Guided Tour // Street Art (BCN MES – Sunday 24th March)

Duncan Crowley knows Barcelona inside out. After many years guiding fresh-faced visitors around the traditional tourist sites he is branching out and offering a free tour of street art and the rebellious side of the city, his real passion. Drawing on his personal experiences as an indignado and in squats around the city, the tour includes anarchist spaces, stories of the 15-M movement and valuable insight into the politics behind the graffiti, stencils and stickers we see every day.

15h · Metro Sant Antoni (Tamarit/Ronda Sant Antoni) · Free

Itsafunnyoldworld.worpress.com // Fuspey@gmail.com

This months edition, #20, of BCN MES includes the above event.

Adeu Spain??? (Is Catalonia about to start the breakup of Spain?)

Will Catalonia become Europe’s newest state? We examine the increasingly popular Catalan separatist movement. (Farewell Spain? Will austerity drive Catalonia to independence? : Al Jazeera)

Is Catalonia going to be Europe’s newest state? Nearly 1.5 million Catalans took the streets of Barcelona last week calling for independence from Spain. Catalonia is recognised as a “nation” within Spain, but the country’s financial crisis has exacerbated the region’s independence movement. Catalans say their nation gives more taxes to the Spanish government than it receives and that austerity cuts have unfairly squeezed their economy…

#25N elections – The results of the Regional Catalan snap elections of 25th of November were a bit of a surprise to many people. Arthur Mas, the man who perhaps saw himself at the helm of the ship, leading his people to a promised land, a Moses like figure, didnt get the massive support he had hoped for his centre right party CIU (50 seats),  instead we have seen a rise of the more radical left wing independence groups such as the Republicans ERC (21) the eco socialists ICV-EUiA (13) and the radical anticapitalists CUP (3). This is definately a reflection of the growing anger in Catalunya at the very severe cuts that Mas has launched onto the people here.

      

Reports from world media after the #25N elections (see Vilaweb for full global list) : English Speaking: BBC | The Guardian | The Telegraph | Financial Times  | Wall Street Journal | The Scotsman | Aljazeera  | Russia Today  | CNN  | Houston Chronicle | The Globe and Mail Other: History of Catalonia (wikipedia) Help Catalonia | Catalan news agency | Vote listing via ARA | Donostia es la hostia*

Reports from world media before the #25N elections (via Vilaweb, night before the 25N Vote): English Speaking: The New York Times: Catalan Vote Could Be a First Step Toward Self-Rule | The Guardian: Catalonia independence timetable: ‘Once it has started it cannot stop’ | The Wall Street Journal: Catalonian Calls for Independence Increase | Reuters: Immigrants and youth drive Catalan independence movement | The Times: Should it stay or go? Catalonia faces its moment of decision | The Scotsman: Catalonian vote will decide future of Spain | The Australian: Catalan leader seeks ‘freedom’ in election | Aavaz: Catalonia: Adios to Spain? | Wales Online: Independence? Europeans may soon be witnessing the birth of a new state …

Special Guardian series: Barça-loners: A Catalan history of Spain – interactive | If Catalonia wins independence, where will it end? | Catalonia is voting on its future in Spain – and Madrid is worried | The case for Catalonia’s independence | If Catalonia wins independence, where will it end? | Immigration complicates Catalonia’s separatist picture | Catalonia independence timetable: ‘Once it has started it cannot stop’ | Catalonia tales: ‘Spain is like a father forbidding his son from leaving home’ | Catalonia tales: ‘Independence began as something small in my heart’ | Catalonia tales: ‘would the average Catalan citizen really be better off?’ | Lessons that Catalonia can learn from Scotland | Catalonia independence for business lights is best economic option all round | The economics of Catalan independence don’t add up  | Catalonia tales: ‘I can’t see anything but a hypocritical interest in independence’ | British expats unconvinced by Catalonian independence | Catalonia independence: the views of foreigners who live there | Immigration complicates Catalonia’s separatist picture | More than a club: FC Barcelona and Catalonia’s road to independence – video | #CataloniaTales (on Twitter)

