"No studies or cocks": the grays enter the Ateneu Barcelonès on 20-N

Barcelona"We inform you that on Thursday, November 20th, in the afternoon, an activity will take place that could disrupt the usual silence in the library rooms." This was the only warning posted on the door of the Ateneo de Barcelona library. Its users could hardly have imagined that, fifty years after Franco's death, the riot police would return. They did so this Thursday, shortly after 6 p.m., using the same language they had employed during the dictatorship, and with the same aggression:Damn it. Everyone at home and the women in the kitchen."," was their way of greeting.

They confronted some users and asked them to put down their books: "No studying or bullshit. Fucking commies, go smoke thyme."They didn't intimidate those who were reading or studying at that hour, who remained focused on their work. Someone did dare to confront them. The two Francoist police officers made their way to the window, took down the flag, and hung a pre-constitutional Spanish flag at the entrance of the Aten building, announcing, in all its drabness, the death of Franco. Some responded to the officers, who wore sour faces, with shouts of "Out!", "You fascists are the terrorists!", "Out with the occupying forces!", "Freedom!", or "Long live Catalonia!"

It was part of the event held today by the Ateneo, with the participation of La Fura dels Baus, the History Section, and the Café Continental discussion group, which combined music, theater, and history. The police were unsuccessful, and the Ateneo was not closed, as they demanded. A banner was hung in the gardens reading "Freedom, Amnesty, and Statute of Autonomy," and texts were read that recalled everything a dictatorship entails and the loss of freedoms: the subjugation of women, inequality of rights, the prohibition of the language, the lack of sexual and press freedom... Songs by Raimon were sung, such as Let's say no and I come from a silence

"We didn't want to commemorate or celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the dictator's death," stated the president of the Ateneo, Isona Passola. The Ateneo's intention, according to Passola, was to remember those who refused to accept defeat: "There was resistance, and we wanted to honor all those who resisted," she added. Passola particularly addressed younger people: "Please, those of you who were fortunate enough not to have lived through the dictatorship, take advantage of this distance to read, learn, and ask questions. We mustn't whitewash, sugarcoat, or forget. Freedom is fragile and can be lost when it is not defended," she added.