arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

BCN: BREAKING NEWS
by Anarchist Rioter 12:15pm Fri Mar 15 '02

Serious rioting has broken out at the EU summit at Barcelona. In one incident, peaceful protestors were baton-charged by riot police. Then at 2:25 pm local time, a big confrontation broke out on Las Ramblas, the city´s main walking street.

10:45 am (local time): The "Lobby Busters" demo is attacked by riot cops near the Sagrada Familia. The incident was provoked by the arrival of Critical Mass cyclists - the demo (numbering about 1500 people) then began to trickle onto the road, blocking the traffic. Without any provocation, the police began to beat demonstrators with batons. The crowd was baton-charged three times before the cops finally backed off.

2 pm: A large crowd has gathered outside the Liceu metro station for another demonstration. There are probably about 2,000 activists, including a couple of hundred Black Block. It is obvious that a confrontation is going to occur with the riot police, who have deployed officers with batons and guns that fire rubber bullets.

2.25 pm: Something has kicked off at the front of the crowd. The cops repeatedly baton-charge the crowd in order to disperse us. Masked activists are running onto the back streets. There is some minor property damage.

3 pm: The confrontation continues. Many tourists and local people have been beaten up by the cops. Someone must have been badly injured, because there are ambulances trying to get into the crowd. Something is on fire - I discover that some recycling bins have been set alight outside the Meridien Hotel. However, the clashes are gradually becoming more sporadic. Most people I speak to have been beaten, though injuries (including mine) are fairly minor.

4 pm: The cops have left and the crowd has mostly dispersed. However, the trouble is probably not over yet. Another event is due to start in the city centre in less than two hours´ time.

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Breaking News Reports from EU-Summit in Barcelona.
by imc uk 12:05pm Fri Mar 15 '02 (Modified on 2:37pm Fri Mar 15 '02)

Friday 15.03.02:

========BREAKING NEWS========

4:30pm - Las Ramblas has now been reopened to transit and downtown barcelona has regained a tense calm. Large numbers of riot police are now moving towards Colon (sea front) where an action against GM food is due to take place soon.

4:20pm - The 350 activists stopped at the border have finally been refused entrance to Spain and forced to turn their buses back to France.

4:00pm - Police are leaving the Ramblas area and the crowd has mostly dispersed now.

15:20pm - Borders are now effectively closed. Police are blocking 3 buses from Belgium, 2 from Toulouse and 2 from Marselle, from crossing the Spanish/French border. Around 350 protesters are stopped by the Spanish police from reaching Barcelona.

3:OOpm - The confrontation between protesters and police continues, although clashes are becoming more sporadic. Many tourists and local people have been beaten up by the police. Ambulances have been seen arriving in the area.

14:30pm - Reports of continuing brutal police charges trying to "clean up" Las Ramblas area of downtown Barcelona. People are fleeding to surrounding back streets. Bars an shops are closing up.

14:20pm - Police still charging at everyone in and around Las Ramblas. Some people have set-up barricades and reports of some small fires in the area. Police have made au unconfirmed number of arrests.

14:00pm - Reports of police surrounding the Convergence Centre. Tensions are rising and people fears police will raid it. Protesters are peacefully gathering at the centre's entrance. Some are starting a sit-in at the building's stairs.

12:40pm - Large numbers of riot police are blocking the Liceo underground's exit in Las Ramblas (downtown Barcelona), whilst searching and identifying any 'suspects'. Large numbers of undercover police are also peresent in the area.

12.30pm - Around 2000 people are outside Liceu theatre in Las Ramblas for the "March-Attack" action, some wearing black and masked up. Police presence is very heavy and athmosphere quite tense. Photos

12:15pm - Around 100 people are gathered outside the 'La Vanguardia' newspaper offices. They protests against corporate press' servility to capital, and it role in criminalising the Catalan social movements.

