Some useful reading about squats or related around the world...
Thinking about squatting in Amsterdam? Well, Barcelona @ van Boetzelaerstraat 1 has been keeping a detailed blog of their exploits in, although we're not sure anymore, thanks to their most recent entry, "Breaking News! We're fucked!" According to them, Parnassusweg, the Intergalactic KingDOOM of FuckYou, has ordered all our troops to be destroyed by the 31st of August, so it remains to be seen if they are still in existence.
Can Masdeu in Barcelona is proof that squats can be of any size -- in this case, an abandoned hospital!
Squatter City reports on squatting from across the globe. News stories include 400 families being pushed out of their homes in Cambodia; the postponed eviction of 20,000 squatters in Caracas; and the so-called 'City of Smiles', Bacolod City in the Philippines that is preparing to eject 3000 squatters from its boundaries. Informative and vital reading.
It has also been reported that Tascheles, the iconic squat in central Berlin of 10 years, is facing eviction. If any of you have partied in Tascheles, taken in a film or hung out in its backyard, this is surprising news.
In related shutdown news, the Londonist has reported on the recent closure of the London Astoria, one of the city's landmark music and club venues. All in the name of transport redevelopment (by the name of Crossrail). Take a last glance at the Astoria before the bulldozers come in.
