Squatting in abandoned houses and buildings in Spanish cities has been a continuous occurrence since the early 1980s. CSOAs (Centros Sociales Okupados y Autogestionados/Squatted and Self-Managed Social Centres) acquired greater public importance than buildings squatted only for housing purposes. Nevertheless, both forms of squatting have taken place simultaneously. This article delineates the main characteristics of this movement by taking into consideration: (a) spatial trends, (b) the ideological principles, (c) attempts at coordination and (d) the interrelationship with other social movements. This exercise develops a working definition of the squatters' movement in Spain which allows us to argue that its repertoire of protest and political objectives represents an innovation in the cycle of alter-globalization demonstrations which the squatters' movement has actively joined. Keywords: SquattingUrban MovementsCounter-CultureAlter-GlobalizationSpain Notes [1] Something that is nevertheless always difficult to quantify accurately because it alludes to activists, collaborators, demonstrators, participants in activities and so on. [2] That sets them apart from other types of squatting in dwellings by individuals or families who preferred not to attract attention but rather to satisfy their housing needs without making any broader social claims or criticisms through that act. [3] Cine Princesa was located at the core of Barcelona's CBD (central business district). Its squatting took place in 1995 as a symbolic protest action against the new Penal Code, but, rather unexpectedly, it lasted for seven months. After the evictions, a number of large demonstrations took place in Barcelona and in other cities as an expression of solidarity. Confrontation and clashes with the police, during these demonstrations, led to a large number, 42, of arrests, more demonstrations and attempts to squat this building again. This was the first time the squatter's movement gained such widespread attention from the mainstream media (see Martínez 2002a Martínez, M. 2002a. Contextos y transversalidad: ¿aún con problemas al definir los movimientos sociales?. Inguruak. Revista Vasca de Sociología y Ciencia Política, 33: 119–146. [Google Scholar]). [4] Gaztetxes are CSOAs in the Basque Country with an explicit global anti-capitalist orientation albeit some of them complement this with a fight against the Spanish state (see González et al. 2002, pp. 188–89). [5] Such as artistic and counter-information activities, training workshops, employment cooperatives, and organizational platforms for broader campaigns and certain political parties. [6] There are records of three such cases but, even then, the many particularities of these cases prevent them being classified as successful cases of 'institutionalization'. [7] These counter-cultural activities had a global flavour. Alternative music bands from other, mainly European, countries performed in Spanish CSOAs and Spanish bands went to squats abroad. [8] By creating, for example, an alternative counter-platform to the already fairly alternative and critical 'plural platform' of Barcelona 2001. [9] According to the Spanish Constitution, any association is deemed to be legal from the moment it is created and it has no obligation to inform the corresponding Register of its existence. [10] The way a person entering a CSOA dresses and speaks, who accompanies them and where they work are all part of the implicit questionnaire faced by many newcomers. [11] Such as in the cases of Can Masdeu, near Barcelona, or La Casika, near Madrid.
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Miguel A. Martínez (2007) studied this question.