The squatter movement is a radical social movement[1][2] that advocates the "squatter"[a] of uninhabited homes or premises,[4] temporarily or permanently, in order to use them as housing, farmland, meeting places or centers for social, political and cultural purposes, among others. The main reason is to denounce and at the same time respond to the economic difficulties that exist to make the right to housing effective.[5].
The squatter movement brings together a wide variety of ideologies—sometimes associated with a specific urban tribe—that justify their actions as a gesture of political and social protest against speculation "Speculation (economy)") and to defend the right to housing in the face of economic or social difficulties. The squatter movement also defends the use of abandoned lots, buildings and spaces and their public use as social or cultural centers.
Legislation regarding squatting varies greatly from one country to another. In most countries, the legal owners of the real estate whose assets are usurped can report it as an ordinary crime; while there are countries where there may be legislation that conditionally tolerates squatting, or where there are temporary concessions from the owners in exchange for the maintenance or rental of the property. In the Netherlands, for example, in 2008 it was proposed to punish this practice.[6].
The term squatter
Squat and its derivatives come from the word occupant "Occupation (Right)").[4] The occupation of abandoned homes has always existed, and in Spain it experienced a great boom during the 1960s and 70s, as a way of meeting the great demand generated by the influx of population from the countryside to the cities. Also, various political conceptions insist on and influence the taking of land, means of production and housing for the construction of their social ideology.
Squatting emerged in the mid-80s in the image and likeness of the English squatters, after several hesitations with the name (since there was no word in Spanish to name the occupation with subcultural reasons of homes, uninhabited buildings and premises). The difference between occupying and squatting lies in the political nature of the latter action, in which the taking of an abandoned building is not only an end but also a means to denounce the difficulties of accessing housing.
An interaction and influence on those who would become the squatters in Spain on the part of the Dutch squatters is recognized, especially those influenced by the PROVO collective "Provo (movement)") of an anarchist and libertarian nature. This occurred thanks to the fact that they shared videos and graphic and audiovisual records of the practices and mobilizations they carried out in the Netherlands, from confrontations with the police to internal organization.[7].
Self-managed urbanism
Introduction
The squatter movement is a radical social movement[1][2] that advocates the "squatter"[a] of uninhabited homes or premises,[4] temporarily or permanently, in order to use them as housing, farmland, meeting places or centers for social, political and cultural purposes, among others. The main reason is to denounce and at the same time respond to the economic difficulties that exist to make the right to housing effective.[5].
The squatter movement brings together a wide variety of ideologies—sometimes associated with a specific urban tribe—that justify their actions as a gesture of political and social protest against speculation "Speculation (economy)") and to defend the right to housing in the face of economic or social difficulties. The squatter movement also defends the use of abandoned lots, buildings and spaces and their public use as social or cultural centers.
Legislation regarding squatting varies greatly from one country to another. In most countries, the legal owners of the real estate whose assets are usurped can report it as an ordinary crime; while there are countries where there may be legislation that conditionally tolerates squatting, or where there are temporary concessions from the owners in exchange for the maintenance or rental of the property. In the Netherlands, for example, in 2008 it was proposed to punish this practice.[6].
The term squatter
Squat and its derivatives come from the word occupant "Occupation (Right)").[4] The occupation of abandoned homes has always existed, and in Spain it experienced a great boom during the 1960s and 70s, as a way of meeting the great demand generated by the influx of population from the countryside to the cities. Also, various political conceptions insist on and influence the taking of land, means of production and housing for the construction of their social ideology.
Squatting emerged in the mid-80s in the image and likeness of the English squatters, after several hesitations with the name (since there was no word in Spanish to name the occupation with subcultural reasons of homes, uninhabited buildings and premises). The difference between occupying and squatting lies in the political nature of the latter action, in which the taking of an abandoned building is not only an end but also a means to denounce the difficulties of accessing housing.
The word okupa and its derivatives have been popularized by the press so that it is in common use, both in colloquial language and in the media, as well as in bilingual dictionaries as the Spanish equivalent of English squatter.[8] It is used in both Spanish and Catalan, Basque, Galician and other Iberian languages. However, in its meaning popularized by the press, it has been used to designate anyone who settles in an abandoned home, whether this action has a political nature or not. The term squat can also designate the squatted place.
As for the expression "squatter movement" to refer to the sociocultural movement that orbits around squats, it is also a term that has had an uneven reception. There are those who categorically affirm that there is no such movement but rather a multiplicity of squatting processes that are not necessarily related. Others prefer the plural "squatter movement" or "social center movement" for those who consider that it is the social center that gives the movement its identity. The word "squatter" referring to people has been used in recent years.
In the Spanish press and legal practice, the term "inquiokupa" has become popular to describe the tenant who accesses the home with a contract and subsequently stops paying the rent to prolong his stay; Unlike the "squatter", whose entry is without title into an uninhabited property, the former is framed in rental conflicts (e.g., eviction due to non-payment).[9].
Motivations
Contenido
Existen diversos motivos por los que se suele realizar una okupación, aunque generalmente se debe a alguno de los siguientes:.
Search for a home
In some cases these are families, groups of people or individuals who are looking for a place to live and cannot or do not want to pay rent or a mortgage. It is a social movement that understands article 47 of the Spanish Constitution, which expresses the right to enjoy housing, although it is not included in the fundamental rights and is included as a negative right, as the moral justification to enter other people's properties, both of individuals and entities, and take over its use, sometimes regardless of the damage and economic expenses that it causes to the legal owners of said properties. Generally, supporters of squatting tend to justify this by arguing that the squatted properties are abandoned or used solely for speculation.[10] On the other hand, the pressure[11] exerted by the authorities means that a certain precariousness is inherent to the squatter population,[12] which in turn energizes the movement and intensifies its protest actions.
Carrying out activities and propagating ideas
There are numerous cases of squats promoted by people who seek to create cultural and associative alternatives in the neighborhoods in which they live, through the so-called squatted social centers. To do this, they use the squatted spaces in a self-managed manner, carrying out various political, cultural or any other activities in them. Squatting is used in this way as an instrument to achieve an objective: the transformation of society. Some are ideologically linked to movements such as communism or anarchism. One cannot speak of homogeneity of the movement since there is divergence of means and objectives in each social center. The very heterogeneous nature of the movement makes it difficult to identify with a specific social group, although its ideas are usually related to anarchist thoughts. The social centers maintain fluid communication with each other, taking advantage of new technologies[13] to inform about their calls. However, they only occasionally participate in common activities, such as protest mobilizations. Generally, a social center responds to the specific context of the environment in which it is located, which will determine the nature of its activities.[b][c].
In the social centers, various social activities are carried out or coordinated, which are usually free of charge: talks on different topics (traditional agriculture, political concepts or citizen awareness), theater, dance classes, various workshops (from children's games to promotion of GNU/Linux), vegetarian dining rooms, excursions to the countryside, concerts, poetry recitals, library service, language classes for immigrants, meetings of political, environmental, artistic or anti-prison groups. Its function in many cases is similar to that of the libertarian athenaeums of the beginning of the century.[16].
Sometimes the squat is carried out only for temporary purposes and without having in mind the creation of a permanent social center, as was the case of the squat of the former headquarters of the Spanish Credit Bank of Barcelona, unoccupied since 2007 and squatted by a hundred activists at the end of September 2010 to support the general strike day of September 29.[17].
Structural aspects
Impact on urban planning
Although one of the foundations of the phenomenon is the recovery of abandoned spaces, according to some analyzes the impact of squatting is not necessarily favorable to the development of the area in which it takes place.[18][19] The phenomenon of occupation has been compared to the growth model of favela settlements in developing countries.[20] In third world countries, the process of urban growth generates spontaneous sclerotized settlements, which over time define the definitive structure of the city in which they develop. In this context, proximity to urbanized areas - and the advantages provided by communication and a developed socioeconomic environment - accelerates the settlement process, accentuating the concentration of settlement. Some authors have studied the phenomenon of occupation from two growth models, the so-called "central agent" model and the favela model:
Some authors[21] have described urban development as the effect of the flow of people and the flow -or change- of structures. In this sense, spontaneous settlements offer a small-scale paradigm of a development process parallel to that of the city in which they are part.
Regardless of their socioeconomic environment, the highly mobile nature of the squatter population is related to the so-called flow of economic movement in Third World cities: According to Hillier,[22] it is the structure of the city itself that determines the volume of population movements. Thus, "considering a city from the perspective of an axial map, the most integrated streets - from an urban planning point of view - should correspond to the most developed areas, while the least integrated streets, and the most segregated neighborhoods would be the poorest areas of the city.[23] In large cities in developing countries, where spontaneous settlements flourish, the urban structure is characterized by a marked disarticulation. Spontaneous settlement, therefore, is characterized in this environment by its proximity to highly developed areas, a significant characteristic that is not necessarily typical of squatted settlements in cities in the developed world. Some authors point out that although the defining factors of the distribution of urban settlements respond to the same factors - namely, availability of land and proximity to developed areas that offer job prospects - the contrasting nature of the urban development of developed or third world cities justifies a completely different geography of squatting.[24].
Another characteristic of the population dynamics of the third world city is centralized growth. Growth, also defined by "attraction" points favorable to settlement, therefore presents an irregular structure, which can create areas of high population concentration along with large spaces that lack factors favorable to settlement and remain unoccupied even in the long term. In any case, the development of a settlement ultimately depends not so much on its own tendency but on the policy of local authorities regarding the alienation of property.[25] This is why the legal factor is of specific importance for this type of settlement.
Legal aspects of squatting
Spain
Until the promulgation of a new penal code at the end of 1996, there was no legal figure in Spain that specifically penalized the occupation of abandoned places. This, in fact, had enjoyed a certain tolerance in previous decades as a way to partially solve the problem generated by the influx of people from the countryside to the cities. In the first years of democracy, thousands of illegal occupations of state-owned housing were legalized.
Until 1996, the legal figure used was the lack of coercion: the owner of the squatted house denounced the illegal tenants, claiming that they prevented him from using his property, which constituted coercion. A civil (not criminal) judicial process was then opened, generally lengthy, which usually ended with an eviction order from the squatted house.
There were, however, numerous exceptions: sometimes the judges ruled in favor of the squatters. The factors considered were the years of abandonment of the building, its condition and, in general, any indication that would allow us to assume the absence of a "social function" of the property. Sometimes these types of rulings were issued by higher courts when the buildings in dispute had already been vacated by order of the lower courts.
Although most cases ended in eviction, the slowness of the civil process gave expectations of a certain duration of the squatting. This, together with the rapid increase in housing prices, caused squatters to grow exponentially in the 1990s. The new penal code approved in 1996 sought to restrict them, classifying them as the crime of usurpation. The consideration of a crime considerably accelerated the eviction process, also allowing it to occur by surprise, that is, without prior notification to the illegal occupants. However, the courts usually considered the issue settled with the eviction of the occupied property, subsequently filing the case. That is to say, the legally provided sentences for the crime of usurpation have almost never been handed down, which has generated a feeling of excessive permissiveness in some owners and local public authorities. For this reason, sometimes it has been resorted to filing complaints not for usurpation but for more serious crimes such as public disorder, burglary or robbery. These complaints have not led to convictions either, as they could not be proven, but they do have a punitive effect to the extent that they force the accused to take on a tough and often expensive judicial process.
The few convictions related to squatting have been those derived from complaints of cases of resistance to authority during evictions.
In some cases, the so-called social centers have tried to legalize their situation by starting a dialogue with the institutions, similar to the negotiations that have taken place in other European countries where initially squatted places have ended up being transferred under low rent formulas or even declared of social or cultural interest. These types of dialogues have found interested interlocutors in the institutions, but in general they have not borne fruit, except partially in cases such as that of the Eskalera Karakola, Centro social Seco"), and the La Prospe school"). It is also true that other squatted centers are opposed to negotiating with institutions, as they consider that this would create dependency or acceptance of them.
In the city of Barcelona, squatting has managed to gain considerable sympathy,[26] actively involving the people of the neighborhoods in their activities and defense of spaces, also maintaining a network of social centers and squatted houses coordinated with each other that has served as a model for other places.
Currently, eviction procedures in Spain vary depending on the type of occupation and legal circumstances. If the squat is recent (less than 48 hours), security forces can act immediately if the owner proves ownership. However, if the squatters have acquired 'de facto possession', a judicial process is necessary that can last between 6 and 36 months depending on factors such as the presence of minors, the documentation presented or the saturation of the courts. In the case of the owner's habitual residence, the crime is considered trespassing, which speeds up the eviction. Some owners resort to legal strategies to speed up the process, while certain squatters use judicial resources to delay their permanence. These differences have generated a debate about the effectiveness of current legislation.[27].
In 2024, Congress approved an amendment to include the crimes of trespass and usurpation in the speedy trial procedure, expediting evictions in cases of illegal occupation. Furthermore, the Socialist Parliamentary Group proposed that, if the occupants do not present a legitimate title within 48 hours of the complaint, the judicial authority could order their immediate eviction.
Netherlands
Until October 1, 2010, the Netherlands was practically the only country in the world in which squatting was not prohibited by law. Squatting was a generally accepted and applied tool to combat the housing problem.[28].
As of that date, it was prohibited by the Occupation and Vacancies Law: A bill presented by the conservative parties Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy, Christian Union and Christian Democratic Call was in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.[28].
This law, which annulled article 429 from the Penal Code, which stipulated that squatting is not prohibited after more than one year of vacancy, prohibits squatting at any time and, on the other hand, provides for measures to combat the vacancy of commercial premises.[28].
The new Law included a series of new articles among which it is worth mentioning here art. 138:.
Whoever illegally enters or resides in a home or building whose use has been ceased by its owner, will be guilty of squatting and will be punished with a prison sentence of up to one year or a third-class fine.
If you make threats or use means to instill fear, you will be punished with a prison sentence of up to two years or a fourth category fine.
The prison sentences indicated in the first and second sections may be increased by one third if two or more people acting jointly commit the crime.
Squatting became a criminal offense which meant, among other things, that preventive detention is possible. Furthermore, the detainee has the right to a lawyer before the first interrogation. In the case of criminal offences, the maximum prison sentence may be increased by one third if, at the time of the offence, less than five years have passed since the person concerned was sentenced to a prison sentence for a similar offense (Article 43a of the Dutch Penal Code). Participation in an organization that aims to commit criminal offenses (for participation in which a maximum prison sentence of six years is imposed) is only punishable if those criminal offenses are crimes (Article 140 of the Dutch Penal Code). This creates more opportunities to take action against repeat squatters who form a structured association to occupy buildings. Finally, complicity in squatting is punishable, as is attempted squatting.[28].
A second article, art. 551 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, states that "In case of suspicion of a crime such as that described in articles 138, 138a and 139 of the Penal Code, any investigating officer may enter the corresponding place. They are authorized to expel or have expelled persons found there illegally, as well as objects found there."[28].
The police will be able to enter any premises where they believe that there are people present illegally although in the event that there is a (verbal) agreement between the owner and the squatters, it would not be an illegal presence and, therefore, the police would not be able to enter the premises. However, if adequate prior notice of eviction is given, the procedural safeguards required by Article 1 of the First Protocol to the ECHR can be considered to be met. It is then up to the squatters to remove the objects that are illegally found in the building, in view of the provisions of articles 138 and 138a of the Penal Code.[28].
