Today (Sunday April 10) a former primary school in Porto has been occupied by a group of people that want to return the building to the community, after being abandoned for 5 years.

Today a group of people, re-opened a former primary school in Porto to return the building to the community, after being abandoned for 5 years!!! We want to create, together with the neighbours, a space for workshops, reading, socializing, sharing skills and recreation, keeping the character for which it was designed. The aim is that the space will be self-managed by the community with our support. 

The action started with a festive march through the neighbourhood, while spreading flyers and accompanied by music of the samba action band Rhythms of Resistance. During the day there were festive events and a lot of cleaning and repairing to do… As the patio and building were full of scattered glass and trash that was being left by people that scavenged and damaged the building during the time it was abandoned. 

After reopening of the space, a group of youngsters came to play football with us and other neighbours expressed that they want the building to have a public function 

ES.COL.A.1 
. They are fed up with the passive attitude of the municipality, who owns the property, and many of them are afraid for more nuisance and damage to the place if it stays abandoned. 

We hope to stay here and make this school full of live again! Come by and participate if you are around! 

Greetings from the ES.COL.A, da Fontinha 
= ESpaço COLetivo Autogestionado (means: self-managed collective space) 


their website, with further explanation (in portuguese) and several pictures: 
http://escoladafontinha.blogspot.com/ 


indymedia portugal: 
http://pt.indymedia.org/conteudo/newswire/4251 
http://pt.indymedia.org/conteudo/newswire/4252 
http://pt.indymedia.org/conteudo/newswire/4256