Anti World Bank Campaign Barcelona 2001

  WHAT IS HAPPENING IN BARCELONA:

The World Bank was planning to hold a major conference in Barcelona, Catalonia, but cancelled the meeting one month before its intended date, due to increasing resistance both in Barcelona and around the world. Thousands of people were going to converge on the Mediterranean city to show their protest against the Bank's disastrous development policies. Despite the cancelation, the local network against the summit decided to go ahead with the protest, and particularly the counter-conference, anyway (for more information on the circumstances of the cancelation scroll down a bit).

Under the slogan "Another world is possible", local actions, debates and conferences took place all over Catalonia and the rest of the Spanish State, before culminating in a series of events in Barcelona from Friday 22 to Monday 25 June. The following is a detailed account of these events.



Tuesday 25/06/01

After yesterday's press conference attended by hundreds of people, today the campaign BCN-2001 has decided to bring a suit so to investigate police (mis)conduct over the weekend. For this they call for any visual material and for any witnesses to publish their stories to IMC-Barcelona website.

See photos of police "agent provocateurs" in action:
Pic 1 | Pic 2 | Pic 3

Read the Final Declaration of the campaign Barcelona-2001.
Up to date Picture Library from IMC-Barcelona.



Monday 25/06/01

As part of the actions "La Borsa o la Vida", several thousand people marched to the stock exchange around midday and started actions of civil disobedience, in order to denounce the role of the Barcelona Stock Exchange (la Borsa) as an institution of usury and as a place of concentration of large transnational corporations promoting the current globalisation model. It had been proposed to transform it into a welcoming place, a people's building. Although a suggested "Guided Tour for 20,000 people" did not happen due to large numbers of riot police guarding the building, the 'Bolsa' could be blocked for several hours. Later, the demonstrators moved to the Courthouse to demand the release of all prisoners that were arrested during yesterday's violent police attack on the demonstration.
Read more about the original plans for the Sunday/Monday actions.
Personal account of the day's events.
PDF of prisoner support & against police conduct.

World Bank internet conference:
Agenda and further info.
Report on people denied entry to WB's online discussion


Timeline of events:

- 23.30: Another 18 people released. There are still two inside the Court building.

- 19.30: Five more people are released. There are still nine deteined inside the court building. People is still gathered outside in support.

- 18.00: Whilst people gather in front of the court building, six prisoners are released.

- 17.00: People have moved to the Court building to demand the release of those arrested yesterday during the violent police attack on the demonstration.

- 15.30: A press conference is under way asking for images or any evidence of police complicity in provoking yesterday's clashes. The Campaign BCN-2001 is considering now to sue the Spanish Ministry of Interior.

- 14.40: Two thousand people are blocking the Stock Exchange. An agreement has been reached with the police to continue the action peacefully.

- 12.30: Thousands of protesters have marched to the heavily guarded Barcelona stock exchange and are blocking it using actions of civil disobedience, as part of the "La bolsa o la vida" protests.

- 11.49: An assembly is taking place at the Plaça Universitat deciding the day's actions and prisoner support.

- 10.14: Protesters have left the police station "La Verneda" after an all night vigil in solidarity with arrestees. Now a crowd is starting to gather outside the Court building.



Sunday 24/06/01

40,000 people demonstrated in the centre of Barcelona under the slogan "Another World is Possible, Lets Globalise the Resistance and Solidarity!" Towards the end of the demonstration, parts of the crowd were attacked by police. Several reports (including some mainstream media) stated the role of agent provocateurs and undercover police in provoking the violence. 22 people were arrested and many more injured in the first clashes. These followed into the evening as police attacked groups of protesters and virtually anyone who was in the downtown area of the city. As a public assembly of the Campaign attended by 300 people was being attacked by the police without any warning, involving shots of rubber bullets against participants, barricades were set up to protect all those present.
Later, a festive Carnival with a bus sound-system re-took the city centre, followed by a procession by several hundred people to a police station where the arrested were held.

demo report 1 demo report 2 demo report 3 demo report 4 | demo pics White Overalls at demo Report by Rythms of Resistance Samba Band Report on police attack of the assembly Analysis of police provocation and media response

Timeline of events:

- 22:38: Around 300 people are still outside La Verneda police station where most of those arrested are kept. They've decided to stay until they are all released.