History
El movimiento de "okupación" nace con el auge de los nuevos movimientos sociales emancipadores y el ciclo de la militancia a finales de la década de los 60 del siglo anterior, conincidiendo con la crisis de los 70 y con la Independencia y descolonización del llamado Tercer mundo por medio de diferentes revoluciones socialistas, en Europa y Norteamérica. Dichos movimientos rechazaron las formas de organización y representación de la Izquierda tradicional.[29] Con la recesión de mitad de 1970, y la consecuente desindustrialización "Desindustrialización (economía)"), los recortes en las políticas sociales y el acceso al crédito; la ciudad pasó de ser el sostén de los trabajadores a un medio con el que sostener el capital "Capital (economía)") con la expectativa de que éste aumentaría en un futuro. Si bien en el imaginario popular la okupación se asocia a la juventud y ciertas subculturas, históricamente ha funcionado como un modo de tener acceso a la vivienda para los grupos sociales más desfavorecidos siendo ésta más variada y compleja en su estudio.[30].
El movimiento ha tenido una fuerza significativa en Alemania, Holanda y España. Sin embargo, el movimiento está presente en muchos otros lugares de Europa (Italia, Francia, Inglaterra, etc.) y América (Chile, Argentina, Brasil, México, Venezuela, entre otros).
Beginnings: Early 20th century, interwar period and end of World War II
Outside of what is found within the collective imagination, the illegal occupation of Australia&action=edit&redlink=1 "Illegal occupation (History of Australia) (not yet written)"), the colonization processes or the phenomenon of shanty towns, historians fix the phenomenon in the interwar period and its birth in Essex with the end of the First World War due to the sharp increase in unemployment. This led to many people occupying empty council properties with the aim of establishing relief centers and even to numerous rent strikes, especially in the East End of London. In addition, there was a large increase in the number of self-built housing creation in the London suburbs as well as in Jaywick Sands and Canvey Island.[31] The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 put an end to this type of construction.[32].
With the end of the Second World War, the squatter grew on a large scale as a direct action movement against the growing number of homeless people and the lack of social support for war veterans and their families.[33] What would be called "The Vigilante campaign" began in which a group of veterans and their families squatted empty houses in Brighton, Southend and Hastings.[34] On September 8, In 1946, the Communist Party of Great Britain together with the Women's Voluntary Service and part of the London police organized "The Great Sunday Squatter" with which more than 100 families were transferred to more than a dozen empty buildings in Kensington, St John's Wood, Marylebone and Pimlico.[35] The movement spread at high speed throughout the United Kingdom and at the end of 1946 some 23,500 people They squatted about 1050 fields.[36].
Although these types of actions were well received by the press and celebrated by the public as acts of patriotism, the government drafted laws that converted them into criminal offenses. Other measures carried out by the Ministry of the Interior were to place guards in empty buildings and block those already squatted to prevent the entry of food and other supplies. They also offered the squatters immunity from prosecution if they voluntarily abandoned their home.[37] The squatted agricultural areas, where it was proven that there was no political purpose, were handed over to the squatters and over time were incorporated into the public housing system and were used by social services to house homeless families.[38].
Although in the 1930s and 1940s there were a large number of squats of cabins and houseboats, approximately 400, between the shores of Vancouver (Burrard Inlet, False Creek) and the north fork of the Fraser,[39] the first squats, properly speaking, in Vancouver were carried out as a form of protest. In May 1935 hundreds of young people squatted the current Center Carnegie Community Center") in Vancouver, formerly a library, to protest against the work camps created by the government and 3 years later the unemployed did the same with the Hotel Georgia, the main post office and the Vancouver Art Gallery. These last squats only lasted a month as the police violently evicted them.[40] The squats were repeated after the end of the Second World War, with the consequent demobilization of the military, due to the chronic shortage of housing, overcrowding and precariousness in the existing ones. This situation ended with the squatting of the Hotel Vancouver by some veterans, led by Sergeant Bob McEwen, in January 1946. The squatting caused the hotel to be transformed into a shelter for veterans and an urbanization with 600 permanent rental homes was built.[41]
In the 1930s, after the Crash of '29, there were squatting attempts in Amsterdam by many workers who lost their homes. Likewise, tenant associations were created whose purpose was to help families who were evicted find a new home. These associations installed them in empty houses, which in many cases were their own. According to the law of the time, it was only necessary to move their belongings to the occupied house so that the owner of the property would be obliged to negotiate with the families.[42] After the Second World War it became common for families to squat empty properties that were ignored by real estate companies in what was called clandestien bezetten (secret squatting). This type of squatting was carried out secretly and trying not to be detected since the success of the squat depended on it.[42].
In France, squatting is closely linked to the housing movement since the 19th century. It emerged as a phenomenon parallel to the development of housing policies and State control. After the Paris Commune and with the influence of socialist and anarchist revolutionary ideas, committees of tenants who protested against housing conditions and the price of rent emerged, such as the Ligue des antipropriétaires or Des antiproprios created in 1886, which were dedicated to organizing night moves to avoid having to pay the owners.[43] In 1911, the trade unionist Georges Cochon") created the Union of Tenants, Workers and Employees whose purpose was to help tenants who were going to be evicted and squat empty houses for them.[44] One of the union's slogans was "Let's attack the empty buildings!" The squat, which in those times was called moving, was used more as a form of protest and a tool for public denunciation in social matters. concrete through direct actions. He is considered the precursor of modern squatting strategies and methods.[43].
After the Second World War, French squatters tried to legitimize their actions with an ordinance approved by the provisional government of the French Republic that authorized the requisition of empty buildings to solve housing problems. These actions were organized by Catholic labor organizations, the most famous being the Mouvement Populaire des Familles (Popular Movement of Families)) and the Emmaus Movement "Emmaus (foundation)") of the priest Henri Grouès, better known as Abate Pierre. Squats took place in about twenty French cities, but with special emphasis on Marseille and Angers.[43].
Australia, which had been struggling after the Great Depression and during the period of World War II, suffered a record housing crisis at the end of the war due to military demobilization and the increase in birth rates. It is estimated that at least 1,000 Australians participated in squats between 1946 and 1947.[45] Australia had 1,600,000 homes in 1944 and the country's government itself estimated a deficit of 200,000 homes along with another 82,000 considered uninhabitable and another 155,000 considered of poor quality. The deficit, not counting substandard housing, amounted to about 325,000 approximately a year later.[45] Veterans were at the forefront of housing activism at this time regardless of their political thinking. With veterans and the media concerned about the many homes remaining empty, the Labor government tightened its regulations and introduced new laws to prevent cases of empty homes. Two of the most notorious cases occurred on August 3, 1945 when an ex-military man squatted a house in Sydney. Although he did it alone, a local committee of Labor and Communists was quickly created to support him, which included members of the Labor Party, Communists and the Australian Returned and Service League. At the same time, the Australian Soldiers' Legion (ASL) squatted an unoccupied house in Melbourne for a family to move to. and led to new promises from politicians in several states on emergency housing. Thus the Prime Minister announced that the state government would introduce its own legislation to give local councils and county councils the power to install tenants in homes that were disused.[45].
There were also different squats of military, municipal and government facilities in all states. Many began following the squatting of a 20-room council-owned mansion in Kings Cross&action=edit&redlink=1 "Kings Cross (NSW) (not yet redacted), New South Wales, in 1946, which remained squatted until its demolition in 1954. Also in New South Wales, military properties were squatted in places such as Moore Park, Port Kembla, and a hospital Hobart.[45].
However, it was in Queensland that the occupation of military hospitals and barracks had the greatest impact: In July 1946 when several families moved to the disused Ekibin air force hospital. In September of the same year, the Communist Party of Australia (1920) helped several families move to a military hospital in Holland Park&action=edit&redlink=1 "Holland Park (Australia) (not yet drafted)"). State government policy changed quickly and within days the rest of the camp was designated as public housing and photos of the construction work appeared in newspapers. In Queensland, military properties were also squatted in Brisbane and Townsville.[45]
Second half of the 20th century
The rebirth of the squatter movement in the United Kingdom occurred with the creation of the "Committee of 100", a collective in favor of nuclear disarmament, along with other groups including "East London Libertarian Collective", "London Anarchists" and "Solidarity and Socialist Action".[46] To denounce the terrible living conditions of many working class families who were living in slums, hostels or temporary accommodation, when the London authorities had a legal obligation to provide them with accommodation, they decided to protest through direct action.[47]
On November 18, 1968, the London Squatters Campaign, led by Jim Radford and Ron Bailey, was formed, with the aim of moving families from hostels and slums to safer homes.
On the first day of December of the same year, activists joined a group of families and occupied a block of luxury apartments on Wanstead High Street (East London) that had been empty for more than four years, and on December 25 they occupied an empty vicarage in Leyton. With the beginning of the new year, the squatting campaign intensified and families began to occupy homes that had been empty for ten years in Ilford.[49] Until the beginning of summer, seventeen homes were occupied by thirteen families. The Greater London Council took the squatters to court, even asking the Court for the restitution of a property under an Act of 1429, stating that the squatters were using force to take over the homes. [50] Faced with this statement, the judges decided to appear in the squatted homes because although British laws prohibited the access of the owners of the home to the squatted house, they required access to the magistrates. After a few days the Court, seeing no reason for the squatters to return the homes, the judge, referring to a case that occurred under the reign of George III,[d] ruled in favor of the squatters.[51] The Council appealed to the High Court which insisted that without a court order the squatters could not be evicted. Once these court orders were obtained by the Council, the squatters exchanged the homes with the aim that the people named in said orders would no longer reside there and the Council would have to start the process of obtaining the new orders again.[52].
After the setback, the Council dedicated itself to destroying the interiors of the empty houses, breaking the floor, the toilets and the electrical installations and hired a company linked to Oswald Mosley and made up of numerous militants of the far-right political party National Front "National Front (Great Britain)") who dedicated themselves to beating the squatters.[53] The company achieved numerous evictions in April, but in June the squatters regrouped and squatted. new buildings confronting the fascists again and forcing them to retreat. After the workers withdrew from the company, the news spread to the media and in the face of images of a new attempt by the fascists by throwing bottles and stones at houses, British public opinion showed its support for the squatters who were interviewed on and Radio Moscow.[54] These events caused the Council to reach an agreement with the squatters by which they received accommodation in different places.[55].
21st century
In the century, squatting in Europe has been widely linked to the phenomenon of the so-called migratory crisis or refugee crisis, especially in Greece, which despite being a transit country, suffered the gradual closure of the Balkan Route&action=edit&redlink=1 "Balkan Route (migration) (not yet drafted)") and the signing of an agreement between the European Union and Türkiye. This caused some 56,000 refugees to remain trapped in the Greek country.[135][g].
With this phenomenon, thousands of refugees also chose to squat, in addition to buildings, parks and Athenian squares despite the harassment of the authorities and the continuous violent attacks by far-right groups.[137].
The phenomenon of squatting linked to immigration has also had some importance in Spain and different cities in Italy, where the squat house Ex Moi stood out, a former Turin Olympic village squatted in 2013.[138][139].
With the Charter of Athens and the Alexandra Project), known as prosfygika and an example of Greek architectural modernism, a complex of buildings began to be built between 1933 and 1935 with the aim of meeting the objectives of the IV CIAM.
The project was left unfinished and the buildings began to deteriorate, causing fights between the City Council and local activists that finally led to the authorities deciding to protect the housing project in 2009. However, this project did not materialize, which led to the creation of the "Prosfygika Squatter Community" the following year, a collective formed by activists and immigrants affected by the (migration) crisis and that hosts initiatives and spaces such as an autonomous social center, a community kitchen, a cafeteria and a project health.[140] In 2022 the police attempted to violently evict the buildings in two operations that ended with 79 detainees.[141][142].
In September 2015, some activists squatted an abandoned government building proclaiming their <<solidarity with refugees and immigrants to cover their immediate needs (housing, food and medical care)>> being <<a self-managed solidarity project, in which people from the neighborhood and refugees and immigrants make decisions together>> where <<the decisive body is an open assembly, where all people are welcome to participate without exception>>.[143] During the Following months, similar spaces were established that were part of a larger solidarity network: Assembly of Squatters for Refugees (Sintonistikò Prosfigikon Katalipseon).[144].
Due to the Great Recession, the resulting political and social crisis, several buildings in the city were abandoned due to the bankruptcy of investment groups. The City Plaza hotel, built in 2004 for the Olympic Games, suffered the same fate: It closed in 2010 and the building was left abandoned. On April 22, 2016, activists and academics from "Solidarity Initiative for Economic and Political Refugees" squatted the building and transformed it into housing for refugees, turning it into a "center for the fight against racism and exclusion, in favor of the right to free movement, decent living conditions and equal rights." The building was adapted so that it will have a cafeteria, a library, a dentist, a pharmacy, a daycare center and carpentry and metalworking workshops. The squat lasted until July 2019, after seeking safe accommodation for those still living in the hotel.[145] During that time, more than 2,500 refugees from 13 different countries were welcomed. The majority were waiting to complete their documentation to travel to other places in Europe. At its peak, some 400 people lived in the Hotel, including 185 children.[146][147].
In film and television
In 1970, the organization of American documentary activists "Newsreel", led by William A. Price") (former UN correspondent and affiliate of the CPUSA), released the documentary "Break and Entry" about "Operation Moving" in which the efforts of 150 families, mostly from Puerto Rico, to be able to obtain affordable and safe housing in a context of extreme inequality and discrimination in the Upper West Side area, were filmed.
The film Fight Club, directed by David Fincher and starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter, is an example of this practice when the protagonist finds his apartment destroyed by an explosion and moves into what is ultimately a squat. The same thing about the place where said club takes place.
Numerous documentaries have been made for television in different countries, such as "Los okupas" made by Chilean Television in 1999.
The story of María Soledad Rosas, a young Argentine squatter in homes in Turin, Italy, who died under strange circumstances (possibly murdered simulating suicide), inspired the writer Martín Caparrós for his book Love and anarchy. The urgent life of Soledad Rosas 1974-1998, and the film director Agustina Macri for her film Soledad, starring Vera Spinetta.[173].
In 2000, again in Argentina, the series Okupas "Okupas (television series)"), directed by Bruno Stagnaro, premiered on public television "Televisión Pública (Argentina)". Although the plot starts from the squatting of a mansion by a group of friends, the narrative goes much further: the series crudely and realistically portrays life on the urban margins of Buenos Aires, exploring themes such as enmity, violence, addictions and social precariousness. With just eleven chapters, Squatters became a cult work for its direct language, its aesthetic close to independent cinema, and for having marked a generation with its stark portrait of the youth of the late '90s, just before the 2001 crisis transformed the country.
References
[4] ↑ A día de hoy la palabra okupación se encuentra en el "observatorio de la RAE.[3].
[16] ↑ Aunque el ideario puede ser similar, un centro social urbano típicamente realizará actividades relacionadas con el urbanismo; una comunidad rural, en cambio, puede centrarse en difundir un estilo de vida ecológico. Estas referencias son relativas: Dada la elevada movilidad de los grupos poblacionales relacionados con el movimiento okupa, resulta difícil establecer las características específicas de un determinado centro social.[14].
[18] ↑ Por ejemplo esta comunidad okupa berlinesa está relacionada, según el artículo, con la creación artística independiente.[15].
[54] ↑ En el caso se señalaba que <<En su cabaña, el hombre más pobre puede desafiar a todas las fuerzas de la Corona. Puede que la tormenta entre en su casa, o puede que entre la lluvia, pero no lo hará el rey de Inglaterra. Ni siquiera todas sus fuerzas osarían cruzar el umbral de una vivienda en ruinas.>>[50].
