat basada en el suport mutu. Necessitem autoorganitzar-nos, perquè tenim la força per fer-ho i no la volem delegar a ningú, ni a tècnics, ni a polítics, ni a presidents. Només així som lliures de decidir sobre nosaltres mateixes. Necessitem poder reapropiar-nos d’una vida saludable per defensar-nos de tot això. Necessitem poder entrenar-nos sense haver de pagar una quota mensual per a mantenir el nostre cos en forma, creant un espai de confiança, lliure i segur. On no tinguin cabuda ni masclismes, ni feixismes, ni i altres comportaments o actituds de merda. Necessitem poder decidir sobre el nostre cos i la nostra salut. El Gimnàs Okupat Autogestionat «la Salut» és un antic gimnàs del barri de la Salut de Gràcia, que ha estat abandonat durant els últims 5 anys. Volem que sigui un espai obert al barri, que permeti enfortir els llaços de la nostra comunitat. Volem que les veïnes ens sentim lliures d’entrar-hi, participant en les activitats programades o proposant-ne de noves. El Gimnàs Okupat Autogestionat «la Salut» és el nostre contraatac. Us donem la benvinguda i us convidem avui, a partir de les 12h, al vermut d’inauguració del gimnàs al carrer Maignon 44, metro Lesseps!