A year has passed since the Old Town Youth Assembly (AZGA) occupied Guardetxea in Urgull, in the context of May Day 2025. On the occasion of this anniversary, members of Guardetxea held a public appearance in the Plaza de la Trinidad in the Old Town, with the support of numerous social and political organizations from Donostia.
“"Today, however, is not a day for anniversary celebrations. May Day is a day to reaffirm political organization and the fight against all oppression."
During the appearance, they stated that Guardetxea and its anniversary should serve to strengthen alliances between organizations and activists in Donostia and to “take a step forward in the construction of a different Donostia”. Various entities joined this demand, including Askapena Donostia, Bilgune Feminista, Donostiako Piratak, Ernai Donostia, ESK Sindikatua, ELA Sindikatua, and LAB Sindikatua.
Over the past year, Guardetxea has developed an uninterrupted political-cultural program, hosted thousands of people, and served as a refuge for the projects of dozens of organizations. For this reason, they have emphasized that self-managed and community projects like Guardetxea are essential.
Recently, they formed an association and submitted an official request to the Donostia City Council to legally manage the building. As they indicated in the appearance, the city council has “two options”: “to assume its corresponding responsibility and agree on the conditions for the assignment of Guardetxea, or once again, to turn a deaf ear to the demands of the associations, organizations, and residents of the Old Town and Donostia and try to evict Guardetxea”.
They also denounced the 32,000 euro fines received for attending the municipal plenary session and expressed solidarity with the members awaiting sanction requests and trial dates.