[66] ↑ BZ es la abreviación fonética de la palabra okupación en danés[61].
[93] ↑ Kraken significa en castellano abrirlo por lo que las personas pasaron a denominar a los okupas Krakers. Además los nuevos términos evocaban imágenes relacionadas con la inauguración de un edificio o el sonido de una puerta al atravesarla.[87].
[143] ↑ Las interacciones entre okupas e inmigantes se intensificaron con la creación de centros sociales y otros espacios okupados. En muchas de estas okupaciones los inmigrantes reciben asesoramiento legal y se realizan campañas para que los sin papeles tengan sus Derechos y se puedan atender sus necesidades mas inmediatas.[136].
[168] ↑ El nombre designado para la okupación (Así un okupa sería un paracaidista) surge de cuando en la década de 1940 los integrantes y familiares del Escuadrón 201 se lanzaron en paracaídas a las tierras de Iztapalapa para obligar al gobierno de Ávila Camacho a cumplir su compromiso de entregarles vivienda. Actualmente un mercado de Iztapalapa lleva el nombre del escuadrón debido a ello.[160].
[178] ↑ La reunificación de las "dos Alemanías" no sólo trajó desempleo a los orientales si no que las diferencias económicas entre ambas abocaron a los ciudadanos del Este a no poder optar a ocios o vacaciones que si se pueden tener los Occidentales (club de golfs, vacaciones en España, etc).[169].
[180] ↑ Neologismo alemán usado por los ciudadanos de la antigua República Democrática Alemana que significa "los del oeste". En contraposición los "Ossis" son "los del este" según los alemanes federales.[169][170].
An interaction and influence on those who would become the squatters in Spain on the part of the Dutch squatters is recognized, especially those influenced by the PROVO collective "Provo (movement)") of an anarchist and libertarian nature. This occurred thanks to the fact that they shared videos and graphic and audiovisual records of the practices and mobilizations they carried out in the Netherlands, from confrontations with the police to internal organization.[7].
The word okupa and its derivatives have been popularized by the press so that it is in common use, both in colloquial language and in the media, as well as in bilingual dictionaries as the Spanish equivalent of English squatter.[8] It is used in both Spanish and Catalan, Basque, Galician and other Iberian languages. However, in its meaning popularized by the press, it has been used to designate anyone who settles in an abandoned home, whether this action has a political nature or not. The term squat can also designate the squatted place.
As for the expression "squatter movement" to refer to the sociocultural movement that orbits around squats, it is also a term that has had an uneven reception. There are those who categorically affirm that there is no such movement but rather a multiplicity of squatting processes that are not necessarily related. Others prefer the plural "squatter movement" or "social center movement" for those who consider that it is the social center that gives the movement its identity. The word "squatter" referring to people has been used in recent years.
In the Spanish press and legal practice, the term "inquiokupa" has become popular to describe the tenant who accesses the home with a contract and subsequently stops paying the rent to prolong his stay; Unlike the "squatter", whose entry is without title into an uninhabited property, the former is framed in rental conflicts (e.g., eviction due to non-payment).[9].
Motivations
Contenido
Existen diversos motivos por los que se suele realizar una okupación, aunque generalmente se debe a alguno de los siguientes:.
Search for a home
In some cases these are families, groups of people or individuals who are looking for a place to live and cannot or do not want to pay rent or a mortgage. It is a social movement that understands article 47 of the Spanish Constitution, which expresses the right to enjoy housing, although it is not included in the fundamental rights and is included as a negative right, as the moral justification to enter other people's properties, both of individuals and entities, and take over its use, sometimes regardless of the damage and economic expenses that it causes to the legal owners of said properties. Generally, supporters of squatting tend to justify this by arguing that the squatted properties are abandoned or used solely for speculation.[10] On the other hand, the pressure[11] exerted by the authorities means that a certain precariousness is inherent to the squatter population,[12] which in turn energizes the movement and intensifies its protest actions.
Carrying out activities and propagating ideas
There are numerous cases of squats promoted by people who seek to create cultural and associative alternatives in the neighborhoods in which they live, through the so-called squatted social centers. To do this, they use the squatted spaces in a self-managed manner, carrying out various political, cultural or any other activities in them. Squatting is used in this way as an instrument to achieve an objective: the transformation of society. Some are ideologically linked to movements such as communism or anarchism. One cannot speak of homogeneity of the movement since there is divergence of means and objectives in each social center. The very heterogeneous nature of the movement makes it difficult to identify with a specific social group, although its ideas are usually related to anarchist thoughts. The social centers maintain fluid communication with each other, taking advantage of new technologies[13] to inform about their calls. However, they only occasionally participate in common activities, such as protest mobilizations. Generally, a social center responds to the specific context of the environment in which it is located, which will determine the nature of its activities.[b][c].
In the social centers, various social activities are carried out or coordinated, which are usually free of charge: talks on different topics (traditional agriculture, political concepts or citizen awareness), theater, dance classes, various workshops (from children's games to promotion of GNU/Linux), vegetarian dining rooms, excursions to the countryside, concerts, poetry recitals, library service, language classes for immigrants, meetings of political, environmental, artistic or anti-prison groups. Its function in many cases is similar to that of the libertarian athenaeums of the beginning of the century.[16].
Sometimes the squat is carried out only for temporary purposes and without having in mind the creation of a permanent social center, as was the case of the squat of the former headquarters of the Spanish Credit Bank of Barcelona, unoccupied since 2007 and squatted by a hundred activists at the end of September 2010 to support the general strike day of September 29.[17].
Structural aspects
Impact on urban planning
Although one of the foundations of the phenomenon is the recovery of abandoned spaces, according to some analyzes the impact of squatting is not necessarily favorable to the development of the area in which it takes place.[18][19] The phenomenon of occupation has been compared to the growth model of favela settlements in developing countries.[20] In third world countries, the process of urban growth generates spontaneous sclerotized settlements, which over time define the definitive structure of the city in which they develop. In this context, proximity to urbanized areas - and the advantages provided by communication and a developed socioeconomic environment - accelerates the settlement process, accentuating the concentration of settlement. Some authors have studied the phenomenon of occupation from two growth models, the so-called "central agent" model and the favela model:
Some authors[21] have described urban development as the effect of the flow of people and the flow -or change- of structures. In this sense, spontaneous settlements offer a small-scale paradigm of a development process parallel to that of the city in which they are part.
Regardless of their socioeconomic environment, the highly mobile nature of the squatter population is related to the so-called flow of economic movement in Third World cities: According to Hillier,[22] it is the structure of the city itself that determines the volume of population movements. Thus, "considering a city from the perspective of an axial map, the most integrated streets - from an urban planning point of view - should correspond to the most developed areas, while the least integrated streets, and the most segregated neighborhoods would be the poorest areas of the city.[23] In large cities in developing countries, where spontaneous settlements flourish, the urban structure is characterized by a marked disarticulation. Spontaneous settlement, therefore, is characterized in this environment by its proximity to highly developed areas, a significant characteristic that is not necessarily typical of squatted settlements in cities in the developed world. Some authors point out that although the defining factors of the distribution of urban settlements respond to the same factors - namely, availability of land and proximity to developed areas that offer job prospects - the contrasting nature of the urban development of developed or third world cities justifies a completely different geography of squatting.[24].
Another characteristic of the population dynamics of the third world city is centralized growth. Growth, also defined by "attraction" points favorable to settlement, therefore presents an irregular structure, which can create areas of high population concentration along with large spaces that lack factors favorable to settlement and remain unoccupied even in the long term. In any case, the development of a settlement ultimately depends not so much on its own tendency but on the policy of local authorities regarding the alienation of property.[25] This is why the legal factor is of specific importance for this type of settlement.
Legal aspects of squatting
Spain
Until the promulgation of a new penal code at the end of 1996, there was no legal figure in Spain that specifically penalized the occupation of abandoned places. This, in fact, had enjoyed a certain tolerance in previous decades as a way to partially solve the problem generated by the influx of people from the countryside to the cities. In the first years of democracy, thousands of illegal occupations of state-owned housing were legalized.
Until 1996, the legal figure used was the lack of coercion: the owner of the squatted house denounced the illegal tenants, claiming that they prevented him from using his property, which constituted coercion. A civil (not criminal) judicial process was then opened, generally lengthy, which usually ended with an eviction order from the squatted house.
There were, however, numerous exceptions: sometimes the judges ruled in favor of the squatters. The factors considered were the years of abandonment of the building, its condition and, in general, any indication that would allow us to assume the absence of a "social function" of the property. Sometimes these types of rulings were issued by higher courts when the buildings in dispute had already been vacated by order of the lower courts.
Although most cases ended in eviction, the slowness of the civil process gave expectations of a certain duration of the squatting. This, together with the rapid increase in housing prices, caused squatters to grow exponentially in the 1990s. The new penal code approved in 1996 sought to restrict them, classifying them as the crime of usurpation. The consideration of a crime considerably accelerated the eviction process, also allowing it to occur by surprise, that is, without prior notification to the illegal occupants. However, the courts usually considered the issue settled with the eviction of the occupied property, subsequently filing the case. That is to say, the legally provided sentences for the crime of usurpation have almost never been handed down, which has generated a feeling of excessive permissiveness in some owners and local public authorities. For this reason, sometimes it has been resorted to filing complaints not for usurpation but for more serious crimes such as public disorder, burglary or robbery. These complaints have not led to convictions either, as they could not be proven, but they do have a punitive effect to the extent that they force the accused to take on a tough and often expensive judicial process.
The few convictions related to squatting have been those derived from complaints of cases of resistance to authority during evictions.
In some cases, the so-called social centers have tried to legalize their situation by starting a dialogue with the institutions, similar to the negotiations that have taken place in other European countries where initially squatted places have ended up being transferred under low rent formulas or even declared of social or cultural interest. These types of dialogues have found interested interlocutors in the institutions, but in general they have not borne fruit, except partially in cases such as that of the Eskalera Karakola, Centro social Seco"), and the La Prospe school"). It is also true that other squatted centers are opposed to negotiating with institutions, as they consider that this would create dependency or acceptance of them.
In the city of Barcelona, squatting has managed to gain considerable sympathy,[26] actively involving the people of the neighborhoods in their activities and defense of spaces, also maintaining a network of social centers and squatted houses coordinated with each other that has served as a model for other places.
Currently, eviction procedures in Spain vary depending on the type of occupation and legal circumstances. If the squat is recent (less than 48 hours), security forces can act immediately if the owner proves ownership. However, if the squatters have acquired 'de facto possession', a judicial process is necessary that can last between 6 and 36 months depending on factors such as the presence of minors, the documentation presented or the saturation of the courts. In the case of the owner's habitual residence, the crime is considered trespassing, which speeds up the eviction. Some owners resort to legal strategies to speed up the process, while certain squatters use judicial resources to delay their permanence. These differences have generated a debate about the effectiveness of current legislation.[27].
In 2024, Congress approved an amendment to include the crimes of trespass and usurpation in the speedy trial procedure, expediting evictions in cases of illegal occupation. Furthermore, the Socialist Parliamentary Group proposed that, if the occupants do not present a legitimate title within 48 hours of the complaint, the judicial authority could order their immediate eviction.
Netherlands
Until October 1, 2010, the Netherlands was practically the only country in the world in which squatting was not prohibited by law. Squatting was a generally accepted and applied tool to combat the housing problem.[28].
As of that date, it was prohibited by the Occupation and Vacancies Law: A bill presented by the conservative parties Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy, Christian Union and Christian Democratic Call was in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.[28].
This law, which annulled article 429 from the Penal Code, which stipulated that squatting is not prohibited after more than one year of vacancy, prohibits squatting at any time and, on the other hand, provides for measures to combat the vacancy of commercial premises.[28].
The new Law included a series of new articles among which it is worth mentioning here art. 138:.
Whoever illegally enters or resides in a home or building whose use has been ceased by its owner, will be guilty of squatting and will be punished with a prison sentence of up to one year or a third-class fine.
If you make threats or use means to instill fear, you will be punished with a prison sentence of up to two years or a fourth category fine.
The prison sentences indicated in the first and second sections may be increased by one third if two or more people acting jointly commit the crime.
Squatting became a criminal offense which meant, among other things, that preventive detention is possible. Furthermore, the detainee has the right to a lawyer before the first interrogation. In the case of criminal offences, the maximum prison sentence may be increased by one third if, at the time of the offence, less than five years have passed since the person concerned was sentenced to a prison sentence for a similar offense (Article 43a of the Dutch Penal Code). Participation in an organization that aims to commit criminal offenses (for participation in which a maximum prison sentence of six years is imposed) is only punishable if those criminal offenses are crimes (Article 140 of the Dutch Penal Code). This creates more opportunities to take action against repeat squatters who form a structured association to occupy buildings. Finally, complicity in squatting is punishable, as is attempted squatting.[28].
A second article, art. 551 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, states that "In case of suspicion of a crime such as that described in articles 138, 138a and 139 of the Penal Code, any investigating officer may enter the corresponding place. They are authorized to expel or have expelled persons found there illegally, as well as objects found there."[28].
The police will be able to enter any premises where they believe that there are people present illegally although in the event that there is a (verbal) agreement between the owner and the squatters, it would not be an illegal presence and, therefore, the police would not be able to enter the premises. However, if adequate prior notice of eviction is given, the procedural safeguards required by Article 1 of the First Protocol to the ECHR can be considered to be met. It is then up to the squatters to remove the objects that are illegally found in the building, in view of the provisions of articles 138 and 138a of the Penal Code.[28].
History
El movimiento de "okupación" nace con el auge de los nuevos movimientos sociales emancipadores y el ciclo de la militancia a finales de la década de los 60 del siglo anterior, conincidiendo con la crisis de los 70 y con la Independencia y descolonización del llamado Tercer mundo por medio de diferentes revoluciones socialistas, en Europa y Norteamérica. Dichos movimientos rechazaron las formas de organización y representación de la Izquierda tradicional.[29] Con la recesión de mitad de 1970, y la consecuente desindustrialización "Desindustrialización (economía)"), los recortes en las políticas sociales y el acceso al crédito; la ciudad pasó de ser el sostén de los trabajadores a un medio con el que sostener el capital "Capital (economía)") con la expectativa de que éste aumentaría en un futuro. Si bien en el imaginario popular la okupación se asocia a la juventud y ciertas subculturas, históricamente ha funcionado como un modo de tener acceso a la vivienda para los grupos sociales más desfavorecidos siendo ésta más variada y compleja en su estudio.[30].
El movimiento ha tenido una fuerza significativa en Alemania, Holanda y España. Sin embargo, el movimiento está presente en muchos otros lugares de Europa (Italia, Francia, Inglaterra, etc.) y América (Chile, Argentina, Brasil, México, Venezuela, entre otros).
Beginnings: Early 20th century, interwar period and end of World War II
Outside of what is found within the collective imagination, the illegal occupation of Australia&action=edit&redlink=1 "Illegal occupation (History of Australia) (not yet written)"), the colonization processes or the phenomenon of shanty towns, historians fix the phenomenon in the interwar period and its birth in Essex with the end of the First World War due to the sharp increase in unemployment. This led to many people occupying empty council properties with the aim of establishing relief centers and even to numerous rent strikes, especially in the East End of London. In addition, there was a large increase in the number of self-built housing creation in the London suburbs as well as in Jaywick Sands and Canvey Island.[31] The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 put an end to this type of construction.[32].