12:OOpm - Around 100 people took part in a students demonstration in the Gracia area of the city. Photo

11.45am - "Lobby Busters" have managed to do three actions with a festive athmosphere. One outside a bank, the other in a telecom office, the other in a watter company offices. They are now dispersing.

11:30am - Police have entered Pau Esteve school where some protesters are staying. 45 people have been retained for 1 hour. They all have been identified. Police eventually left the building.

11:15am - Dozens of riot police vans have taken the Diagonal area of the City. Police is arbitrarily stopping and identifying passers-by.

11:10am - An action in solidarity with Basque prisoners has taken place, to denounce the dispersion of Basque prisoners all over the Spanish State. Activists have simulated an accident in the middle of the Diagonal Ave turning over a car. This action pointed out the fact that the prisoner's relatives often have to travel hundreds of miles to visit them. Four people have been arrested in this action.

11:00am - Police have attacked the "Lobby Busters" when people tryed to start the action. Reports of 3 protesters slightly injured.

9:45am - People gathered near Sagrada Familia for the 'Lobby Busters' action. Seven police vans quickly arrived and police began to systematically search everyone. No arrests were made.

9:30am - Students that had been occupying the Economics faculty of Barcelona's University, have ended their occupation and took to the streets under strong police presence. Photo of occupation.

9:00am - Around 1000 people started a bicycles Critical Mass. Police is following the ride but so far no reports of any trouble. 8:00am - A small group of activists from the Sarria area have hung 20 banners around the streets of Sarria. The banners have slogans against the Europe of Capital and War.

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police state in barcelona
by ft article re-entitled 10:29am Fri Mar 15 '02

EUROPE: City under siege as EU summit security tightens ANTI-GLOBALISATION PROTESTS POLICE TAKE NO CHANCES:
Financial Times; Mar 15, 2002
By LESLIE CRAWFORD

Barcelona's 3m inhabitants are not in the best of moods.

Their lives have been disrupted by the extreme security measures being taken to protect a summit of European Union leaders that begins today. Residents fear anti-globalisation protests will turn nasty, as they did in Genoa and Gothenburg. They resent the presence of more than 15,000 police who have been sent to Barcelona to protect the delegates.

"The city is very tense," says Enric Juliana, city editor at La Vanguardia, a Barcelona newspaper. "We feel under siege."

For a city that works so hard to promote itself as a centre of metropolitan chic, a violent summit could be a marketing disaster for Barcelona, frightening off tourists who contribute more than 10 per cent of its livelihood. Since the WTO's 1998 meeting in Seattle, city authorities have come to see gatherings of world leaders more as a liability than as an opportunity to showcase their wares.

Barcelona's business elite also wishes the EU summit had been held elsewhere. Spain's intelligence services have warned prominent businessmen that Eta, the armed Basque separatist group, may attempt to kidnap them during the summit. Banks have had to reinforce security because of bomb threats. "If anti-globalisation protests turn violent - and more than 20 demonstrations will be held over the weekend - our offices are an obvious target. We are bracing ourselves for a lot of vandalism," a senior bank executive says.

Anti-globalisation protesters say that if there is violence it will be the fault of police for failing to control "provocateurs". Bernard Cassen, French founder of Attac, says governments have a vested interest in portraying the anti-globalisation movement as violent. Yesterday he criticised the heavy police presence on the border between Spain and France. "The EU wants to liberalise energy and transport, but it prevents the free movement of people," Mr Cassen said at a press conference in Barcelona.

Police have turned away more than 100 would-be demonstrators at the border. They have confiscated baseball bats, pick axes and hollow tubes. A Barcelona-Real Madrid soccer derby on Saturday will add to their worries. So police are not taking any chances.

The city's main thoroughfare, the Diagonal, has been closed to traffic for the duration of the summit. Metro stations in the vicinity of the summit conference centre have also been shut down. The University of Barcelona, with 65,000 students, has also decreed a two-day holiday because its main campus lies with the summit's security zone.

