Thousands demonstrate in Bilbao 'for the rights of the Basque Country'

Plaza Zabalburu in Bilbao became yesterday the scenario of another demonstration for the rights of the Basque Country.

This was in fact their motto: Euskal Herriaren eskubideen alde - for the rights of the Basque Country.

Leaders of the 'illegal' Nationalist Left, Kiko Moreno, Miren Legorburu, Tasio Erkizia and Jone Goirizelaia, spoke to the crowd in the current line of trying to build a scenario of democratic solution to the Basque-Spanish conflict.

The official acknowledgement or the legality of Kosovar independence was also cheered in the demo, as it clears the way, in the international legal frame, for Basque self-determination as well.

The demonstration as such was initially banned by the current undemocratic 'Basque government' but was eventually authorized as mere meeting by the judiciary. Still the people were forbidden from demonstrating through the streets of the city and closely watched by the police.

Sources: Boltxe (photos) and Gara [both in Spanish].

Boycott day at Bilbao Fiestas

As mentioned yesterday, wednesday was a journey of protest for freedom of speech and the participative popular model of fiestas, against the persecution of ideas and konpartsak by the authorities, be them remotely located at Madrid or nearby at the local Town Hall.

The konpartsak made a massive concentration at the Town Hall:


They also parodied the mayor, who has not only be as weak and treacherous as to accept the imposition of the Spanish flag but who is also actively cooperating with the repressive policies designed by the Spaniards:


Source: Gara (link 1, link 2)

Bilbao Fiestas on strike

Today at 10 am, the official inauguration of the festive journey, the kompartsak (popular festive teams which are the heart of the fiestas since 1978) went on strike for the whole journey. If you happen to visit today the festive area you will find nearly everything closed.

Additionally this year, all the stands are decorated on black background as sign of protest, a pretty unusual sight.

Why? Because the Town Hall decided to ban three kompartsak (Kaskagorri, Txori Barrote and Komantxe) because they included photos of Basque prisoners in their stands. Such photos have been part of the Basque landscape since I have memory but, as of late, the undemocratic imposed government of Patxi López, has been working to get them out of the streets and taverns on the pretext that they are offensive for "the victims of terrorism".

There is no clear legal frame for such an actuation but, of course, judges are siding with the Spaniards and their local lackeys in this matter as well.

As the photos have been anyhow present in the fiestas, with them hanged from every tree and lamp, yesterday Spanish Neoinquisition judge Velasco ordered for second time their removal and now also investigation on who may be placing them (what a silly question: everybody!, these doctors seem to ignore the best of Spanish literature).

But they also seem to ignore history: the Basque flag was illegal until a campaign of flag-bombs forced its recognition. Such a scenario may happen again indeed with the photos of prisoners or whatever other expression that is formally banned by some distant judge in his crystal palace of Madrid. It happened again indeed with the prohibition of banners of Basque Nationalist content, causing some policemen to be injured in Navarre a few years ago.

Whatever the case, these are the strangest fiestas I have ever witnessed.

Judge Velasko has also ordered police to intervene against the homage to repressed members of Kaskagorri konpartsa (Nationalist Left youth) and even a toast (brindis) to women prisoners in Barcelona, which in his opinion is an act of welcome of recently freed anarchist prisoner Laura Riera, as well as homage to other two Catalan political prisoners: Dolores López Resina and Marina Bernadó.

Image of the police aggression yesterday on orders of the Spanish Inquisition (Audiencia Nacional).
More photos at Boltxe.

Video: police repression in Barcelona (text and most dialogue in Catalan)
People chant: you fascists are the terrorists, Audiencia Nacional dissolution and Laura Riera welcome home

The konpartsak however made exception to their strike for the visit to children in hospital, being present there with all the festive paraphernalia: Mari Jaia, pregonero, txupinera, circus clowns and even the mayor, who avoided any declarations.

Source: Gara[es] (link 1, link 2)

This is Bilbao: no kissing

You thought that Talibanism was restricted to countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Saudia and maybe Indonesia... well, it seems not: the (undemocratic) Town Hall of Bilbao has designed a new fascist municipal decree that will forbid many normal recreational activities including, believe it or not, kissing.

For that reason people went out to the streets yesterday to... break the law. Well, would be the case if the decree would have been implemented, not yet but soon.

They did such criminal activities as cooking and eating, flying kites (yes, this was also forbidden in Talibanistan) and the most criminal of all acts: kissing in public!