With the end of the Second World War, the squatter grew on a large scale as a direct action movement against the growing number of homeless people and the lack of social support for war veterans and their families.[33] What would be called "The Vigilante campaign" began in which a group of veterans and their families squatted empty houses in Brighton, Southend and Hastings.[34] On September 8, In 1946, the Communist Party of Great Britain together with the Women's Voluntary Service and part of the London police organized "The Great Sunday Squatter" with which more than 100 families were transferred to more than a dozen empty buildings in Kensington, St John's Wood, Marylebone and Pimlico.[35] The movement spread at high speed throughout the United Kingdom and at the end of 1946 some 23,500 people They squatted about 1050 fields.[36].
Although these types of actions were well received by the press and celebrated by the public as acts of patriotism, the government drafted laws that converted them into criminal offenses. Other measures carried out by the Ministry of the Interior were to place guards in empty buildings and block those already squatted to prevent the entry of food and other supplies. They also offered the squatters immunity from prosecution if they voluntarily abandoned their home.[37] The squatted agricultural areas, where it was proven that there was no political purpose, were handed over to the squatters and over time were incorporated into the public housing system and were used by social services to house homeless families.[38].
Although in the 1930s and 1940s there were a large number of squats of cabins and houseboats, approximately 400, between the shores of Vancouver (Burrard Inlet, False Creek) and the north fork of the Fraser,[39] the first squats, properly speaking, in Vancouver were carried out as a form of protest. In May 1935 hundreds of young people squatted the current Center Carnegie Community Center") in Vancouver, formerly a library, to protest against the work camps created by the government and 3 years later the unemployed did the same with the Hotel Georgia, the main post office and the Vancouver Art Gallery. These last squats only lasted a month as the police violently evicted them.[40] The squats were repeated after the end of the Second World War, with the consequent demobilization of the military, due to the chronic shortage of housing, overcrowding and precariousness in the existing ones. This situation ended with the squatting of the Hotel Vancouver by some veterans, led by Sergeant Bob McEwen, in January 1946. The squatting caused the hotel to be transformed into a shelter for veterans and an urbanization with 600 permanent rental homes was built.[41]
In the 1930s, after the Crash of '29, there were squatting attempts in Amsterdam by many workers who lost their homes. Likewise, tenant associations were created whose purpose was to help families who were evicted find a new home. These associations installed them in empty houses, which in many cases were their own. According to the law of the time, it was only necessary to move their belongings to the occupied house so that the owner of the property would be obliged to negotiate with the families.[42] After the Second World War it became common for families to squat empty properties that were ignored by real estate companies in what was called clandestien bezetten (secret squatting). This type of squatting was carried out secretly and trying not to be detected since the success of the squat depended on it.[42].
In France, squatting is closely linked to the housing movement since the 19th century. It emerged as a phenomenon parallel to the development of housing policies and State control. After the Paris Commune and with the influence of socialist and anarchist revolutionary ideas, committees of tenants who protested against housing conditions and the price of rent emerged, such as the Ligue des antipropriétaires or Des antiproprios created in 1886, which were dedicated to organizing night moves to avoid having to pay the owners.[43] In 1911, the trade unionist Georges Cochon") created the Union of Tenants, Workers and Employees whose purpose was to help tenants who were going to be evicted and squat empty houses for them.[44] One of the union's slogans was "Let's attack the empty buildings!" The squat, which in those times was called moving, was used more as a form of protest and a tool for public denunciation in social matters. concrete through direct actions. He is considered the precursor of modern squatting strategies and methods.[43].
After the Second World War, French squatters tried to legitimize their actions with an ordinance approved by the provisional government of the French Republic that authorized the requisition of empty buildings to solve housing problems. These actions were organized by Catholic labor organizations, the most famous being the Mouvement Populaire des Familles (Popular Movement of Families)) and the Emmaus Movement "Emmaus (foundation)") of the priest Henri Grouès, better known as Abate Pierre. Squats took place in about twenty French cities, but with special emphasis on Marseille and Angers.[43].
Australia, which had been struggling after the Great Depression and during the period of World War II, suffered a record housing crisis at the end of the war due to military demobilization and the increase in birth rates. It is estimated that at least 1,000 Australians participated in squats between 1946 and 1947.[45] Australia had 1,600,000 homes in 1944 and the country's government itself estimated a deficit of 200,000 homes along with another 82,000 considered uninhabitable and another 155,000 considered of poor quality. The deficit, not counting substandard housing, amounted to about 325,000 approximately a year later.[45] Veterans were at the forefront of housing activism at this time regardless of their political thinking. With veterans and the media concerned about the many homes remaining empty, the Labor government tightened its regulations and introduced new laws to prevent cases of empty homes. Two of the most notorious cases occurred on August 3, 1945 when an ex-military man squatted a house in Sydney. Although he did it alone, a local committee of Labor and Communists was quickly created to support him, which included members of the Labor Party, Communists and the Australian Returned and Service League. At the same time, the Australian Soldiers' Legion (ASL) squatted an unoccupied house in Melbourne for a family to move to. and led to new promises from politicians in several states on emergency housing. Thus the Prime Minister announced that the state government would introduce its own legislation to give local councils and county councils the power to install tenants in homes that were disused.[45].
There were also different squats of military, municipal and government facilities in all states. Many began following the squatting of a 20-room council-owned mansion in Kings Cross&action=edit&redlink=1 "Kings Cross (NSW) (not yet redacted), New South Wales, in 1946, which remained squatted until its demolition in 1954. Also in New South Wales, military properties were squatted in places such as Moore Park, Port Kembla, and a hospital Hobart.[45].
However, it was in Queensland that the occupation of military hospitals and barracks had the greatest impact: In July 1946 when several families moved to the disused Ekibin air force hospital. In September of the same year, the Communist Party of Australia (1920) helped several families move to a military hospital in Holland Park&action=edit&redlink=1 "Holland Park (Australia) (not yet drafted)"). State government policy changed quickly and within days the rest of the camp was designated as public housing and photos of the construction work appeared in newspapers. In Queensland, military properties were also squatted in Brisbane and Townsville.[45]
Second half of the 20th century
The rebirth of the squatter movement in the United Kingdom occurred with the creation of the "Committee of 100", a collective in favor of nuclear disarmament, along with other groups including "East London Libertarian Collective", "London Anarchists" and "Solidarity and Socialist Action".[46] To denounce the terrible living conditions of many working class families who were living in slums, hostels or temporary accommodation, when the London authorities had a legal obligation to provide them with accommodation, they decided to protest through direct action.[47]
On November 18, 1968, the London Squatters Campaign, led by Jim Radford and Ron Bailey, was formed, with the aim of moving families from hostels and slums to safer homes.
On the first day of December of the same year, activists joined a group of families and occupied a block of luxury apartments on Wanstead High Street (East London) that had been empty for more than four years, and on December 25 they occupied an empty vicarage in Leyton. With the beginning of the new year, the squatting campaign intensified and families began to occupy homes that had been empty for ten years in Ilford.[49] Until the beginning of summer, seventeen homes were occupied by thirteen families. The Greater London Council took the squatters to court, even asking the Court for the restitution of a property under an Act of 1429, stating that the squatters were using force to take over the homes. [50] Faced with this statement, the judges decided to appear in the squatted homes because although British laws prohibited the access of the owners of the home to the squatted house, they required access to the magistrates. After a few days the Court, seeing no reason for the squatters to return the homes, the judge, referring to a case that occurred under the reign of George III,[d] ruled in favor of the squatters.[51] The Council appealed to the High Court which insisted that without a court order the squatters could not be evicted. Once these court orders were obtained by the Council, the squatters exchanged the homes with the aim that the people named in said orders would no longer reside there and the Council would have to start the process of obtaining the new orders again.[52].
After the setback, the Council dedicated itself to destroying the interiors of the empty houses, breaking the floor, the toilets and the electrical installations and hired a company linked to Oswald Mosley and made up of numerous militants of the far-right political party National Front "National Front (Great Britain)") who dedicated themselves to beating the squatters.[53] The company achieved numerous evictions in April, but in June the squatters regrouped and squatted. new buildings confronting the fascists again and forcing them to retreat. After the workers withdrew from the company, the news spread to the media and in the face of images of a new attempt by the fascists by throwing bottles and stones at houses, British public opinion showed its support for the squatters who were interviewed on and Radio Moscow.[54] These events caused the Council to reach an agreement with the squatters by which they received accommodation in different places.[55].
21st century
In the century, squatting in Europe has been widely linked to the phenomenon of the so-called migratory crisis or refugee crisis, especially in Greece, which despite being a transit country, suffered the gradual closure of the Balkan Route&action=edit&redlink=1 "Balkan Route (migration) (not yet drafted)") and the signing of an agreement between the European Union and Türkiye. This caused some 56,000 refugees to remain trapped in the Greek country.[135][g].
With this phenomenon, thousands of refugees also chose to squat, in addition to buildings, parks and Athenian squares despite the harassment of the authorities and the continuous violent attacks by far-right groups.[137].
The phenomenon of squatting linked to immigration has also had some importance in Spain and different cities in Italy, where the squat house Ex Moi stood out, a former Turin Olympic village squatted in 2013.[138][139].
With the Charter of Athens and the Alexandra Project), known as prosfygika and an example of Greek architectural modernism, a complex of buildings began to be built between 1933 and 1935 with the aim of meeting the objectives of the IV CIAM.
The project was left unfinished and the buildings began to deteriorate, causing fights between the City Council and local activists that finally led to the authorities deciding to protect the housing project in 2009. However, this project did not materialize, which led to the creation of the "Prosfygika Squatter Community" the following year, a collective formed by activists and immigrants affected by the (migration) crisis and that hosts initiatives and spaces such as an autonomous social center, a community kitchen, a cafeteria and a project health.[140] In 2022 the police attempted to violently evict the buildings in two operations that ended with 79 detainees.[141][142].
In September 2015, some activists squatted an abandoned government building proclaiming their <<solidarity with refugees and immigrants to cover their immediate needs (housing, food and medical care)>> being <<a self-managed solidarity project, in which people from the neighborhood and refugees and immigrants make decisions together>> where <<the decisive body is an open assembly, where all people are welcome to participate without exception>>.[143] During the Following months, similar spaces were established that were part of a larger solidarity network: Assembly of Squatters for Refugees (Sintonistikò Prosfigikon Katalipseon).[144].
Due to the Great Recession, the resulting political and social crisis, several buildings in the city were abandoned due to the bankruptcy of investment groups. The City Plaza hotel, built in 2004 for the Olympic Games, suffered the same fate: It closed in 2010 and the building was left abandoned. On April 22, 2016, activists and academics from "Solidarity Initiative for Economic and Political Refugees" squatted the building and transformed it into housing for refugees, turning it into a "center for the fight against racism and exclusion, in favor of the right to free movement, decent living conditions and equal rights." The building was adapted so that it will have a cafeteria, a library, a dentist, a pharmacy, a daycare center and carpentry and metalworking workshops. The squat lasted until July 2019, after seeking safe accommodation for those still living in the hotel.[145] During that time, more than 2,500 refugees from 13 different countries were welcomed. The majority were waiting to complete their documentation to travel to other places in Europe. At its peak, some 400 people lived in the Hotel, including 185 children.[146][147].
In film and television
In 1970, the organization of American documentary activists "Newsreel", led by William A. Price") (former UN correspondent and affiliate of the CPUSA), released the documentary "Break and Entry" about "Operation Moving" in which the efforts of 150 families, mostly from Puerto Rico, to be able to obtain affordable and safe housing in a context of extreme inequality and discrimination in the Upper West Side area, were filmed.
The film Fight Club, directed by David Fincher and starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter, is an example of this practice when the protagonist finds his apartment destroyed by an explosion and moves into what is ultimately a squat. The same thing about the place where said club takes place.
Numerous documentaries have been made for television in different countries, such as "Los okupas" made by Chilean Television in 1999.
The story of María Soledad Rosas, a young Argentine squatter in homes in Turin, Italy, who died under strange circumstances (possibly murdered simulating suicide), inspired the writer Martín Caparrós for his book Love and anarchy. The urgent life of Soledad Rosas 1974-1998, and the film director Agustina Macri for her film Soledad, starring Vera Spinetta.[173].
In 2000, again in Argentina, the series Okupas "Okupas (television series)"), directed by Bruno Stagnaro, premiered on public television "Televisión Pública (Argentina)". Although the plot starts from the squatting of a mansion by a group of friends, the narrative goes much further: the series crudely and realistically portrays life on the urban margins of Buenos Aires, exploring themes such as enmity, violence, addictions and social precariousness. With just eleven chapters, Squatters became a cult work for its direct language, its aesthetic close to independent cinema, and for having marked a generation with its stark portrait of the youth of the late '90s, just before the 2001 crisis transformed the country.
References
[4] ↑ A día de hoy la palabra okupación se encuentra en el "observatorio de la RAE.[3].
[16] ↑ Aunque el ideario puede ser similar, un centro social urbano típicamente realizará actividades relacionadas con el urbanismo; una comunidad rural, en cambio, puede centrarse en difundir un estilo de vida ecológico. Estas referencias son relativas: Dada la elevada movilidad de los grupos poblacionales relacionados con el movimiento okupa, resulta difícil establecer las características específicas de un determinado centro social.[14].
[18] ↑ Por ejemplo esta comunidad okupa berlinesa está relacionada, según el artículo, con la creación artística independiente.[15].
[54] ↑ En el caso se señalaba que <<En su cabaña, el hombre más pobre puede desafiar a todas las fuerzas de la Corona. Puede que la tormenta entre en su casa, o puede que entre la lluvia, pero no lo hará el rey de Inglaterra. Ni siquiera todas sus fuerzas osarían cruzar el umbral de una vivienda en ruinas.>>[50].
[66] ↑ BZ es la abreviación fonética de la palabra okupación en danés[61].
[93] ↑ Kraken significa en castellano abrirlo por lo que las personas pasaron a denominar a los okupas Krakers. Además los nuevos términos evocaban imágenes relacionadas con la inauguración de un edificio o el sonido de una puerta al atravesarla.[87].
[143] ↑ Las interacciones entre okupas e inmigantes se intensificaron con la creación de centros sociales y otros espacios okupados. En muchas de estas okupaciones los inmigrantes reciben asesoramiento legal y se realizan campañas para que los sin papeles tengan sus Derechos y se puedan atender sus necesidades mas inmediatas.[136].
[168] ↑ El nombre designado para la okupación (Así un okupa sería un paracaidista) surge de cuando en la década de 1940 los integrantes y familiares del Escuadrón 201 se lanzaron en paracaídas a las tierras de Iztapalapa para obligar al gobierno de Ávila Camacho a cumplir su compromiso de entregarles vivienda. Actualmente un mercado de Iztapalapa lleva el nombre del escuadrón debido a ello.[160].
[178] ↑ La reunificación de las "dos Alemanías" no sólo trajó desempleo a los orientales si no que las diferencias económicas entre ambas abocaron a los ciudadanos del Este a no poder optar a ocios o vacaciones que si se pueden tener los Occidentales (club de golfs, vacaciones en España, etc).[169].
[180] ↑ Neologismo alemán usado por los ciudadanos de la antigua República Democrática Alemana que significa "los del oeste". En contraposición los "Ossis" son "los del este" según los alemanes federales.[169][170].