Donostia es la hostia* (Languages and peoples; Basques, Spain and Europe)

The ikurrina flag

Just back from a wonderful few days up in Euskadi, the Basque country, up in the north of Spain. The few days we were there coincided with the snap elections which were held on the 1 year anniversary of the full cease fire of the basque independence terrorist group ETA. We were there for a wedding. Heres a few things of interest about that wonderful place

* Donostia es la hostia = San Sebastian is amazing (Donostia is the Basque name for San Sabastian, “es la hostia” directly translates as “Its the host of Christ”)

Linguistic map of Spain

New projects in Barcelona: Aurea Social + HUB

2 things of great importance started up recently in Barcelona:

Aurea Social

Social classroom: open space – health – education – self organisation

The HUB Barcelona

HUB: We believe there is no shortage of good ideas to solve the issues of our time. But there is an acute lack of collaboration and support structures to help make them happen. The HUB was founded to address this need.

Brazil, Transition, Big Cities, Inspiring projects

I met some really amazing Brazilian girls yesterday on the walking tour and found out about the excellent work going on in the slums of Sao paulo and elsewhere…

InterAção (International network of community action)

+ Um Teto para meu País (a roof for my country)

We are a non-profit organization run by university students and young professionals that through the construction of transitional houses, works with families in extreme poverty in a social inclusion process that will allow them to develop as a sustainable community  (Originally started in Chile, now spreading widely in Sao Paulo and Brazil)

I was telling them of a few other amazing projects going on in Sao Paulo, which I found out about last year at the TRANSITION NETWORK CONFERENCE, earlier article previously posted here outlines that: Transition and Big Cities

There is some really inspiring stuff going on around the planet at the present, 2 of us travelled from Barcelona to participate in the recent Transition Conference in Liverpool, or “The Peoples Republic of Scouse” as Pete North put it, a few weeks back and while there we plugged in, connected with other people in transition. I connected as much as possible with people working in cities, who are addressing the challenges, applying the basic ideas of transition to the bigger macro scale.

Links: Transition and Big Cities | Forests invading cities: Latest on Brazil turning the tide #ttcon2011 (MP3 here) | transition brasil ning | Transition Granja Viana | Brasilândia | Transition Brasilândia (blog) | Verdejando Heliópolis | What strategies are working in big cities? (topic on transition network) | Transition in Cities and the #SpanishRevolution | A conversation about Transition in Cities (MP3 audio)

N30: This Is What Democracy Looks + Eye of the storm (BeT ♥) Film series @ CAT BAR

(BeT ♥) Ciclo de cine @ CAT BAR

Estas películas se proyectará el jueves 19 de Abril 2012 en Barcelona en CAT BAR a las 20.30h. Será el tercero película de la Barcelona en Transició, de la commision CORAZÓN ♥. Una parte del PARTE AMARILLO : QATSI (LA VIDA). Los 2 pelis seran en ingles con sutitlos en español.

1 – ”Eye of the storm / En el ojo del tormento” – Prequel   IMC-Argentina (14 mins corto)

2 – This Is What Democracy Looks Like (68 mins)

“The day the political landscape changed forever“, was how Fritjof Capra referred to events ofN30, Tuesday 30th of November 1999, in his book The Hidden Connections. He was referring to the day when 1000´s of global justice activists came together and succeeded in shutting down the first WTO talks in the US using (mostly) non violent direct actions (NVDA) in the north western US city of Seattle. This was the event which brought the “globalisation” debate to the mainstream. It has been misleadingly described as anti-globalisation, what it should be accurately described as is anti corporate globalisation.

Moving on… After Spains 29M general strike, how and why peaceful action is the only way to WIN

After what seems like a summer break, things have been heating up in Spain, especially in Barcelona. Last week there was a massive general strike in Spain, which was mostly peaceful. But here in Barcelona the city looked like a warzone with fires burning, banks smashed up, a starbucks smashed and burned out, police shooting a massive amount of rubber bullets for over 3 hours. One protester has lost an eye, another has a ruptured spleen, many injuries

We have already seen huge violent protests in Greece, where already people have died and tragically a 77 year old man took his own life in protest this morning outside Stgyma square. Are we going to see a far more violent confrontation between the radical, and mostly anarko, elements of activists in the city against a police force that is getting ever more violent and a head of command, Puig, hell bent on such a showdown… OR, can we expect a growth of a more non violent, but still direct action based form of resistence to the Increadibly harsh measures of austerity?