Ironically, the Town Hall is ruled with the support of the supposedly left-wing party United Left, whose alliance with the Basque Christian-Democrats has severely damaged their prestige and sunk the bloc in a deep internal crisis.

Source: Boltxe Kolektiboa.

Xabi Aretxaga free after 11 years

Being so inactive these rainy days, I missed the welcome act but the case is that this old friend, Xabi Aretxaga Llona, is again free... or as free as you can be living in the Basque Country these days.

Of Autonomist origins (activist, just like many of my friends of that time in areas like antimilitarism, social centers, counter-information or cultural diffusion), and my neighbour for some years. At some point he apparently joined ETA as "legal member" (not known to the police), being in charge of a garage where the local commando store the vehicles. Soon after all the cell were rounded up and he was too.

A common friend used to joke in the line that: "it's ok if you go to jail for killing someone or at least trying... but for washing cars?" Whatever the case, he is an old friend and a respectable activist who has spent 11 years in prison (the full sentence: not a single day reduction), in remote locations of Castile (Carabanchel, Valdemoro, Arnjuez and Valladolid), and briefly in Langraitz (Basque Country) and has finally been liberated.

I'm happy about that because, well, prison sucks and he is a free spirit. Though I'm not sure if what he finds at returning will be so great anyhow.

In any case: welcome back, ongi etorri Txabi!

Source: Gara.
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"Freedom of Speech" demo banned

In the line of the latest fascist developments in the Basque Country, a demonstration demanding freedom of speech that will take place today has been forbidden by the Spanish tribunals.

The fascist unelected government of the Western Basque Country, ironically, says that the people calling to the demonstration are "intolerant" and has the shamelessness to say that, if they "keep the challenge it will be proven once again that what they want is confrontation and the opportune measures will be taken to avoid it". What basically means that they will throw the cops against the demonstrators no matter how many victims they cause (I know it sounds like they will avoid doing precisely that but they are that type of shameless hypocrites: peaceful demonstration is violence, police brutality is peace... could be an Orwellian slogan indeed, in the line of "war is peace, freedom is slavery").

In the same line, yesterday, police intervened against the txosnak (festive bars of the kompartsak, festive groups that are the backbone of the fiestas) at Bilbao, removing all photos of Basque prisoners and a totally unrelated item: a banner in solidarity with the Gaztexte, the popular social center. The resistence was peaceful: the repressive action was countered by music with love messages for each of the prisoners and people kept dancing in spite of the tension. Booing, whistling and cries of "go to Madrid" got the policemen stressed and they beat some people (this "detail" has not been broadcasted on TV). Eventually they retired under cries of "keep on, keep on... until you reach Madrid".

Masked riot policemen (known as beltzak: the black ones) deployed at the txosnak.

As fascist pressure mounts up, it has also been known that a municipal worker of Orkoien found his work van grafittied with fascist symbols and death threats. Watch out the "democrats" are coming!

Reads: caution Julio, look under (meaning there could be a bomb)

Let's see what happens today but, considering what we saw in Donostia last week, I expect a brutal intervention against the txosnak with many injured and arrested (hopefully there will be no deaths but you never know) and the interruption of the fiestas, as it happened once in the early 80s.

Source Gara (links in text).

Update: the demonstration was officially un-called at the police station and in a press release. In spite of it three spontaneous demonstrations took place: one was rapidly smashed by the police causing some riots, another, the original one, was prevented by masses of cops and finally a third one managed to walk through Autonomia street, one of the main arteries of Bilbao, gathering thousands and managing to reach the usual destination at the Arenal. At least three people have been arrested an it's reported huge police deployement in the city. I can hear a helicopter as I write this. Sources: Gara and verbal reports.
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The Great Week of Bilbao begins in most tense environment

The Aste Nagusia (Great Week) of Bilbao finally began yesterday, as the one of Donostia (San Sebastian) is almost drowned in blood, rather than dying peacefully as usual. Another elderly man, totally unrelated with any protest, was injured yesterday as police charged again against a demonstration in solidarity with Basque prisoners in Donostia. Three people have been arrested.

Image of the demonstration before police intervened (Gara)

Meanwhile the death threats against Bilbao txupinera, Sonia Polo, sister of a prisoner herelf, have fed the tension even more. But finally the Aste Nagusia began yesterday as close to normality as possible while the (Spanish) Bishop of Bilbao used the pulpit to make pro-Spanish anti-ETA politics, demonstrating that the Catholic Church is anything but neutral in this milennary conflict between the Basque People and the neighbouring opressor empires.