All of this will ensure that the summit takes place in sealed surroundings, with no contact allowed between foreign dignitaries and city dwellers. For those who worry about the relevance of EU policy to ordinary Europeans, the isolation of its leaders is an apt metaphor. http://www.ft.com/barcelona

hi
make that 4 more Belgian people stopped in a car at the Spanish border in France, for absolutely no reason at all (wednesday morning).And probably a lot more people that came individually weren't allowed intrance.
they are now back in Belgium and wonder wether there isn't anything organised (action-wise) in Brussels since they are very frustrated about being denied their right to protest against the EU-summit in Barcelona...their had been rumours about actions in Brussels though we can't seem to find any information about that. Hello sombody?

Mobilisations a Barcelone contre le sommet europeen

12:15am - De 200 a 300 personnes sont en train de manifester devant le poste de police de la Verdana en solidarite avec les personnes arretees aujourd'hui

11:40pm - Les evaluations des actions d'aujourd'hui par la Campaign Against the Europe of Capital and War.

11:30pm - Deux autocars belges auxquels il avait ete permis de franchir la frontiere, ont ete arretes par la suite par la police apres leur entree en Espagne. Les occupants de ces bus ont entame un sit-in de protestation au milieu de l autoroute

11:15pm - Il est desormais confirme que deux personnes d'Indymedia Barcelona ont ete arretees ce soir dans le quartier de Gracia

10:50pm - Une assemblee publique, tenue pour decider du soutien a apporter aux personnes arretees, vient de se terminer. Un groupe de personnes se rendent du MACBA au poste de police de Verdana en signe de solidarite. Appel a ete lance a la population pour se joindre a cette action.

8:30pm - L'arrestation de huit personnes a Gracia est confirmee. Des renforts policiers ont rejoint le lieu. On rapporte que l'on aurait mis le feu a des containers.

8:15pm - La police attaque les manifestants a Gracia. On rapporte plusieurs arrestations, dont des activistes du centre media.

8:00pm - La situation a Gracia est tres tendue. 400 personnes ont essaye de defiler mais la police anti emeutes les a encercles. Des helicopteres de police volent a basse altitude et braquent des projecteurs sur les manifestants. On rapporte que des manifestants auraient tente de briser le cercle de la police. Ils seraient en train de se diriger vers le centre de BCN.

7:40pm - Une autre Critical Mass de cyclistes vient d'arriver au square du MACBA. La police a suivi les cyclistes sans intervenir. La place du MACBA reste calme et le public assiste au spectacle.

7:10pm - Le centre de Barcelone est desormais calme. 5.000 personnes a l exterieur du MACBA sont en train d'assister au spectacle.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14517&group=webcast

7:00pm - La tension monte dans le quartier de Gracia. Deux manifestations sont prevues pour ce soir, et la police a deja pris position a l¡endroit ou la manifestation est censee se tenir. La police demande aux commercant alentours de fermer leurs magasins dans ce qiu semblent constituer des preparatifs de troubles.

6:15pm - Une manifestation contre les nourritures transgeniques se tient actuellement a la statue de Colomb (front de mer). En depit d'une forte presence policiere autour de la foule, la manifestation conserve son caractere festif.

4:30pm - Les Ramblas sont desormais rouvertes a la circulation et le centre de BCN a retrouve son calme. Les sections de la police anti emeutes vont maintenant rejoindre en force le front de mer ou est prevue une manifestation contre les aliments OGM.

4:20pm - Les 350 activistes bloques a la frontiere ont finalement ete interdits d'entree en Espagne et ont du repartir vers la France.

4:00pm - La police quitte les Ramblas et la foule est maintenant totalement dispersee.

15:20pm - Les frontieres sont maintenant fermees. La police interdit le passage de la frontiere hispano-francaise a 3 bus de Belgique, 2 de Toulouse et 2 de Marseille. Pres de 350 manifestants sont empeches par la police espagnole d'atteindre Barcelone.

3:OOpm - La confrontation entre les manifestants et la police continue, bien que les accrochages deviennent sporadiques. Beaucoup de touristes et de locaux auraient ete maltraites et battus par la police. Des ambulances ont ete vues dans cete zone.

