What is "kukutza"

Kukutza was a gaztetxe ( self managed social center) of the neighbourhood of Recalde of Bilbao. It worked as a free space, occupied and self managed, and was used as a youth, cultural and spare time center with activities between 1996 and 2011. In those 15 years it had 3 different buildings . The first one, Kukutza I, was used in 1996 and just for 3 months, then Kukutza II in 1998 and for 2 months, and finally, Kukutza III, which worked between 1998 and 2011 and had a large activity programme. It was set in an abandoned factory and stopped working in 2011 because it was violently evicted by the police.'''

From the beginning Kukutza was used for providing the neighbours of Recalde cultural and spare time activities, which weren't offered by the institutions. In the case of Kukutza III, it used to be a place of meeting for many groups of Recalde. Nevertheless, it had influence in the whole Bilbao and started being a reference place for artist all over the Basque country. They boasted many types of activities, as dance and hiking groups, a library, a canteen, a pub, theatre classes… In 2011 its eviction was ordered with the excuse that they were going to build homes there, but up to now nothing has been built and shopkeepers have complained because the neighbourhood has lost life.