Sonia Polo (in red) fires the inaugural rocket (txupin)

Noticeably, this August 15, celebrated by Catholics as day of Virgin Mary, is precisely the day that Basques fought their most celebrated battle of all times, smashing the knightly rearguard of the imperialist army of Charlemagne at Orreaga (Roncevaux). Some people went to the Pyrenean pass of Ibaineta to commemorate it, deploying a huge Navarrese banner:

Source: Gara (links in text).
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Death threats against Bilbao txupinera

Remember that the txupinera of my hometown fiestas was being pressed to step down because her brother is in jail for political reasons? Well, the political campaign against her failed and she will perform her role normally... but the issue does not end here it seems. Some within the Neofascist unionist bloc have gone one step further, one step too far: they have sent her a letter with a bullet inside.

Spanish unionist terror is back, as I have been forced to report in the past (see this and this posts) and it is a worrisome trend, yet a situation we have lived with in the past and that has not reported any benefits to the enemies of the Basque People. To date no one has been officially murdered (though there is one missing and probably dead) since the GAL (police an mercenary commandos under direct Spanish guvernamental control) died off in the early 90s but the threats are there and we know well that the killings can begin again at any moment. I just hope to be worng, sincerely.

Hopefully we will have some resemblance of normality this upcoming Great Week (starts August 21st this year). In any case, my total support to Sonia Polo, who doesn't deserve this, obviously.
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Txupinera vetoed for being sister of a prisioner

In a yet another incredible twist of the advance of Spanish neofascism in the Basque Country (by undemocratic means, of course), an unprecedented situation has happened yesterday, as the Great Week of Bilbao is getting ready one year more: the person proposed to be this year's txupinera (the person, traditionally a woman, who ignites the firecracker marking the beginning of the festive journey, which is known as txupin) has been vetoed by the Spanish-nationalist tory town councilors (remember that last elections were undemocratic as important options were forbidden from running, what heavily distorts the representation in favor of Spanish nationalist forces).

But the most outraging fact is why has she been vetoed: because her brother is imprisioned by Spain and she collaborates in organizing travels for family members to the remote prisions where Basque prisioners are sent.

The Fiestas of Bilbao (Bilboko Jaiak), known officially as Bilboko Aste Nagusia (Great Week of Bilbao) are celebrated the week after August 15th, lasting ten days in fact. Since the fall of fascism they have been co-organized by the Town Hall and the Coordination of Kompartsak (self organized fiesta groups), this has allowed them to become the most popular and wild fiestas ever anywhere on Earth. The fiestas are presided by a couple of persons: the pregonero/-a (speaker, someone notable that is honored with cheering up the masses with his/her discourses) and the txupinera (traditionally a woman, as pregoneros were in the past usually men). The latter is appointed by the Coordination of Kompartsak, a wholly autonomous entity, normally just ratifying the nominated person proposed by the kompartsa that takes the turn that year.

last years' txupinera (left) and pregonero (right) in their uniforms

This year it was the turn of Eguzkizaleak (the Guardians of the Sun), a kompartsa organized around ecologist NGO, Eguzki (the Sun). Being txupinera is just a honorary position as her main role is just being there dressed in her red uniform and igniting the festive rockets now and then. At most she may be asked to say something for the local TV. That's all.

Never before was a txupinera vetoed by the Town Hall. And this year's veto (or threat of it so far) doesn't forecast anything good for the future of the fiestas under this arrogant undemocratic Town Hall.

We'll see what happens. I don't really see the kompartsak yielding in this issue.

Source: Gara.
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Tory Basque "nationalists" bow to Spain (even more)

Amazing! In 33 years the Spanish flag has not been raised at Bilbao town hall except for few hours in the main day of the local fiestas, causing always demonstrations and riots. Today the mayor Azkuna has bowed to judicial pressure and raised it at every hour every day.

They placed it quite high, as to avoid attacks, I guess.

But this is not the only shameful thing the conservative Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV) has done these last hours. It has also accepted to expel their rivals of Basque Nationalist Action (EAE-ANV - socialist, radical) from the last municipal councils it controlled after being partly banned from running into elections last year.

Elected mayors and councilors of EAE-ANV (above) have protested this decission and accused the tories of "servitude and submission to the Spanish Socialist Party and of loyalty towards the Spanish state".

Another related PSOE-PNV curious photo is this one:

From left to right: the Organization Secretary of the Spanish Socialists (the veteran cynic), the speaker of this party in the Spanish Parliament (the apprentice cynic) and the speaker of the Basque tories (the mafious businessman).

- Ordago!

- Sorry, I'm playing chess.