Life

Bilbao's Court number 5 for Administrative Disputes on Friday issued a ruling to press ahead with an order to demolish the building which until now has housed the Kukutza Gaztetxe in the Bilbao district of Rekalde. Eviction of the property began on Wednesday morning.

The court reached its decision after a hearing held at the Basque Country's Superior Court of Justice on Thursday in which they considered a petition presented by the Errekaldeberriz residents association to halt the planned demolition and maintain it as the youth centre Kukutza.

In favour of preservation

The Board of Directors of the Heritage Commission of the Biscay Delegation for the Basque-Navarre Architects Association said on Friday it was developing a report regarding the importance of the building and the urban situation affecting it.

The Basque Association of Industrial Heritage and Public Works stated that the building which houses the Kukutza gaztetxe is included among structures listed for preservation by municipal planning.

Eviction

Basque police entered the Kukutza Gaztetxe at approximately 5.30am on Wednesday morning to carry out the eviction order. Faced with resistance from protestors, some of whom had slept the night inside the building, police opened fire with rubber bullets. According to witness accounts, a number of people were injured as a result.

Basque ombudsman Iñigo Lamarca announced later that day he would be opening an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the eviction based on a number of phone calls received by his office alleging that police had been overly heavy-handed with certain protesters during the eviction operation.

Mayor of Bilbao, Iñaki Azkuna, and Basque Councillor for the Interior, Rodolfo Ares, defended police action as "proportionate" to the resistance put up by protesters.