- 22.17: The crowd decides to go ahead with the Popular Dinner and the camp "One Nigt in the Stock Exchange". For this they decide to stay in Plaça Catalunya with the sound-system. Some people move towards La Verneda police station to join the vigil outside.

- 21.38: Approx 500 people are in front of La Verneda police station to demand the immediate release of 22 people arrested during the day.

- 21.00: The bus sound-system finally enters Plaça catalunya. The crowds cheers the bus as they demand the immediate relase af all deteinees.

- 19.30: An Associated Press article published by the Guardian website reports on the role of masked undercover police in starting the violence.

- 17:45: Police have left the MACBA square where the assembly was taking place.

- 17:30: As a Campaign's public assembly was discussing further tactics following police brutality in the earlier demosntration, 15 riot vans arrived without any warning and dissolved the 300 people gathered with rubber bullets. Barricades were erected in an attempt to get protection from the police.

- 17:10: Groups concentrated in front of the convergence centre in the University's building, are violently cleared off by riot police.

- 16:50: Police attacks spread to other areas of downtown Barcelona.

- 15:45: Most of the crowd hold up their empty hands as a non-violent but confrontational response to police attacks.

- 15:30: First clashes between the police and groups of protestors.

- 15:15: Demonstration arriveas at Plaça Catalunya, where an unitarian declaration is read. Eventually, undercover police and agent provocateurs start provocations. As a result riot police moves in and start attacking the crowd without any warning.

- 13:30: Demonstration stops in front of the Stock Exchange building. Riot Police arrives. Activists from various groups make a cordon so to protect the crowd and keep the police away from the demosntration.

- 13:25: Demonstration has a festive and carnaval athmosphere. So far no trouble or violence has occurred.

- 12:00: 40,000 gather in central Barcelona for a demonstration with the slogan "Another World is Possible, Lets Globalose the Resistance and Solidarity!"

- A personal experience of what happened today.



Saturday 23/06/01:

Around 1,500 people participated in the second day of the counter-conference (for more information see below). Later, thousands gathered for a Summer Solstice Party, which coincided with St. John's night (a traditional Catalan summer festival). An all nighter with live bands, DJ's, performances and projections was complemented with the typical bonfire from the Catalan celebrations of St. John's Night. In a big party of the social movements, thousands celebrated the cancellation of the World Bank's meeting.
See pictures



Friday 22/06/01:

The counter-conference on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 was a forum of 300 different groups, organisations, social movements and many individuals, aiming at proposing, debating and elaborating together an alternative model to Globalisation, based on the subjection of the economy to the fundamental rights of individuals and communities. The Conference contemplated seven thematic areas: migrations, environmental rights, militarisation, women, social and labour rights, development, and democracy and participation. See detailed program.
Click here to follow the counter conference live on the internet.
Click here for a live streaming of the counter conference.
Read Final Declaration (spanish)
Read a report on the counter conference's first day.
See pics of counter conference
First impressions from Barcelona by a UK acivist.

More information and reports at:
- IMC-Barcelona
- Barcelona-2001 website
- Info in english only
- Picture Library

THE HISTORY OF BARCELONA 2001:

Just a few weeks before the intended date, the World Bank had cancelled its summit in Barcelona fearing disruptions from demonstrators. Protesters from around the world had planned to converge there on June 25 for the 2001 Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics. The World Bank had announced that the meeting would take place online instead. This not only represented a setback for the WB, but also a massive blow for the Spanish ruling conservative party (PP) that had invited the World Bank to Barcelona in an attempt to strenghteen its international profile.

Explaining the decision, World Bank's spokeswoman Caroline Anstey said, "A conference on poverty reduction should take place in a peaceful atmosphere free from heckling, violence and intimidation". She also blamed the groups who plan to converge on Barcelona "of trying to disrupt the Conference", and she added: "We do not want to expose academics from around the world and our hosts in Spain to such a situation." Particularly, she said, "It is time to take a stand against this kind of threat to free discussion."

The Campaign Against the World Bank BCN-2001 stated in a communique that the cancellation of the WB's Conference is an unprecedented success of the Movement against capitalist globalisation. The communique also announced that: "the motives which had inspired the protests still exist", and therefore "the Campaign goes ahead with its proposal that another world is possible", and "invites all citizens to join and mobilise for the events which will take place from 22 to 25 June".
- Read full programme.
- General Info about the Campaign.