Last February it came to light that Seville has the first ‘squatting academy’ in Spain. Although it may seem a little different than what the name suggests, it is exactly what it sounds like: an in-person course with several subjects. The ‘squatting academy’ even gives its students their own manuals. They have published a very complete work that is now in its second edition, of more than 100 pages and that experts describe as truly useful for criminals who squat.
The association of squatters that has founded this type of criminal educational center is called the Seville Squatting Office. As if they were a public body. In fact, they give their physical classes from warehouses that they have occupied from the City Council itself. at the Polígono Store. There, for a small fee, they teach notions of electricity, locksmithing or law to avoid being expelled by the owners.
On February 3, they organized a conference called “Squatter yourself too”, in which, for a modest price, all these specialties were learned. During the day, students were also offered a meal—vegan, of course—and a snack. In the morning, although not too early, at 12:00 noon, they began with theory: “legal questions.” Then came the practices: Electrical and Locksmith Workshop.
Regarding the manual, which they give to their students and offer on their website, they warn that it should not cost more than two euros. The first notebook was published in 2006. The second, updated edition is from 2016. It is more complete, and the one they continue to use today. In the introduction they explain that “it is the result of experience and research but in no case is it a squatting treaty. “There are many people with experience and with other opinions on the issues discussed here.”
Citan “he Casas Viejas Occupation Manual (from the Occupied Social Center of Seville) and the Office Occupation Manual (from the Bilbo Occupation Office). And, they affirm, they served the squatters as a guide to begin this work.
To justify their way of life by squatting on other people’s private property, they resort to the typical clichés of 15M and blaming the banks. «Guided by those messages, we went to the bank to see if we could buy that little apartment in the neighborhood and what did he tell us? That he subsidized the house 100%, which gave us €6,000 more for furniture, €10,000 for the car and €2,000 for a good summer vacation. Thanks to cheap debt, millions of people mortgaged their lives to be able to keep up with the pace of consumption that the system encouraged,” they say.
After also criticizing “the business, political or noble class”, which can “and you can” make investments, which then make profitable” to “have many houses”, they continue their apology for squatting. “Squatting is not just getting a home, it is also creating a social center, meeting, sharing, learning, fighting,” they say. in the manual.
After the set of topics come the truly interesting chapters for home squatters. They divide the agenda into five main topics: the preliminaries, entering the house, let’s get to work!, Legal defense and eviction. In the first two sections they address points related to the surveillance of the property and how to search it: the neighborhood, the house, surveillance, the entrance or we are already inside!! These are some of the reading points of the manual
In the legal chapter, topics such as “the crimes that we can face when squatting a property” are addressed. or eviction attempts and identifications. Also,—for those who cannot attend the practical courses, we suppose—plumbing, electricity, masonry and “ñapas” are taught.