14:30pm - Des temoignages de charges brutales de la police essayant de "nettoyer" les Ramblas continuent d'affluer. Les gens se refigient dans les rues laterales, les magasins et les bars se ferment.

14:20pm - La police continue a charger les personnes se trouvant a proximite des Ramblas. Des personnes auraient edifies des barricades et on rapporte quelques feux dans cete zone. La police a effectue des arrestations, le nombre n'en a pas ete precise.

14:00pm - On rapporte que la police entourerait le centre de convergence. La tension monte et les gens craignent que la police ne les attaquent. Les manifestants se sont rassembles pacifiquement a l'entree du centre, certains ont commence un sit-in dans les escaliers.

1:00pm - la police commence a attaquer la foule reunie pour la manifestation "Capitalism can't be reformed, it must be destroyed" demo in Las Ramblas.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14470&group=webcast

12:40pm - Des forces de police en nombre sont en train de bloquer les issues du metro Liceu dans les Ramblas (centre de Barcelone), fouillant et verifiant les identites des 'suspects'. Un grand nombre de policiers en civil seraient egalement presents dans la zone.

12.30pm - Pres de 2000 personne sont devant le theatre du Liceu sur les Ramblas pour l'action "March-Attack", certains habilles en noir et masques. La presence policiere est importante et l'atmosphere tendue.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14425&group=webcast

12:15pm - Pres de 100 personnes sont reunies devant les locaux du journal 'La Vanguardia'. Ils manifestent contre la servilite de la presse commerciale face au capital, et contre son role dans la criminalisation des mouvements sociaux catalans.

12:OOpm - Pres de 100 personnes ont pris part a une manifestation etudiante dans le quartier de Gracia.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14429&group=webcast

11.45am - Les "Lobby Busters" ont decide de mener trois actions dans une ambiance festive. Une a l'exterieur d'une banque, une autre devant une compagnie de telephone, et la derniere dans les bureaux d'une societe de distribution d'eau. Les 2.000 participants a cete manifestation sont en train de se diperser.

11:30am - La police a envahi l'ecole Pau Esteve ou se trouvaient des manifestants. 45 d'entre eux ont ete retenus pendant une heure. Tous ont subi un controle d'identite. La police a quitte les lieux.

11:15am - Des camionnettes de la police anti emeutes ont envahie la zone du Diagonal. La police arrete et controle de facon arbitraire les detenteurs de laisser-passer.

11:10am - Une action en solidarite avec les prisonniers basques a eu lieu, afin de denoncer la dispersion des prisonniers dans toute l'Espagne. Les activistes ont simule un accident au milieu de l'avenue Diagonal en renversant une voiture. Ils voulaient souligner le fait que les proches et familles de ces prisonniers devaient souvent parcourir des milliers de kilometres pour voir leurs proches. Quatre personnes ont ete arretees au cours de cette action.

11:00am - La police a attaque les "Lobby Busters" au debut de l'action. On rapporte trois manifestants legerement blesses.

9:45am - Rassemblement de personnes devant la Sagrada Familia pour l'action des'Lobby Busters'. Sept fourgons de police sont rapidement arrives sur les lieux et ont commence a fouiller systematiquement chaque personne. Aucune arrestation n'a ete faite.

9:30am - Les etudiants qui occupaient la Faculte d'Economie de l'Universite de Barcelone, ont acheve leur occupation et sont sortis dans les rues parmi une forte presence policiere.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14379&group=webcastof occupation.

9:00am - Pres de 60 cyclistes ont demarre une Critical Mass de velos. La police suit le cortege et on rapporte des arrestations de cyclistes pour les controler.

http://barcelona.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=14469&group=webcast

8:00am - Un petit groupe d'activistes du quartier de Sarria a supendu pres de 20 bannieres dans les rues de Sarria. Les bannieres portent des slogans anti-europeens, contre l'Europe du Capital et de la Guerre.