The only city in Spain whose coat of arms appears with the word “utopia” is Marinaleda. and in Marinaleda (Seville), we talked this weekend about utopias, freedom and communism. The proposal was born in May, it was announced in July… and half the city worked to welcome the 1st fall school organized by Before Andalusiathe Andalusian sovereign left formation founded by Therese Rodriguez. For two days there have been discussions and debates. The main course was planned for Saturday afternoon: the presence of Gabriel RufianEsquerra’s spokesperson in Congress, and Oskar Matutemember of Bildu to talk about sovereignty in front of a room full of people.
The work not only consisted of inserting the different discussion tables into the speakers’ agendas, but also: it was necessary organize lunches and dinners And enable spaces so that the more than 300 registered people, arriving from all over Spain, can spend the night in the small Sevillian municipality. Connected to Estepa and Osuna by regional roads that are only accessible to locals at night, the concerts at the end of each day prompted many people, even if they came from the same province of Seville, to decide to spend the night in the city.
There are no hotels or guesthouses in the town. There is a hostel and a sports center, both owned by the municipality. The majority of participants found themselves in the latter, “in tents or sleeping bags”, explains an assistant. For the elderly, those suffering from physical ailments, the workers or members of the organization, a reception network in homes residents of Marinaleda. And where did the deputies go to sleep? Gabriel Rufian (ERC) and Oskar Matute (Bildu)? GOOD at Gloria Prieto (44 years old), resident of Marinaleda, former advisor to the historic mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo.
“I collaborated from the start, even managing the meals. And then in my house, which is self-constructionMatute and Gabriel Rufián remain.” To Oskar Matute “I have known him for years. Not Rufián. I already knew his mother, Pepi,” he told EL ESPAÑOL.
The Basque deputy, whom he picked up at the beginning of Saturday afternoon at the airport, “is sleeping in my bed today and I’m going down with a mattress.” Before arriving, around half past six, at the headquarters of the Rural Workers’ Union, he accompanied him to see the town hall. The deputy for Esquerra arrived on Friday, he leaves on Sunday “and sleeps in my daughter’s bed. A girl’s bed, very small, pink.”
-But how many people do you have at home?
-Nine people. Between the beds and the sofas, there are nine of us. The house is self-built, but it is big.
Gloria is already used to it and what’s more, she’s happy to do it. In the different cultural weeks of Marinaleda organized by the Town Hall, she welcomed “the ambassador of VenezuelaAt CubaAnd to Willy Toledo. For me, this is normal, at least among people on the left. “I grew up with Juan Manuel (Sánchez Gordillo).”
He also helped organize breakfasts, lunches and dinners for more than two hundred people. “In May, Néstor, from Adelante Andalucía, contacted me. With me, whatever you need, I told him. “There have been people here since Thursday, and today there are more than 300.”
Day laborers and t-shirts
The opening of the doors of his house was also carried out Angelalthough lives in Estepa: houses a person from the organization. He is 34 years old and was born “out of ideological affinity with Adelante Andalucía”, although he is affiliated with IU and the Communist Party. “Here in Marinaleda, besides the political part, especially the union part SOC and SAT”. The CUT, Sánchez Gordillo’s party to which the current mayor also belongs, Sergio Gomez Sayas“he was historically linked to IU and then to Podemos. The mayor is from IU, but in the last European elections Podemos won here because he was a candidate Diego Cañamero“.
Teresa Rodríguez, already retired from institutional politics but active with Adelante Andalucía, declared on the first day of fall school that “Marinaleda doesn’t belong to anyone, but we belong to Marinaleda.” Ángel agrees. “It was organized from the outside. Here, Adelante Andalucía has no roots. If I had come Can it would have been the same. It is also true that there are people here who they don’t like it that they are treated as if this were the case a theme park. When televisions come, when Vox appears… they don’t like that. “Here you can see who is a day laborer and who comes in a T-shirt.”
What about the hotel industry? “Delighted. I wish there was this every weekend,” says José Antonio, head of the Bar Curro. Meanwhile, on their terrace, members of the local group “Annoying the Neighbors”, who are performing during the evening, sing. “It’s been full since Friday,” he said. Because, even if the meals were organized, “many of us came alone, even if we stayed to sleep because we did not take the car later”, a couple from Seville told the newspaper. “It’s very good. This should be done more times. In addition, it is a success to do it here, in Marinaleda, with the symbolic weight that it has”, they conclude.
