Itoiz Dam Project

The Itoiz dam project in Navarra, Spain, not only destroys a large area of the surrounding environment but the two main building contractors have been convicted and imprisoned for paying bribes to secure the contract for this, as well as many other, projects.

There has been a movement to oppose the building of the Dam for the past 10 years and most methods of resistance have been tried. On April 6th eight anti-Dam protesters went to the site of the construction to carry out an action. When they arrived they were confronted by an armed security guard who they disarmed and tied up, leaving his weapon unloaded beside him. The rest of the action went quickly; in about two minutes they were able to saw through six steel cables that were essential for cementing the Dam. The activists were then arrested and savagely beaten and kicked by the Police for around twenty minutes. All this was recorded by an accompanying cameraman. Some of the injuries sustained by the saboteurs were not treated until four days later.

The financial cost of this direct action was estimated at over 1000 million pesetas (about 5 million pounds). Most importantly it has paralysed the construction site for at least five months, until the cables and cementing equipment can be replaced. The eight activists involved are currently in prison in Navarra and are being refused bail. The message that they send from their cells is: “If people ask why we have done this, tell them proudly we have done it out of love, and we would do it again.”