Izvestia
With the peak of "operaismo and fabriquismo" and in the context of the hot autumn of 1969, at the beginning of the 1970s there were numerous squats in Turin, Pisa and Milan by workers coming from Southern Italy. Thus, the demonstrations and strikes moved from the factory environment to other areas of life. The working class began to protest against housing conditions and massive apartment squats took place. vacancies and rent strikes (with the slogans <<The only fair rent is the one that does not exist>> and <<Housing is a right. Why pay rent?>>) were widespread and prolonged.[56].
On January 22, 1971 in Milan, 25 homeless families living in shelters occupied an abandoned apartment block owned by the Autonomous Institute Casa Popular on Via Mac Mahon. Once inside, they waved the red flag, began building barricades and hanging banners that read "All Power to the People." The next morning more families arrived. Throughout the day the local opinion that roamed the area showed their support and rallies were held in the surrounding area in their favor. Around 2:30 p.m., about 2,000 police officers arrived and surrounded the building and began to fire tear gas into the building and ended up arresting 25 people and taking another 66 for interrogation. The rest of the occupants were offered the possibility of being taken back to the shelters by transport, however they rejected that possibility. Outside the building, a large number of people gathered who, despite the police charges and the use of tear gas, marched towards the Quarto Oggiaro Social Center with the intention of occupying it. The City Council offered some families housing immediately and promised to give it to the rest of the families as soon as possible. This solution was rejected and they remained together until they were all rehoused at the same time.[56].
However, the most iconic of the occupations took place on Via Tibaldi, in June 1971, in which an entire neighborhood participated. From workers at Pirelli and other smaller factories, university students and the building workers themselves. Seventy families, immigrants from southern Italy to whom the Milan City Council had promised a place and who had to be rehoused, together with students, occupied houses, streets, the University's Faculty of Architecture and even the town hall in six days. During the six days that the altercations lasted, the police, approximately 3,000, attempted to evict them with tear gas twice and were repelled both times. After the third attempt, the occupants agreed to be temporarily rehoused by a charity. The City Council was forced to give in to the requests of the squatters and citizens and homes were assigned to the 70 families and 140 more who had been evicted and were staying in shelters.[56][57].
In the early hours of Saturday, April 27, 1971, the beginning of Red Week&action=edit&redlink=1 "Red Week (occupations in Rome) (not yet written)" took place. This began when about 30 families from the Tiburtino district occupied some municipal buildings. In the morning more families from Quarticciolo and San Basilio joined. In the afternoon they met and reached a consensus by which it was concluded that if the buildings were private the City Council should buy them and give them to them since their old municipal buildings needed urgent renovations. Around 8 in the afternoon the 400 municipally owned apartments were occupied and other families who arrived began to occupy those owned by EMPADAI. The next morning more families arrived and occupied apartments without knowing whether they were municipal or privately owned.[58].
On Monday, with the arrival of the workers from adjacent buildings, they decide to take the day off and meet with the squatters and one of them even informed them that he would return in the afternoon with his family to squat one of the homes. A permanent assembly was created on the street to address the problems that arose while the influx of families continued, so a commission was created. In addition, a delegation was created to meet with the City Council and was ultimately not received by it. At the same time, other buildings continued to be occupied and the squatters wrote a press release and prepared for the arrival of the police by building barricades. Around eight in the morning on Tuesday, the police charges began that lasted until twelve noon and in the afternoon several families began to camp outside the squatted blocks.[58].
Even though the police are on duty, on Wednesday they squat apartments again, although they are immediately expelled. Given this, the citizens of the neighborhood confront the squatters against the police, surrounding police vans and cell phones, so the police are forced to flee until the arrival of reinforcements who proceeded to arrest many people. The next day the police brigades continued patrolling the neighborhood with fear of the possible reaction of the workers who wandered there constantly and finally decided to arrest more people.[58].
On Friday and Saturday there are meetings of families and university students who decide to spend a few days to re-occupy the buildings and the objectives to follow. However, on Saturday night they decided to squat Carpineto Romano and after placing barricades, fifty families confronted the police who finally had to withdraw. With dawn on Monday, the violent confrontations occurred again with the same result.[58].
In June of the same year, buildings were again squatted in San Basilio&action=edit&redlink=1 "San Basilio (neighborhood of Rome) (not yet written)"), a small working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. In San Basilio, rent strikes, fights for housing and better public services began in April. In May, while a Christian Democracy rally "Christian Democracy (Italy)") was being held for the mayoral elections, there were clashes between the riot police, about seven hundred, and about 150 people who became about 1,000 as the hostilities progressed. Finally, on June 5, 20 families squatted a building, but it was impossible to keep them squatted because they were privately owned. The following Wednesday, the 7th, they squatted in Centocelle&action=edit&redlink=1 "Centocelle (neighborhood of Rome) (not yet written)") and Pietralata&action=edit&redlink=1 "Pietralata (neighborhood of Rome) (not yet written)").[59].
The squatter movement was active since 1966, with its epicenter in the working-class neighborhood of Nørrebro "Nørrebro (Copenhagen)").[60] called stoermerbevægelesen, During the following decades historians number three squatter movements in the city. The first movement, called stoermerbevægelesen, was located mainly in the city center and was closely linked to the counterculture and the creation in other neighborhoods of tenant associations and other Community initiatives. The second movement, dating from the early 1980s, was composed of the BZ movement.[e] This movement was more conflictive and had an anti-capitalist spirit. The third emerged in the 1990s with the dissolution of the BZ movement and was located throughout the country.[62].
The first squat in Copenhagen took place in February 1963 by the socialist and anti-imperialist organization Gruppe 61. Two years later, some young people squatted some ruined houses from the Siglo where they formed an autonomous community of about 150 people known as the Republic of Sofiegården. After a negotiation with the owner they were allowed to keep them, but they were finally evicted by the police between 1969 and 1970. After the eviction the former residents became involved in the creation of houses for students and the squatting of other abandoned buildings in the city. (slum raiders). The "raiders" formed numerous communities that were inspired by the hippie movement.[64].
In the early seventies a group of squatters had a community-based approach with the intention of fighting against the redevelopment of the city, the lack of affordable housing and the displacement of the working class from central Copenhagen. There were a series of groups among which the Danish Vietnam Committee (De Danske Vietnamkomitéer), the Black Panther Solidarity Committee, the action collective for the right to housing Boligfronten stood out. However, the best known was Nørrebo Beboeraktion (NB), Nørrebro Residents' Association, which was active between 1973 and 1980. NB squatted an empty building in Nørrebro that became known as The People's House. It was located in what was called "the black square", a ruined area whose buildings were filled with soot from the century-old factories located around it. NB's demands were based on the right that residents had to participate in the remodeling of their neighborhood and therefore, because the buildings were in poor condition, they developed and tried to implement a project to rebuild the area and to improve community services, which was ignored by the authorities.[65][66].
Under the motto Handling gi'r forvandling (Action leads to transformation) they dedicated themselves to patrolling the neighborhood buildings, renovating them and protecting the oldest ones to prevent the eviction of tenants. As protest techniques they organized parades, theatrical performances and the squatting of buildings and open spaces without using violence. They also organized training courses for activists and created the Byggeren playground.[67].
On April 29, 1980, what would become known as the "Battle of Byggeren" occurred, which ended with the eviction, demolition of the playground and dissolution of the NB. In this "battle" the authorities mobilized more than 800 police officers to help the demolition team that demolished the structures that the squatters had improvised. Faced with this act of violence in which several squatters were almost crushed by the bulldozers, the activists and tenants of the neighborhood responded by creating barricades with construction containers, requisitioned a city bus which they used to block traffic and finally managed to expel the police forces from Nørrebro.[68] This triggered a series of violent clashes over the following two weeks in which protesters and police were injured and numerous arrests were made.[69]
With the disappearance of NB, a second wave of squatters emerged, known as the BZ, which coincided in time with the wave of squatters in Berlin, Zurich, Freiburg and Amsterdam in the early 1980s and mid-1981. The BZ movement was inspired by the autonomism that emerged in the late 1970s in Italy.[70] In August 1981, they created the self-managed center Initivgruppen whose purpose was to demand the provision of housing for young people. In the center there were members of socialist organizations, punks, feminists from the Redstockings Movement and students from the Free Gymnasium School.[71].
A study showed that throughout the history of the BZ movement, from 181 to 1994, they carried out just over 538 initiatives, of which 116 were directly related to squats. The rest is divided into 81 incidents with the police forces, 41 related to environmentalism, 58 acts against members of the extreme right and the rest of the actions were dedicated to problems in the city itself.[72].
In October 1981, Initivgruppen carried out symbolic squats (on the 15th they did the same with an empty bakery in Nørrebro) and real ones (on the 24th they squatted an old rubber factory in the same neighborhood). Faced with the occupation of the factory, the police acted quickly and violently. The police used tear gas and fired warning shots during the eviction.[73] The clashes became increasingly violent and days later they squatted an abandoned monastery in Vesterbro.[70].
In March 1982, two houses in Vesterbro itself were squatted, as well as an old museum. While in Nørrebro, during the following months, what would be the most famous houses of the movement (Allotria, Den Lille Fjer and Bazooka) were squatted, where cafes, pubs, music venues and workshops were created.[74] At that same time, a group of retirees known as The Gray Panthers squatted two houses on Korsgade Street.[75].
In October 1982, the local authorities and the management of what was the Folkets Hus gave the headquarters of the labor movement to the squatters in 1897, in exchange for the city retaining ownership of the space. The squatters turned it into Ungdomshuset or House of Youth which served as a meeting center for the BZ among other things.[76] However, other previously squatted buildings did not suffer the same fate and were evicted by the police. For the eviction of Allotria, a thousand police officers were used, who were avoided by the squatters when they escaped through a tunnel they had dug. Despite the fact that public opinion was in favor of the squatters, the authorities demolished this and other buildings.[77].
Starting in 1983, the BZ squatted several empty houses and blocks in Østerbro, Indre By, Nørrebro and Vesterbro").[72]
Although it was not until the early 1990s that the BZ movement began to dissolve, the "Battle of Ryesgade" in September 1986 and the consequent eviction was a severe blow to it.[78]
In September 1971 the creation of The Free City of Christiania (Fristaden Christiania) took place:[79].
In early September 1971 the residents of Christianshavn tore down the fence surrounding the abandoned barracks near the old city walls. After that they created a playground for their children. On the 26th of that month, activists led by the founder of the alternative newspaper Hovedbladet Jacob Ludvigsen) entered the more than 35 hectares of abandoned barracks and workshops. The experience was described in the Hovedbladet along with an "invitation" to the "settlers" to join together to build an alternative city in what was called forbudte by (forbidden city). This led to young people settling in the barracks to carry out "shared experiments ("samværseksperimenter").[64][80].
Both the Ministry of Defense and the City Council were reluctant to intervene and in November 1971, after a meeting between them and other representatives from different ministries, they came to the conclusion that the relationship between them and the squatters had to be normalized.[81] In a manifesto from the squatters, their intentions were set out.
At the beginning of 1972 about 500 people lived in Christiania and in May the authorities and the squatters signed an agreement in which the government declared Christiania a temporary "social experiment" and allowed the squatters to continue living there until the use of the former military installations was decided. This agreement allowed the residents who lived there to experiment with alternative ways of life, although these were supported by a prosperous underground economy that included the sale of drugs.[83].
According to estimates by sociologist Eric Duivenvoorden, up to 70,000 people carried out squats between 1964 and 1999.
The first of these stages would correspond to the time of the Provo Movement "Provo (movement)") which, upon dissolving, donated part of its profits to one of the three groups that began to squat homes as a form of protest against the lack of social housing at the end of the 1960s: The WdK, Woningsburo de Kraker or (Housing Agency for Squatters)[85] The other two groups were Woningsburo de Koevoet (Palanca Real Estate Agency) and De Commune (The Commune).[86].
The Wdk advised people on how to squat and how to make an empty house a home. For the Agency, the squat went from being a public act and not something that should be done in secret. To do this, they created new terms and the verb squat was renamed kraken and the squatters were renamed Krakers.[f][87] During 1969, a series of squats were carried out by the Wdk that managed to highlight the housing problem and drew attention to the benefits that practical and autonomous solutions could give to that problem. Because numerous people came to the Agency in May 1969, they published a 14-page guide entitled "Guide for squatters" under the motto "Do it yourself!" It gave detailed instructions on how to squat and repair a house and explained the legal ins and outs to know.[88].
At the same time a group of former Provos formed a political movement called Kabouter, Gnomes, and began squatting buildings as part of their Oranje Vrijstaat (Orange Free State). The Kabouter would end up joining other squatter groups, including the WdK, in 1970. On May 5 of that year, coinciding with Liberation Day from the Nazi armies "Liberation Day (Netherlands)"), they squatted several buildings throughout the country.[86] Although the majority of the squatters were evicted in June, Kabouter showed up at Amsterdam municipal elections obtaining 11% of the votes. With the disappearance of the party due to internal differences, the first wave of the movement ended.[89].
In 1971, a ruling by the Dutch Court of Appeal stating that squatters had the same right to domestic peace as homeowners as long as the home had been unoccupied for more than a year gave rise to the second wave. In this context, Surinamese immigrant families from Bijlmermeer squatted housing complexes due to high prices and racial discrimination in the real estate market. With the help of the Suriname Action Committee and the Suriname and Antilles Housing Working Group more than 100 houses were squatted in 1974 and demonstrations, rent strikes, photo exhibitions and workshops were held to raise awareness of the problems in the housing market.[90].
At the same time, the squat developed in Nieuwmarkt&action=edit&redlink=1 "Nieuwmarkt (Amsterdam) (not yet written)") in 1970 by activists and with the help of neighbors opposed to the demolition of the Jewish quarter of the Century, which had deteriorated since its residents were deported and murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War.[84] This caused construction plans to be stopped. and allowed the squatters to experience new ways of life in the Community and create a series of infrastructures such as their own telephone network with which they could call sympathizers. They also created Kraakspereekuren throughout the city with which they offered assistance and information to those who wanted to squat and helped maintain the already squatted houses.[91][92].
With the beginning of the subway works in 1975 there was a large police deployment in March to evict the squatters who had set up barricades and built bridges on the roofs to move from building to building. This helped the police to demolish the buildings, displacing those who lived there. However, this action allowed the movement to gain a greater number of sympathizers and the remodeling plans were finally modified, canceling the construction of a highway and reducing the number of metro stops.[92].
With the eviction of Kinder and the excessive use of force by the riot police in Amsterdam West") in 1978, the "golden age" of squatting began in the Dutch capital.[93] From that moment on, many squatters, especially those in Staatsliedenbuurt&action=edit&redlink=1 "Staatsliedenbuurt (Amsterdam) (not yet redacted)"), they chose to carry out a more combative and militant defense.[94] This type of defense was going to be put to the test on October 26, 1979 in Keizersgracht&action=edit&redlink=1 "Keizersgracht (Amsterdam) (not yet redacted)") when the squatters received an eviction order in some offices they had squatted and ten of them decided to abandon them. These ten joined the Staatsliedenbuurt squatters and armed the defenses with new barricades, Molotov cocktails and paint bombs. They also taught self-defense and physical training classes. They also began to broadcast messages from their own pirate radio station, Vrije Keijser or Keijser Libre, which they set up in the basements.[95] However, the city mayor decided not to proceed with the eviction due to the excessive danger that the forces could face. police. In January of the following year, the City Council bought the building where the offices were located and converted them into housing for young people.[96].
