User:Paxuscalta/Can Masdeu

Can Masdeu is a squatted social centre, residence and community garden in the valley of San Genis, part of the Collserola Park in Barcelona.

Grounds. Location and Early History
The grounds controlled by the squat include 2 hectars of land in use as gardens, an abandoned nunnery and hospital facility and about 15 hectars of mostly hilly forests. The building spans 4 floors and is draped over the side of a hill. It includes 24 different rooms of various sizes including a large hall.

Can Masdeu is located up the hill from the Canyelles L3 Metro stations in Barcelona. There is a sign for it before the 0,5 km walk up a dirt road to the site.

The building was built on an ancient Roman site, and presumably was surrounded by vineyards before the city expanded into Nou Barris. Of the existing structure, first the temple (masia) was completed in the 1600s. In the early 20th century the living units, common space and kitchen were added. After functioning as a nunnery for some years, the facility was converted into a leper hospital. It was ultimately shuttered and abandoned in 1948. The publics fear of leprosy likely left this large facility left vacant for over half a century.

Occupation and legal status
An international group of activists spent over a year searching in Barcelona for the best location to occupy a site and in Dec of 2001 they moved onto an abandoned hospital. Can Masdeu became famous in April 2002, when over 100 national police came to evict 11 squatters. Using [passive resistance] over three days the squatters were able to hold off the police's efforts at forced removal. The squatters used a number of techniques to retain control of the space including, significantly, locking themselves to various precarious perches outside the building. This created a situation in which the police risked serious injury to the squatters by attempting to remove them. Some dangling occupiers locked themselves to the building, others balanced on a welded three person chair, from which no single occupant could be removed without dropping the others. Many were suspended outside the building on frames and even a bathtub was used.

The police changed there initial strategy of forced removal with one of waited for the squatters to get thirsty and hungry and come down. They waited for three days with growing local support and media attention. Hundreds of of spectators came to see the occupation, many of them chatted slogans, and stopping traffic on the local highway. A Dutch solidarity organization organized an occupation of the Spanish Embassy in the Netherlands. A Barcelona judge ordered the police to withdraw on Dec 13, 2001.

The judge's ruling specified that human rights and safety are more important that property rights.

There have been both civil and criminal cases brought against the occupants of Can Masdeu since the 2002. Most of these cases have been lost by the community, but it continues to occupy the site, in part because the hospital which owns the facility does not have the financial capacity to renovate the structure. Further complicating the hospitals plans to provide a suitable reason for improving the Can Masdeu site is the fact that immediately next to it there is another larger abandoned institutional building, which could more easily be used than the more dilapidated older facility.

Local Relations
Relations with the surrounding local population has been a focus of the efforts of the residents of Can Masdeu. Immediately after the occupation, the community encouraged local gardeners to come plant on their gardens on the grounds. About a dozen people at first, mostly older women responded to the offer and began planting mostly produce and some flowers.

The community hosts monthly or bi-monthly potlucks with local gardeners and there are regular meetings to manage the affairs of the garden. In 2006 a large second terrace of gardens was recovered from the surround bush lands and additional local gardens were planted. There are three tiers of gardens, the lowest is the new local gardens, the middle tier is production garden for the community and the top tier is the original local gardens. These neighbors initially came from the Nou Barris district, but increasingly locals involved with these community gardens who move to near by locations continue to come to this site and maintain their plots..

Social Centre Activities
For most Sundays of the year there are public workshops offered in the social centre, the PIC, or ''Punt d'Interracció de Collserola'. These worksops and presentations cover a variety of topics including:


 * environmental issues
 * permaculture and organic farming
 * communities movement
 * political resistance
 * independent film presentations
 * music, dancing and cultural expression
 * walking tours of the community grounds and building

A vegetarian meal served for which a donation is requested. The meal typically features food which has been harvested from the communities gardens or traded with other local farms.

The Social Centre and the rurbar, a cafe serving local and organic meals and drinks, is open most Sundays from noon until evening. Activities are listed on the website and in the newsletter Infousurpa.

Renovations and Functions
A substantial renovation was necessary to make the space liveable. Squatters cleared out rooms and repaired them and moved on to the adjacent space for a period of over 3 years. Residents enjoy a low energy, low impact lifestyle with few low power electical fixutres and a couple of fireplaces for the splawling complex.

The community runs a bike shop and repair clinic. Bakes bread for itself and local customers. Provides space to the local high school for meetings and performances. It also hosts meeting of progressive and resistance groups.

Current Status
As of 2008, more than 28 people live in and share the house. Community participation includes bi-weekly meetings, organic gardening, housework, and two collective meals per day, and each member contributes roughly 25 euros/month to food costs. The working languages of the house are Catalan and Spanish, but as it is an international group, English, Italian, French, Basque, and Esperanto are also spoken.

The community hosts some guests who are either friends of the community or involved in service projects or movements which the community supports. The community receives far more requests to host people than it has the capacity to provide.

The Name Can Masdeu
The name Can Masdeu also refers to the masía -a traditional Catalonian patriarchal mansion or plantation house - where the social centre is located. 'Can' means 'property', and the Masdeu family were the owners of this mansion in the Middle ages.