Gamonal against the Boulevard
January 2014 - Spain
[ The neighbourhood of Gamonal is a peripheral area of the city of Burgos built , like many others under the Franco regime , to stock the working families coming from the rural exodus to work for the new industries . This has always been a conflict area and the most recent struggles have been directed against urban restructuring such as the construction of the parking Eladio Perlado in 2005 . This time it is the Pharaonic project of a boulevard that has ignited the fire . Chronology made based on information from Diario de Vurgos .]
Saturday , January 11
Since last Wednesday , Vitoria Street , a main artery connecting the center of Burgos with Gamonal is closed due to the start of the construction of the boulevard announced by the city council . It ’ s been months that the inhabitants of the district express their rejection of this new construction , while the council stayed deaf .
On the morning of Friday , the inhabitants of the district of Gamonal spread the information and relayed the call for the rally scheduled at 5 pm . This gathering was attacked by the police , which made that other inhabitants came out to join the protest .
The number of people increased throughout the evening and they remained in front of the site until about 22h , shouting “ Gamonal doesn ’ t want a boulevard ”. At that moment , a car of the National Police drove at high speed on those present , unleashing a rain of objects . The units of the UPR began to attack while firing rubber bullets , which was responded to by many barricades to prevent the advance of the police assault . A pitched battle lasted until late in the morning .
Meanwhile , residents who observed what was happening from their homes came out on their balconies banging on pots and pans in support of the neigbourhood .
Sunday , January 12
For the second night , Gamonal was the scene of intense fighting between residents and police . The supposed normality that was proclaimed by the council through its usual channels was only the prelude to a new night during which the residents of the neighbourhood , young and old , have taken to the streets to express their refusal of a speculative project without other interest than the benefits they bring to construction companies . Faced with a wave of indiscriminate arrests that have followed in Gamonal , the movement of neighbourhood assemblies convened gatherings .
The demonstration in solidarity with the 17 people arrested in the protests against the boulevard , started from the construction site at the end of a meeting in which was evaluated how to continue the protests against the construction . Megaphone in hand , several inhabitants have expressed the need to continue to show the rejection of urban speculation and demonstrate the need for solidarity with those arrested in the night from Friday to Saturday .
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