In February 1980, a group of squatters returned to squat a house that had already been evicted and at the time of the new eviction order they set up barricades and the police, who counted 53 injured, had to retreat before the defenses. This forced the City Council to negotiate, but once the negotiations broke down in the early hours of March 3, the police once again made an appearance along with military police units and tanks to tear down the barricades. Previously, a helicopter flew over the area dropping leaflets demanding the squatters stay in the house because the police could use firearms. Once the squatters' defenses were eliminated, the police left the house as they found it.[97] In response to the action of the Security Forces, several riots broke out in the city, so the City Council finally complied with the squatters' demands and allowed them to stay in the building.[98] These events, together with those that occurred at the coronation of Beatriz I, helped to "forge a collective identity among the squatters, linking different groups together and turning them into a unified subject and coherent>>.[99].
At the end of 1981 there were more than 9,000 squatters in Amsterdam and new spaces had been squatted in which cafes, infoshops, bars, cinemas, bookstores, clinics, galleries and repair shops were created. They also had 15 newspapers, a radio station and several printing presses. Despite this, the emphasis on militancy and growing violence led to the decline of the movement, culminating in 1982 when, during the eviction of the "Lucky Luijk" squatter, the squatters set fire to a tram.[98].
Although there were several factors, the collapse of the movement was triggered by the death of a 23-year-old squatter who was in police custody. This led to an internal war within the movement between the two factions that were created: The PVK (Political Faction of the Squatter Movement) and other less conflictive "cultural" squatters. The PVK even kidnapped one of its adversaries and threatened to torture him while the leader of the PVK was hospitalized in 1988.[100].
Although the law was tightened in 1987 and 1999, squatting continued uninterrupted until it was criminalized in 2010.[101].
Apart from the short-lived squat of the National Polytechnic University of Athens that lasted three days and ended with the death of 40 people in the eviction carried out by the police and the armed forces, the squatting of empty buildings in the Greek capital began in November 1981 when a building in Exarcheia was squatted. The squatters issued a statement expressing their desire "to take life into their own hands" and live as a self-managed collective far from the "misery" imposed by society. This and other squats the following year were short-lived due to the violent role of the police in the evictions, but inspired similar actions in other Greek cities such as Thessaloniki and Heraklion.[102]
In 1988, the squatting took place in a building at 37 Lelas Karagianni Street (Exarcheia), owned by the University of Athens, the School of Fine Arts and the Polytechnic, which had been empty since 1960. Currently the so-called L.K. 37 is the social center that has been squatted the longest in the capital.[103]. In 1989, Villa Amalia was squatted and converted into a social center, it contributed to creating an alternative urban infrastructure that united anarchists with youth countercultural trends. The house was vacated in 2012[104] in a police campaign to evict 40 famous squatted homes throughout Greece.[105].
Squatting in both the west and the east began in the late 1960s. In both cases the problem was access to housing and that the planning of the creation of housing led to the demolition of thousands of them.[106].
In both places, techniques and strategies such as Teach-in or Happening were used. The techniques used in West Berlin were anticipatory and in them the APO prefigured ways of a possible alternative society.[107] In the East, with a smaller number of dissidents, the practices were similar and influenced by the West.[108].
The renovation policy consisted of the demolition of the Mietskasernen, residential buildings in the city center consisting of several floors and one or more courtyards created during the industrialization period of the German Empire for the working class. The demolition of the downtown buildings involved the construction of massive state-subsidized cheap rental developments on the outskirts. The majority of the tenants of these new homes were the inhabitants expelled from the city center and the self-built settlements that dated back to 1920.[109].
The economic recession of the 1960s put an end to the construction of suburban housing estates, which together with high rental prices and expensive financing caused a change of plans that led to a new redevelopment whose purpose was the renewal, known as "Kahlschlag-oder Flächensanierung", of the central neighborhoods (including Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Wedding "Wedding (Berlin)" among others). This led to the demolition of entire buildings whose rents were affordable. The different circumstances led to the massive squatting of homes and the creation of communes in the city that over time took on a more radical and illegal aspect.[110].
On January 12, 1967, several activists formed the commune known as Kommune I located at 19 Fregestraße, on the properties of Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Uwe Johnson, members of the commune.[111][112] Days before, the then student leader Rudi Dutschke in an interview in Sender Freies Berlin stated <<the commune, both as an open form of political cooperation as the direct coexistence of free individuals, it may become the only adequate response to our time>>.[113].
Political activities were reduced with the move to a 6 and a half room apartment on Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße. However, due to the nature and tactics they used and the judicial processes to which they were called, they were treated like famous people. According to one of the members of the commune, the apartment was organized around two rooms, one used as a library and the other as an office and bedroom. The mattresses were on the floor. Although they slept in the main room, there were two rooms that were also used as bedrooms and in the rest they prepared political pamphlets and posters.[114] Finally they moved to an empty warehouse in Berlin-Moabit and began to renovate the three floors it had. One became a nightclub, another floor was for visitors and the third for the commune itself.[115].
Different disagreements and tensions led to the dissolution of the commune. Kommune I did not last long, less than 35 months, from the beginning of 1967 to November 1969, but it had a great influence on the daily life of the Federal Republic, serving as a showcase of what modern life should be like in the late sixties.[112] Fritz Teufel") said of Kommune I that <<The basis of the experiment was the abolition of private property>> and that they did not want to <<wait for the great revolution proletariat, the expropriation of the means of production, socialist construction>> being already <<fed up with the chatter of the Marxist "priests".[111].
At the same time, communal projects were founded in the city, although most were short-lived: Linkeck-Kommune, Anarsch-Kommune, Bülow-Kommune, etc. All of these projects sought to deepen the repertoire used by the APO. Both the magazine "Kursbuch" and the sociologist, disciple of Theodor Adorno, Heidi Berndt") were in favor of the development of these communes.[116].
During the spring and summer of 1970, "Operation Move-In" took place in New York, formed by a local collective that fought against poverty and in favor of the rights of squatters and which had its origin in the constant struggles for the right to housing that had been going on since the beginning of the century.[117] The first organizers of the Operation were leftists and dissidents of the "War on "poverty" that Lyndon B. Johnson had launched, which had been joined by the Young Lords"), a militant organization of Puerto Rican activists and a precedent of the Boricua Popular Army.[118] The group installed low-income families in buildings that, despite their good condition, were intended to be demolished.[119] Similar initiatives were organized in other parts of New York by activists, among whom stood out Jane Benedict"), a member of the Metropolitan Council and founder of a committee in charge of supporting tenants who resisted eviction, and the youth organization I Wor Kuen") of Chinatown "Chinatown (Manhattan)"), precedent together with the August 29 Movement of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist)&action=edit&redlink=1 "League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) (not yet drafted)"). In addition, the Metropolitan Council Office He helped put the different squatters in contact with the tenants who were resisting being evicted by the government.[120].
The authorities threatened to evict them and sent workers to the rest of the empty apartments where they destroyed the walls, broke the kitchens, and cut the pipes and wiring. However, these actions made the movement stronger and finally allowed the squatters to keep the houses. The squatters managed to obtain some concessions, but were not able to stop the gradual gentrification of the Upper West Side.[121] On July 25, about fifty-five families helped by activists from the past "Operation Mudanza", the "Urban Brigade" movement (made up of Latino college students from Columbia and Banard), the group of Latinos known as "The Committee" and forty-seven organizations from around the city; They occupied two abandoned buildings in Morningside Heights "Morningside Heights (Manhattan)") owned by the Episcopal Church.[122][123] The Church denounced them, but ultimately allowed 400 residents to end up living there thanks to the support they received from parishioners. Likewise, 200 families from the West Side and the Lower East Side reached an agreement or obtained some concessions a year later.[124].
Subsequently, housing insecurity and neighborhood gentrification intensified as the city "adopted a neoliberal development model."[125]
The Galpón Okupa, also known as Centro Kultural Independiente (CKI), was the first successful case of a squat cultural center in Argentina.[126] It was an abandoned railway building that was squatted between 1997 and 1998 that was dedicated to artistic and cultural activities.[127] Taking advantage of the relatively high influx of people with experiences in art, the space developed a weekly schedule of activities and workshops. Evenings, presentations such as video film cycles, concerts were organized, highlighting Catupecu Machu, Children with Bombs") or Las Manos de Filippi; and free plays in which the actor Omar García Serra participated.[126].
In April 1998, an attempt had been made to vacate the property six times. However, with the relevance of the death of the Buenos Aires woman "Porteño (city of Buenos Aires)") María Soledad Rosas in a police station in Turin after being arrested for being in a squat house in the same city[128], the eviction process began by the National Railway Property Administration Entity, which was finally evicted on the morning of August 12, 1998 through an exaggerated display of force. public.[126][129].
In Santiago de Chile, the first squat took place in May 1998 in Santiago Centro "Santiago (commune)") and was called "La Kasita" and lasted only a few months due to internal conflicts.[130] However, "it generated learning and installed the squat in the rebellious and alternative imaginary" of the country.[131].
In 1999, a house that was going to be demolished in La Florida "La Florida (Chile)") was squatted again, which was called "Casa Okupa La Pajarera". It had residential functions, cultural spaces and workshops. That same year, the "Kasa Kultural La Marraketa", located in Macul, was also squatted by the Apoyo Mutuo collective. During the period of time that it was squatted and after "unloading it to get rid of the bad spirits",[132] "La Marraketa", a reference for squatting in Chile,[133] was used as a rehearsal space for different musical groups, concerts and circus and musical performances were held for the children of the neighborhood.[134] It was vacated on February 12, 2004 with significant media coverage and of police The Municipality, which argued that the street was going to be widened and created a plaza, ended up creating a shopping center after the resistance of about 75 people, including squatters from La Pulga, a squat house in Maipú "Maipú (Chile)").[133].
The building squatting process in Brazil is the product of a situation of extreme need and not due to the different problems in finding housing.[148].
Many squatted buildings in Rio de Janeiro have had some success in their struggle, highlighting Chiquinha Gonzaga, named in honor of the composer, who in 2004 obtained public financing with which they renovated and repaired thanks to the OSAL Chiq da Silva") a building that belonged to the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform&action=edit&redlink=1 "National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Brazil) (not yet redacted)") that had been abandoned for 20 years.[149] A similar case is that of Regente Feijó in the central area.[148].
For the squat of Chiquinha Gonzaga, the first in Rio, more than six months of meetings were previously held to prepare everything between the social movements of the CMP (on a national scale) and the FLP", a group of socialist-oriented activists from the city itself. The objective of the occupation was to draw attention to the problem of housing and the existence of empty buildings in the city center in addition to sharing the experience of another type of non-centralized organization.[150].
What happened in Chiquinha Gonzaga led to the squatting of Zumbi dos Palmares, due to the warrior leader of the slaves and evicted in 2011,[151] and Quilombo das Guerreiras which would be evicted in 2014.[152] Quilombo das Guerreiras was created by 150 poor people who organized by different social movements In 2006, they squatted a public building that had been empty for 20 years in what is now Porto Maravilha. During the 7 years that the building was occupied, the tenants made several improvements, including classrooms, a library and a community kitchen, among other services. Finally the building was sold to Donald Trump.[153].
After a long planning process in October 2007, 42 families with the help of the Movimento Nacional de Luta pela Moradia (MNLM) squatted a building that had been abandoned for 11 years and owned by the INSS. It was named Manoel Congo in honor of the leader of the largest slave rebellion and is considered by many scholars as the example to follow.[154][155] After the success of this squat, the MNLM He squatted three other buildings: Mariana Crioula, Nueve deNovember and Solano Trindade.[154].
In São Paulo, the Prestes Maia Building, uninhabited since 1978, was squatted for the first time in November 2002. This first squat was marked by the creation of a community library in the building. The building was evicted in 2007 after meetings, assemblies and a court order.[156] When it was evicted, 468 families lived in the building and reached an agreement with the city council that He offered him monetary help and other housing[157] However, in October 2010 the building was once again squatted by 2,000 people from 478 families[158] In 2015 the City Council bought the building and it suffered a fire in 2018.[159].
Although rent strikes had already been recorded in the 1920s by the unionist and anarchist Herón Proal; and in the 1940s parachuting emerged,[h](a type of disorderly occupation of abandoned properties). It was not until the 1980s and more specifically with the 1985 earthquake that the phenomenon began to be noticed. Social groups emerged that initially fought to restore homes and rights to those who had lost them, highlighting the Popular Urban Movement, although it had already been acting decades ago.[161].
One of the most notable cases was the squatting of the Justo Sierra Auditorium in Ciudad Universitaria "Ciudad Universitaria (National Autonomous University of Mexico)") (Mexico City) on September 4, 2000 during the strike at the UNAM "UNAM student movement (1999-2000)").[162] When the strike concluded with the entry of some 2,500 federal police, they were freed. all the buildings that were closed, except the auditorium. Since then his administration has been in a constant dispute. Activists from the CGH (2000-2013), Zapatistas, Frente Popular Francisco Villa") and anarchists (2014-?) have occupied this space at different times.[162].
In 2003, the squatting of a building where the "Chanti Ollin" squatted social center was built in Cuauhtémoc "Cuauhtémoc (Mexico City)" took place. "Chanti Ollin", "House in motion" in Nahuatl,[163] was squatted by people of different classes, foreigners and groups, some belonging to the members of the '99 Strike, and whose purpose was to be <<a place with social and cultural purposes open to exchange>>.[164] However, the Mexican National Intelligence Center "National Intelligence Center (Mexico)") classified it as an organization anarchist. cataloged by the Mexican intelligence services as an anarchist organization[165] along with the Centro Cultural Okupado "El Engrane" and the Okupa Che Guevara.[166].
The members of "Chanti Ollin" applied alternative practices from indigenous communities such as tequio and calpulli that allowed establishing relationships between members of the Community. They also had a crop field and on the roof they grew food that allowed them to earn money with which to improve the building's infrastructure.[167].
It was evicted by riot police on November 22, 2016 and 26 people were arrested. This led the squatters to set up a camp outside the building that lasted until February 7, 2017. The eviction revealed the support of the squat by different social movements, activists, intellectuals and academics, which allowed the members of "Chanti Ollin" to continue working in spaces provided by other social movements and communities.[168].
In June 2012, dozens of retirees aged between 67 and 96 squatted a former community center that was still in use in Pankow "Pankow (district)") (former East Berlin). The center was to be demolished for redevelopment to build luxury housing. Before its demolition was proposed, the center had become a refuge for 300 East Germans who, for one euro a month, had a place to socialize after having lost their jobs with German reunification.[169][i] The retirees created a support network both in Berlin and in the rest of the country and also became part of a larger network that demonstrated against gentrification, brought in this particular case by the "wessis" according to themselves. elderly,[j] and the housing shortage. Due to the great support they were receiving, the Berlin city council ended up negotiating with the pensioners and as a result, after 111 days of squatting, offered them a temporary contract in which the retirees were allowed to manage the building as an autonomous, self-managed group.[171].
At the beginning of 2015, the English collective of architects, designers and artists Assemble&action=edit&redlink=1 "Assemble (collective) (not yet drafted)") contacted the squatters and presented them with a proposal after several meetings for the creation of a building for them consisting of 20 residential units, a common area and another part for both collective and private use that would be part of the cooperative and would be managed by a committee chosen by the pensioners themselves. [172].