As a pacifist, I would argue that the peaceful road is the one that we should go down. Not soley for the spiritual reasons for pacifism, but more so that I believe that this strategy is the only one that can get us to that better place that we really feel we will get to, soon!

To outline the hows and whys of how a pacifist approach can and will change the world, I`ll direct you to a very excellent recent talk: Chris Hedges And Occupy Debate Black Block Violence

Previous vids about debate between use of violence or not, from COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009: (Copenhagen ’09) Reclaim Power, that talk, that “riot”, that action, the consequences

Spanish General Strike: Spain: General strike demonstrations on March 29th | General strike marks another step forward for indignados (Reflections on a Revolution ROAR) | Spanish general strike: Notes from the margins (Red Pepper) Videos: LaTele Punt Cat: A multitude of multitudes | Inicidents from the 29M strike in Barcelona (in Catalan)

Sin Mapa (Without a map, Calle 13′s wanderings in Latin America)

(BeT ♥) Ciclo de cine @ CAT BAR

Esta película se proyectará el jueves 15 de Marzo 2012 en Barcelona en CAT BAR a las 20.30h. Será el segundo película de la Barcelona en Transició, de la commision CORAZÓN ♥. La primera del PARTE AMARILLO : QATSI (LA VIDA)

(ENGLISH BELOW)

Calle 13 – Sin Mapa (Without a map – English Subtitles)

La banda de Perto Rico Calle 13 hizo una película, Sin mapa, en el año 2010 es acerca de sus viajes por América del Sur y la cultura indígena de la tierra y el arte. La película estuvo disponible gratis en iTunes y en DVD el 28 de julio de 2010.

(BeT ♥) Film series @ CAT BAR

5 months of films. 3 every month; first, third and last Thursday. All beginning 20.30h. All free. All at CAT BAR

CAT BAR, The BORN VEGAN Restaurant and Artisan Beer Bar 100% Vegetarian – c/ Boria 17 CatBar, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

3 themes, 5 months:

1 – Transition : Start (1^st thursday of month) BLUE

2 – Qatsi (Life ) : Middle (3^rd thursday of month) YELLOW

3 – Remembering 75 years ago : End (last thursday of month) RED

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Transition : Start (First thursday of month) BLUE

1 – Homage to Catlunya 11

2 – End Of Suburbia

3 – How Cuba survived peak oil

4 – Transition 1.0

5 – Poc a Poc

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Qatsi (Life) : (Third thursday of month) YELLOW

1 – Koyaanisqatsi (1982) (thr 16^th Febrero)

2 – Sin Ruta (Calle 13s discovery of America Latina)

3 – CRASS – there is no authority but yourself

4 – Waking life

5 – This is what democracy looks like

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Remembering ’37 : End (last thursday of month) RED

1 – Land And Freedom (Ken Loach)

2 – An Anarchist’s Story – Ethel Macdonald (2007 – Mark Littlewood)

3 – La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly :1999)

4 – Living Utopia (The Anarchists and the Spanish Revolution: 1997)

5 – Mujeres Libres + The Spanish Earth

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Koyaanisqatsi – “Life Out of Balance” (BeT ♥ film #1)

Koyaanisqatsi – “Life Out of Balance”

Koyaanisqatsi is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke.

This film will be screened on Thursday 16th February 2012 in Barcelona at CAT BAR at 20.30h. It will be the first film of the Barcelona en Transició ♥ HEART group.

“I saw this in a London cinema in Nov 1983, age 17. I’d no clue what it was going to be about -could have been a Rambo movie for all I knew. I just went along with my pals. Two hours later – back outside in the dank night – and my entire outlook, understanding and appreciation of music, nature, life, world – the way I saw everything just shifted and was never the same again.”

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