At 7:20 in the morning, on the 31st if January, the riot police of the munincipal authorities of Madrid closed off the street, calle Tribulete in the neighbourhood of Lavapiés, to execute the eviction of Antonio Argobia, a 54 year old man incapacited by chronic illness. Permitting only the passage of local merchants and neighbours, on condition of verification of identification, they preceded by an hour the convocation of Madrid’s various social collectives organized around the defense of housing to prevent the eviction. (e.g., Asamblea de Vivienda Madrid, Oficina Vivienda, Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca Madrid, etc.)
A mediator of the collectives was arrested, along with journalists, as the door of the home was smashed open.
After 12 noon, the riot police withdrew, after charging protestors and neighbours who contested the action of the authorities. Indignant, the police were chased and forced out of the neighbourhood in a rain of projectiles. Another eviction to add to the hundreds of evictions ordered daily in the country and the hundreds of thousands that have been executed since 2008 (see: PAH); another day in the wars of capital …
Video by Jaime Alekos for Periodismo Humano …
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