Izvestia
With the peak of "operaismo and fabriquismo" and in the context of the hot autumn of 1969, at the beginning of the 1970s there were numerous squats in Turin, Pisa and Milan by workers coming from Southern Italy. Thus, the demonstrations and strikes moved from the factory environment to other areas of life. The working class began to protest against housing conditions and massive apartment squats took place. vacancies and rent strikes (with the slogans <<The only fair rent is the one that does not exist>> and <<Housing is a right. Why pay rent?>>) were widespread and prolonged.[56].
On January 22, 1971 in Milan, 25 homeless families living in shelters occupied an abandoned apartment block owned by the Autonomous Institute Casa Popular on Via Mac Mahon. Once inside, they waved the red flag, began building barricades and hanging banners that read "All Power to the People." The next morning more families arrived. Throughout the day the local opinion that roamed the area showed their support and rallies were held in the surrounding area in their favor. Around 2:30 p.m., about 2,000 police officers arrived and surrounded the building and began to fire tear gas into the building and ended up arresting 25 people and taking another 66 for interrogation. The rest of the occupants were offered the possibility of being taken back to the shelters by transport, however they rejected that possibility. Outside the building, a large number of people gathered who, despite the police charges and the use of tear gas, marched towards the Quarto Oggiaro Social Center with the intention of occupying it. The City Council offered some families housing immediately and promised to give it to the rest of the families as soon as possible. This solution was rejected and they remained together until they were all rehoused at the same time.[56].
However, the most iconic of the occupations took place on Via Tibaldi, in June 1971, in which an entire neighborhood participated. From workers at Pirelli and other smaller factories, university students and the building workers themselves. Seventy families, immigrants from southern Italy to whom the Milan City Council had promised a place and who had to be rehoused, together with students, occupied houses, streets, the University's Faculty of Architecture and even the town hall in six days. During the six days that the altercations lasted, the police, approximately 3,000, attempted to evict them with tear gas twice and were repelled both times. After the third attempt, the occupants agreed to be temporarily rehoused by a charity. The City Council was forced to give in to the requests of the squatters and citizens and homes were assigned to the 70 families and 140 more who had been evicted and were staying in shelters.[56][57].
In the early hours of Saturday, April 27, 1971, the beginning of Red Week&action=edit&redlink=1 "Red Week (occupations in Rome) (not yet written)" took place. This began when about 30 families from the Tiburtino district occupied some municipal buildings. In the morning more families from Quarticciolo and San Basilio joined. In the afternoon they met and reached a consensus by which it was concluded that if the buildings were private the City Council should buy them and give them to them since their old municipal buildings needed urgent renovations. Around 8 in the afternoon the 400 municipally owned apartments were occupied and other families who arrived began to occupy those owned by EMPADAI. The next morning more families arrived and occupied apartments without knowing whether they were municipal or privately owned.[58].
On Monday, with the arrival of the workers from adjacent buildings, they decide to take the day off and meet with the squatters and one of them even informed them that he would return in the afternoon with his family to squat one of the homes. A permanent assembly was created on the street to address the problems that arose while the influx of families continued, so a commission was created. In addition, a delegation was created to meet with the City Council and was ultimately not received by it. At the same time, other buildings continued to be occupied and the squatters wrote a press release and prepared for the arrival of the police by building barricades. Around eight in the morning on Tuesday, the police charges began that lasted until twelve noon and in the afternoon several families began to camp outside the squatted blocks.[58].
Even though the police are on duty, on Wednesday they squat apartments again, although they are immediately expelled. Given this, the citizens of the neighborhood confront the squatters against the police, surrounding police vans and cell phones, so the police are forced to flee until the arrival of reinforcements who proceeded to arrest many people. The next day the police brigades continued patrolling the neighborhood with fear of the possible reaction of the workers who wandered there constantly and finally decided to arrest more people.[58].
On Friday and Saturday there are meetings of families and university students who decide to spend a few days to re-occupy the buildings and the objectives to follow. However, on Saturday night they decided to squat Carpineto Romano and after placing barricades, fifty families confronted the police who finally had to withdraw. With dawn on Monday, the violent confrontations occurred again with the same result.[58].
In June of the same year, buildings were again squatted in San Basilio&action=edit&redlink=1 "San Basilio (neighborhood of Rome) (not yet written)"), a small working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. In San Basilio, rent strikes, fights for housing and better public services began in April. In May, while a Christian Democracy rally "Christian Democracy (Italy)") was being held for the mayoral elections, there were clashes between the riot police, about seven hundred, and about 150 people who became about 1,000 as the hostilities progressed. Finally, on June 5, 20 families squatted a building, but it was impossible to keep them squatted because they were privately owned. The following Wednesday, the 7th, they squatted in Centocelle&action=edit&redlink=1 "Centocelle (neighborhood of Rome) (not yet written)") and Pietralata&action=edit&redlink=1 "Pietralata (neighborhood of Rome) (not yet written)").[59].
The squatter movement was active since 1966, with its epicenter in the working-class neighborhood of Nørrebro "Nørrebro (Copenhagen)").[60] called stoermerbevægelesen, During the following decades historians number three squatter movements in the city. The first movement, called stoermerbevægelesen, was located mainly in the city center and was closely linked to the counterculture and the creation in other neighborhoods of tenant associations and other Community initiatives. The second movement, dating from the early 1980s, was composed of the BZ movement.[e] This movement was more conflictive and had an anti-capitalist spirit. The third emerged in the 1990s with the dissolution of the BZ movement and was located throughout the country.[62].
The first squat in Copenhagen took place in February 1963 by the socialist and anti-imperialist organization Gruppe 61. Two years later, some young people squatted some ruined houses from the Siglo where they formed an autonomous community of about 150 people known as the Republic of Sofiegården. After a negotiation with the owner they were allowed to keep them, but they were finally evicted by the police between 1969 and 1970. After the eviction the former residents became involved in the creation of houses for students and the squatting of other abandoned buildings in the city. (slum raiders). The "raiders" formed numerous communities that were inspired by the hippie movement.[64].
In the early seventies a group of squatters had a community-based approach with the intention of fighting against the redevelopment of the city, the lack of affordable housing and the displacement of the working class from central Copenhagen. There were a series of groups among which the Danish Vietnam Committee (De Danske Vietnamkomitéer), the Black Panther Solidarity Committee, the action collective for the right to housing Boligfronten stood out. However, the best known was Nørrebo Beboeraktion (NB), Nørrebro Residents' Association, which was active between 1973 and 1980. NB squatted an empty building in Nørrebro that became known as The People's House. It was located in what was called "the black square", a ruined area whose buildings were filled with soot from the century-old factories located around it. NB's demands were based on the right that residents had to participate in the remodeling of their neighborhood and therefore, because the buildings were in poor condition, they developed and tried to implement a project to rebuild the area and to improve community services, which was ignored by the authorities.[65][66].
Under the motto Handling gi'r forvandling (Action leads to transformation) they dedicated themselves to patrolling the neighborhood buildings, renovating them and protecting the oldest ones to prevent the eviction of tenants. As protest techniques they organized parades, theatrical performances and the squatting of buildings and open spaces without using violence. They also organized training courses for activists and created the Byggeren playground.[67].
On April 29, 1980, what would become known as the "Battle of Byggeren" occurred, which ended with the eviction, demolition of the playground and dissolution of the NB. In this "battle" the authorities mobilized more than 800 police officers to help the demolition team that demolished the structures that the squatters had improvised. Faced with this act of violence in which several squatters were almost crushed by the bulldozers, the activists and tenants of the neighborhood responded by creating barricades with construction containers, requisitioned a city bus which they used to block traffic and finally managed to expel the police forces from Nørrebro.[68] This triggered a series of violent clashes over the following two weeks in which protesters and police were injured and numerous arrests were made.[69]
With the disappearance of NB, a second wave of squatters emerged, known as the BZ, which coincided in time with the wave of squatters in Berlin, Zurich, Freiburg and Amsterdam in the early 1980s and mid-1981. The BZ movement was inspired by the autonomism that emerged in the late 1970s in Italy.[70] In August 1981, they created the self-managed center Initivgruppen whose purpose was to demand the provision of housing for young people. In the center there were members of socialist organizations, punks, feminists from the Redstockings Movement and students from the Free Gymnasium School.[71].
A study showed that throughout the history of the BZ movement, from 181 to 1994, they carried out just over 538 initiatives, of which 116 were directly related to squats. The rest is divided into 81 incidents with the police forces, 41 related to environmentalism, 58 acts against members of the extreme right and the rest of the actions were dedicated to problems in the city itself.[72].
In October 1981, Initivgruppen carried out symbolic squats (on the 15th they did the same with an empty bakery in Nørrebro) and real ones (on the 24th they squatted an old rubber factory in the same neighborhood). Faced with the occupation of the factory, the police acted quickly and violently. The police used tear gas and fired warning shots during the eviction.[73] The clashes became increasingly violent and days later they squatted an abandoned monastery in Vesterbro.[70].
In March 1982, two houses in Vesterbro itself were squatted, as well as an old museum. While in Nørrebro, during the following months, what would be the most famous houses of the movement (Allotria, Den Lille Fjer and Bazooka) were squatted, where cafes, pubs, music venues and workshops were created.[74] At that same time, a group of retirees known as The Gray Panthers squatted two houses on Korsgade Street.[75].
In October 1982, the local authorities and the management of what was the Folkets Hus gave the headquarters of the labor movement to the squatters in 1897, in exchange for the city retaining ownership of the space. The squatters turned it into Ungdomshuset or House of Youth which served as a meeting center for the BZ among other things.[76] However, other previously squatted buildings did not suffer the same fate and were evicted by the police. For the eviction of Allotria, a thousand police officers were used, who were avoided by the squatters when they escaped through a tunnel they had dug. Despite the fact that public opinion was in favor of the squatters, the authorities demolished this and other buildings.[77].
Starting in 1983, the BZ squatted several empty houses and blocks in Østerbro, Indre By, Nørrebro and Vesterbro").[72]
Although it was not until the early 1990s that the BZ movement began to dissolve, the "Battle of Ryesgade" in September 1986 and the consequent eviction was a severe blow to it.[78]
In September 1971 the creation of The Free City of Christiania (Fristaden Christiania) took place:[79].
In early September 1971 the residents of Christianshavn tore down the fence surrounding the abandoned barracks near the old city walls. After that they created a playground for their children. On the 26th of that month, activists led by the founder of the alternative newspaper Hovedbladet Jacob Ludvigsen) entered the more than 35 hectares of abandoned barracks and workshops. The experience was described in the Hovedbladet along with an "invitation" to the "settlers" to join together to build an alternative city in what was called forbudte by (forbidden city). This led to young people settling in the barracks to carry out "shared experiments ("samværseksperimenter").[64][80].
Both the Ministry of Defense and the City Council were reluctant to intervene and in November 1971, after a meeting between them and other representatives from different ministries, they came to the conclusion that the relationship between them and the squatters had to be normalized.[81] In a manifesto from the squatters, their intentions were set out.
At the beginning of 1972 about 500 people lived in Christiania and in May the authorities and the squatters signed an agreement in which the government declared Christiania a temporary "social experiment" and allowed the squatters to continue living there until the use of the former military installations was decided. This agreement allowed the residents who lived there to experiment with alternative ways of life, although these were supported by a prosperous underground economy that included the sale of drugs.[83].
According to estimates by sociologist Eric Duivenvoorden, up to 70,000 people carried out squats between 1964 and 1999.
The first of these stages would correspond to the time of the Provo Movement "Provo (movement)") which, upon dissolving, donated part of its profits to one of the three groups that began to squat homes as a form of protest against the lack of social housing at the end of the 1960s: The WdK, Woningsburo de Kraker or (Housing Agency for Squatters)[85] The other two groups were Woningsburo de Koevoet (Palanca Real Estate Agency) and De Commune (The Commune).[86].
The Wdk advised people on how to squat and how to make an empty house a home. For the Agency, the squat went from being a public act and not something that should be done in secret. To do this, they created new terms and the verb squat was renamed kraken and the squatters were renamed Krakers.[f][87] During 1969, a series of squats were carried out by the Wdk that managed to highlight the housing problem and drew attention to the benefits that practical and autonomous solutions could give to that problem. Because numerous people came to the Agency in May 1969, they published a 14-page guide entitled "Guide for squatters" under the motto "Do it yourself!" It gave detailed instructions on how to squat and repair a house and explained the legal ins and outs to know.[88].
At the same time a group of former Provos formed a political movement called Kabouter, Gnomes, and began squatting buildings as part of their Oranje Vrijstaat (Orange Free State). The Kabouter would end up joining other squatter groups, including the WdK, in 1970. On May 5 of that year, coinciding with Liberation Day from the Nazi armies "Liberation Day (Netherlands)"), they squatted several buildings throughout the country.[86] Although the majority of the squatters were evicted in June, Kabouter showed up at Amsterdam municipal elections obtaining 11% of the votes. With the disappearance of the party due to internal differences, the first wave of the movement ended.[89].
In 1971, a ruling by the Dutch Court of Appeal stating that squatters had the same right to domestic peace as homeowners as long as the home had been unoccupied for more than a year gave rise to the second wave. In this context, Surinamese immigrant families from Bijlmermeer squatted housing complexes due to high prices and racial discrimination in the real estate market. With the help of the Suriname Action Committee and the Suriname and Antilles Housing Working Group more than 100 houses were squatted in 1974 and demonstrations, rent strikes, photo exhibitions and workshops were held to raise awareness of the problems in the housing market.[90].
At the same time, the squat developed in Nieuwmarkt&action=edit&redlink=1 "Nieuwmarkt (Amsterdam) (not yet written)") in 1970 by activists and with the help of neighbors opposed to the demolition of the Jewish quarter of the Century, which had deteriorated since its residents were deported and murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War.[84] This caused construction plans to be stopped. and allowed the squatters to experience new ways of life in the Community and create a series of infrastructures such as their own telephone network with which they could call sympathizers. They also created Kraakspereekuren throughout the city with which they offered assistance and information to those who wanted to squat and helped maintain the already squatted houses.[91][92].
With the beginning of the subway works in 1975 there was a large police deployment in March to evict the squatters who had set up barricades and built bridges on the roofs to move from building to building. This helped the police to demolish the buildings, displacing those who lived there. However, this action allowed the movement to gain a greater number of sympathizers and the remodeling plans were finally modified, canceling the construction of a highway and reducing the number of metro stops.[92].
With the eviction of Kinder and the excessive use of force by the riot police in Amsterdam West") in 1978, the "golden age" of squatting began in the Dutch capital.[93] From that moment on, many squatters, especially those in Staatsliedenbuurt&action=edit&redlink=1 "Staatsliedenbuurt (Amsterdam) (not yet redacted)"), they chose to carry out a more combative and militant defense.[94] This type of defense was going to be put to the test on October 26, 1979 in Keizersgracht&action=edit&redlink=1 "Keizersgracht (Amsterdam) (not yet redacted)") when the squatters received an eviction order in some offices they had squatted and ten of them decided to abandon them. These ten joined the Staatsliedenbuurt squatters and armed the defenses with new barricades, Molotov cocktails and paint bombs. They also taught self-defense and physical training classes. They also began to broadcast messages from their own pirate radio station, Vrije Keijser or Keijser Libre, which they set up in the basements.[95] However, the city mayor decided not to proceed with the eviction due to the excessive danger that the forces could face. police. In January of the following year, the City Council bought the building where the offices were located and converted them into housing for young people.[96].
In February 1980, a group of squatters returned to squat a house that had already been evicted and at the time of the new eviction order they set up barricades and the police, who counted 53 injured, had to retreat before the defenses. This forced the City Council to negotiate, but once the negotiations broke down in the early hours of March 3, the police once again made an appearance along with military police units and tanks to tear down the barricades. Previously, a helicopter flew over the area dropping leaflets demanding the squatters stay in the house because the police could use firearms. Once the squatters' defenses were eliminated, the police left the house as they found it.[97] In response to the action of the Security Forces, several riots broke out in the city, so the City Council finally complied with the squatters' demands and allowed them to stay in the building.[98] These events, together with those that occurred at the coronation of Beatriz I, helped to "forge a collective identity among the squatters, linking different groups together and turning them into a unified subject and coherent>>.[99].
At the end of 1981 there were more than 9,000 squatters in Amsterdam and new spaces had been squatted in which cafes, infoshops, bars, cinemas, bookstores, clinics, galleries and repair shops were created. They also had 15 newspapers, a radio station and several printing presses. Despite this, the emphasis on militancy and growing violence led to the decline of the movement, culminating in 1982 when, during the eviction of the "Lucky Luijk" squatter, the squatters set fire to a tram.[98].
Although there were several factors, the collapse of the movement was triggered by the death of a 23-year-old squatter who was in police custody. This led to an internal war within the movement between the two factions that were created: The PVK (Political Faction of the Squatter Movement) and other less conflictive "cultural" squatters. The PVK even kidnapped one of its adversaries and threatened to torture him while the leader of the PVK was hospitalized in 1988.[100].
Although the law was tightened in 1987 and 1999, squatting continued uninterrupted until it was criminalized in 2010.[101].
Apart from the short-lived squat of the National Polytechnic University of Athens that lasted three days and ended with the death of 40 people in the eviction carried out by the police and the armed forces, the squatting of empty buildings in the Greek capital began in November 1981 when a building in Exarcheia was squatted. The squatters issued a statement expressing their desire "to take life into their own hands" and live as a self-managed collective far from the "misery" imposed by society. This and other squats the following year were short-lived due to the violent role of the police in the evictions, but inspired similar actions in other Greek cities such as Thessaloniki and Heraklion.[102]
In 1988, the squatting took place in a building at 37 Lelas Karagianni Street (Exarcheia), owned by the University of Athens, the School of Fine Arts and the Polytechnic, which had been empty since 1960. Currently the so-called L.K. 37 is the social center that has been squatted the longest in the capital.[103]. In 1989, Villa Amalia was squatted and converted into a social center, it contributed to creating an alternative urban infrastructure that united anarchists with youth countercultural trends. The house was vacated in 2012[104] in a police campaign to evict 40 famous squatted homes throughout Greece.[105].
Squatting in both the west and the east began in the late 1960s. In both cases the problem was access to housing and that the planning of the creation of housing led to the demolition of thousands of them.[106].
In both places, techniques and strategies such as Teach-in or Happening were used. The techniques used in West Berlin were anticipatory and in them the APO prefigured ways of a possible alternative society.[107] In the East, with a smaller number of dissidents, the practices were similar and influenced by the West.[108].
The renovation policy consisted of the demolition of the Mietskasernen, residential buildings in the city center consisting of several floors and one or more courtyards created during the industrialization period of the German Empire for the working class. The demolition of the downtown buildings involved the construction of massive state-subsidized cheap rental developments on the outskirts. The majority of the tenants of these new homes were the inhabitants expelled from the city center and the self-built settlements that dated back to 1920.[109].
The economic recession of the 1960s put an end to the construction of suburban housing estates, which together with high rental prices and expensive financing caused a change of plans that led to a new redevelopment whose purpose was the renewal, known as "Kahlschlag-oder Flächensanierung", of the central neighborhoods (including Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Wedding "Wedding (Berlin)" among others). This led to the demolition of entire buildings whose rents were affordable. The different circumstances led to the massive squatting of homes and the creation of communes in the city that over time took on a more radical and illegal aspect.[110].
On January 12, 1967, several activists formed the commune known as Kommune I located at 19 Fregestraße, on the properties of Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Uwe Johnson, members of the commune.[111][112] Days before, the then student leader Rudi Dutschke in an interview in Sender Freies Berlin stated <<the commune, both as an open form of political cooperation as the direct coexistence of free individuals, it may become the only adequate response to our time>>.[113].
Political activities were reduced with the move to a 6 and a half room apartment on Kaiser-Friedrich-Straße. However, due to the nature and tactics they used and the judicial processes to which they were called, they were treated like famous people. According to one of the members of the commune, the apartment was organized around two rooms, one used as a library and the other as an office and bedroom. The mattresses were on the floor. Although they slept in the main room, there were two rooms that were also used as bedrooms and in the rest they prepared political pamphlets and posters.[114] Finally they moved to an empty warehouse in Berlin-Moabit and began to renovate the three floors it had. One became a nightclub, another floor was for visitors and the third for the commune itself.[115].
Different disagreements and tensions led to the dissolution of the commune. Kommune I did not last long, less than 35 months, from the beginning of 1967 to November 1969, but it had a great influence on the daily life of the Federal Republic, serving as a showcase of what modern life should be like in the late sixties.[112] Fritz Teufel") said of Kommune I that <<The basis of the experiment was the abolition of private property>> and that they did not want to <<wait for the great revolution proletariat, the expropriation of the means of production, socialist construction>> being already <<fed up with the chatter of the Marxist "priests".[111].
At the same time, communal projects were founded in the city, although most were short-lived: Linkeck-Kommune, Anarsch-Kommune, Bülow-Kommune, etc. All of these projects sought to deepen the repertoire used by the APO. Both the magazine "Kursbuch" and the sociologist, disciple of Theodor Adorno, Heidi Berndt") were in favor of the development of these communes.[116].
During the spring and summer of 1970, "Operation Move-In" took place in New York, formed by a local collective that fought against poverty and in favor of the rights of squatters and which had its origin in the constant struggles for the right to housing that had been going on since the beginning of the century.[117] The first organizers of the Operation were leftists and dissidents of the "War on "poverty" that Lyndon B. Johnson had launched, which had been joined by the Young Lords"), a militant organization of Puerto Rican activists and a precedent of the Boricua Popular Army.[118] The group installed low-income families in buildings that, despite their good condition, were intended to be demolished.[119] Similar initiatives were organized in other parts of New York by activists, among whom stood out Jane Benedict"), a member of the Metropolitan Council and founder of a committee in charge of supporting tenants who resisted eviction, and the youth organization I Wor Kuen") of Chinatown "Chinatown (Manhattan)"), precedent together with the August 29 Movement of the League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist)&action=edit&redlink=1 "League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist) (not yet drafted)"). In addition, the Metropolitan Council Office He helped put the different squatters in contact with the tenants who were resisting being evicted by the government.[120].
The authorities threatened to evict them and sent workers to the rest of the empty apartments where they destroyed the walls, broke the kitchens, and cut the pipes and wiring. However, these actions made the movement stronger and finally allowed the squatters to keep the houses. The squatters managed to obtain some concessions, but were not able to stop the gradual gentrification of the Upper West Side.[121] On July 25, about fifty-five families helped by activists from the past "Operation Mudanza", the "Urban Brigade" movement (made up of Latino college students from Columbia and Banard), the group of Latinos known as "The Committee" and forty-seven organizations from around the city; They occupied two abandoned buildings in Morningside Heights "Morningside Heights (Manhattan)") owned by the Episcopal Church.[122][123] The Church denounced them, but ultimately allowed 400 residents to end up living there thanks to the support they received from parishioners. Likewise, 200 families from the West Side and the Lower East Side reached an agreement or obtained some concessions a year later.[124].
Subsequently, housing insecurity and neighborhood gentrification intensified as the city "adopted a neoliberal development model."[125]
The Galpón Okupa, also known as Centro Kultural Independiente (CKI), was the first successful case of a squat cultural center in Argentina.[126] It was an abandoned railway building that was squatted between 1997 and 1998 that was dedicated to artistic and cultural activities.[127] Taking advantage of the relatively high influx of people with experiences in art, the space developed a weekly schedule of activities and workshops. Evenings, presentations such as video film cycles, concerts were organized, highlighting Catupecu Machu, Children with Bombs") or Las Manos de Filippi; and free plays in which the actor Omar García Serra participated.[126].
In April 1998, an attempt had been made to vacate the property six times. However, with the relevance of the death of the Buenos Aires woman "Porteño (city of Buenos Aires)") María Soledad Rosas in a police station in Turin after being arrested for being in a squat house in the same city[128], the eviction process began by the National Railway Property Administration Entity, which was finally evicted on the morning of August 12, 1998 through an exaggerated display of force. public.[126][129].
In Santiago de Chile, the first squat took place in May 1998 in Santiago Centro "Santiago (commune)") and was called "La Kasita" and lasted only a few months due to internal conflicts.[130] However, "it generated learning and installed the squat in the rebellious and alternative imaginary" of the country.[131].
In 1999, a house that was going to be demolished in La Florida "La Florida (Chile)") was squatted again, which was called "Casa Okupa La Pajarera". It had residential functions, cultural spaces and workshops. That same year, the "Kasa Kultural La Marraketa", located in Macul, was also squatted by the Apoyo Mutuo collective. During the period of time that it was squatted and after "unloading it to get rid of the bad spirits",[132] "La Marraketa", a reference for squatting in Chile,[133] was used as a rehearsal space for different musical groups, concerts and circus and musical performances were held for the children of the neighborhood.[134] It was vacated on February 12, 2004 with significant media coverage and of police The Municipality, which argued that the street was going to be widened and created a plaza, ended up creating a shopping center after the resistance of about 75 people, including squatters from La Pulga, a squat house in Maipú "Maipú (Chile)").[133].
The building squatting process in Brazil is the product of a situation of extreme need and not due to the different problems in finding housing.[148].
Many squatted buildings in Rio de Janeiro have had some success in their struggle, highlighting Chiquinha Gonzaga, named in honor of the composer, who in 2004 obtained public financing with which they renovated and repaired thanks to the OSAL Chiq da Silva") a building that belonged to the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform&action=edit&redlink=1 "National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Brazil) (not yet redacted)") that had been abandoned for 20 years.[149] A similar case is that of Regente Feijó in the central area.[148].
For the squat of Chiquinha Gonzaga, the first in Rio, more than six months of meetings were previously held to prepare everything between the social movements of the CMP (on a national scale) and the FLP", a group of socialist-oriented activists from the city itself. The objective of the occupation was to draw attention to the problem of housing and the existence of empty buildings in the city center in addition to sharing the experience of another type of non-centralized organization.[150].
What happened in Chiquinha Gonzaga led to the squatting of Zumbi dos Palmares, due to the warrior leader of the slaves and evicted in 2011,[151] and Quilombo das Guerreiras which would be evicted in 2014.[152] Quilombo das Guerreiras was created by 150 poor people who organized by different social movements In 2006, they squatted a public building that had been empty for 20 years in what is now Porto Maravilha. During the 7 years that the building was occupied, the tenants made several improvements, including classrooms, a library and a community kitchen, among other services. Finally the building was sold to Donald Trump.[153].
After a long planning process in October 2007, 42 families with the help of the Movimento Nacional de Luta pela Moradia (MNLM) squatted a building that had been abandoned for 11 years and owned by the INSS. It was named Manoel Congo in honor of the leader of the largest slave rebellion and is considered by many scholars as the example to follow.[154][155] After the success of this squat, the MNLM He squatted three other buildings: Mariana Crioula, Nueve deNovember and Solano Trindade.[154].
In São Paulo, the Prestes Maia Building, uninhabited since 1978, was squatted for the first time in November 2002. This first squat was marked by the creation of a community library in the building. The building was evicted in 2007 after meetings, assemblies and a court order.[156] When it was evicted, 468 families lived in the building and reached an agreement with the city council that He offered him monetary help and other housing[157] However, in October 2010 the building was once again squatted by 2,000 people from 478 families[158] In 2015 the City Council bought the building and it suffered a fire in 2018.[159].
Although rent strikes had already been recorded in the 1920s by the unionist and anarchist Herón Proal; and in the 1940s parachuting emerged,[h](a type of disorderly occupation of abandoned properties). It was not until the 1980s and more specifically with the 1985 earthquake that the phenomenon began to be noticed. Social groups emerged that initially fought to restore homes and rights to those who had lost them, highlighting the Popular Urban Movement, although it had already been acting decades ago.[161].
One of the most notable cases was the squatting of the Justo Sierra Auditorium in Ciudad Universitaria "Ciudad Universitaria (National Autonomous University of Mexico)") (Mexico City) on September 4, 2000 during the strike at the UNAM "UNAM student movement (1999-2000)").[162] When the strike concluded with the entry of some 2,500 federal police, they were freed. all the buildings that were closed, except the auditorium. Since then his administration has been in a constant dispute. Activists from the CGH (2000-2013), Zapatistas, Frente Popular Francisco Villa") and anarchists (2014-?) have occupied this space at different times.[162].
In 2003, the squatting of a building where the "Chanti Ollin" squatted social center was built in Cuauhtémoc "Cuauhtémoc (Mexico City)" took place. "Chanti Ollin", "House in motion" in Nahuatl,[163] was squatted by people of different classes, foreigners and groups, some belonging to the members of the '99 Strike, and whose purpose was to be <<a place with social and cultural purposes open to exchange>>.[164] However, the Mexican National Intelligence Center "National Intelligence Center (Mexico)") classified it as an organization anarchist. cataloged by the Mexican intelligence services as an anarchist organization[165] along with the Centro Cultural Okupado "El Engrane" and the Okupa Che Guevara.[166].
The members of "Chanti Ollin" applied alternative practices from indigenous communities such as tequio and calpulli that allowed establishing relationships between members of the Community. They also had a crop field and on the roof they grew food that allowed them to earn money with which to improve the building's infrastructure.[167].
It was evicted by riot police on November 22, 2016 and 26 people were arrested. This led the squatters to set up a camp outside the building that lasted until February 7, 2017. The eviction revealed the support of the squat by different social movements, activists, intellectuals and academics, which allowed the members of "Chanti Ollin" to continue working in spaces provided by other social movements and communities.[168].
In June 2012, dozens of retirees aged between 67 and 96 squatted a former community center that was still in use in Pankow "Pankow (district)") (former East Berlin). The center was to be demolished for redevelopment to build luxury housing. Before its demolition was proposed, the center had become a refuge for 300 East Germans who, for one euro a month, had a place to socialize after having lost their jobs with German reunification.[169][i] The retirees created a support network both in Berlin and in the rest of the country and also became part of a larger network that demonstrated against gentrification, brought in this particular case by the "wessis" according to themselves. elderly,[j] and the housing shortage. Due to the great support they were receiving, the Berlin city council ended up negotiating with the pensioners and as a result, after 111 days of squatting, offered them a temporary contract in which the retirees were allowed to manage the building as an autonomous, self-managed group.[171].
At the beginning of 2015, the English collective of architects, designers and artists Assemble&action=edit&redlink=1 "Assemble (collective) (not yet drafted)") contacted the squatters and presented them with a proposal after several meetings for the creation of a building for them consisting of 20 residential units, a common area and another part for both collective and private use that would be part of the cooperative and would be managed by a committee chosen by the pensioners themselves. [172].