# Le Royal Occupé, Montpellier, France



## otch0z (May 11, 2017)

So this is a sad story

There was once an abandoned cinema in Montpellier, France. Two years ago some people began living in it, and the more time passed the more they transformed it in something AWESOME where they would organize concerts and actual films and stuff... The cinema was in the city center and had always been an important place for popular culture so the squatters wanted to keep it that way

Today, the 11th of May 2017, at around 6am, a fucking army of fucking police came to get everybody the fuck out because you know, they weren't paying a rent and were anarchists and punks so dangerous criminals

And - how surprising ! - the cinema is now doomed to be destroyed and then transformed in... Luxury appartements.

People were actually living there. Students were living there, workers too... It wasn't just a place for people to crash while traveling but their home (i'm not saying te rest of squats are just made to crash but surely this one wasn't)

Anyway, I'm quite mad and sad this morning as I never got to see it even though I'm from this area and I was so happy to go back in France in september and finally get to see how it was... And it was a truly amazing place so I thought I'd share it with y'all

There's a not-so-bad article on a mainstream media but it's in french but you get to see a video at the end (which doesn't show the inside but people are talking and shit)
http://france3-regions.francetvinfo...inema-royal-expulses-montpellier-1251429.html


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## Matt Derrick (May 13, 2017)

i figured i'd copy/paste for archival purposes (used google translate):







In Montpellier, 21 people were expelled early this Thursday morning from the Le Royal cinema they occupied for almost a year. An important police device was set up in rue Boussairolles and in the vicinity of the nearby Place de la Comédie. There were 17 arrests.

By Laurence Creusot
Published on 11/05/2017 at 09:17 Updated on 11/05/2017 at 18:55

The police intervened this morning at 6 am in downtown Montpellier to evacuate the squat of the Royal. 21 people were dislodged from the old cinema, become a squat and an alternative cultural place. 

The deportation order of March 30, 2017 was delayed due to the election period.






Police forces along the Comédie / © France 3 LR / I. Petit Felix

The evacuation took place in a calm

The police force around the Place de la Comédie was very impressive: 100 public security police officers and two CRS companies were mobilized.






21 people evicted after the evacuation of the squat of the Royal this Thursday 11 May. / © Franck Detranchant

The situation has tightened up in the Comedy Square, when the police undertook identity checks. 
This is where interpellations took place, around 7:00 this morning.






Interpellations place de la Comédie after the evacuation of the Royal squat in Montpellier / © Franck Detranchant






Impressive device of the forces of the order around the place of the Comedy for the expulsion of the squat of the Royal in Montpellier. / © Isabelle Petit-Félix


"The Royal is expelled but the repression continues and the police are trying to catch the last ones," commented the squatters of the Royal occupied on their Facebook page about the expulsion. 
"They have trained people on the street, several interpellations for nothing," he published in legend photos and videos showing police on the Place de la Comédie. 

In a ruling handed down at the end of March, on the eve of the end of the winter break, the Montpellier Court of Appeal ordered the squatters to be expelled, considering that "occupation without right or title of the premises in question characterizes a disturbance manifestly Unlawful "and emphasizing" the infringement of the right to property "and the" conditions under which the occupation takes place ". 

The court did not recognize the squatters "a state of necessity justifying the occupation of the building". 

Young students, working poor and precarious, some belonging to anarchist circles, have transformed cinema unused for two years in "political and cultural place". 
They expressed to the press at the end of February their desire to "continue to support" the "occupied Royal", which has hosted free thousands of people since last June for debates, screenings, dance performances, concerts or theater. 

These young people say they want to be part of the "popular culture history" of this cinema which was a music hall from the 1880s. Did not recognize squatters "a state of necessity justifying the occupation of the building". Young students, working poor and precarious, some belonging to anarchist circles, have transformed cinema unused for two years in "political and cultural place". They expressed to the press at the end of February their desire to "continue to support" the "occupied Royal", which has hosted free thousands of people since last June for debates, screenings, dance performances, concerts or theater. These young people say they want to be part of the "popular culture history" of this cinema which was a music hall from the 1880s. Did not recognize squatters "a state of necessity justifying the occupation of the building". Young students, working poor and precarious, some belonging to anarchist circles, have transformed cinema unused for two years in "political and cultural place". They expressed to the press at the end of February their desire to "continue to support" the "occupied Royal", which has hosted free thousands of people since last June for debates, screenings, dance performances, concerts or theater. These young people say they want to be part of the "popular culture history" of this cinema which was a music hall from the 1880s. Young students, working poor and precarious, some belonging to anarchist circles, have transformed cinema unused for two years in "political and cultural place". They expressed to the press at the end of February their desire to "continue to support" the "occupied Royal", which has hosted free thousands of people since last June for debates, screenings, dance performances, concerts or theater. These young people say they want to be part of the "popular culture history" of this cinema which was a music hall from the 1880s. Young students, working poor and precarious, some belonging to anarchist circles, have transformed cinema unused for two years in "political and cultural place". They expressed to the press at the end of February their desire to "continue to support" the "occupied Royal", which has hosted free thousands of people since last June for debates, screenings, dance performances, concerts or theater. These young people say they want to be part of the "popular culture history" of this cinema which was a music hall from the 1880s.


In Montpellier, the squatters of the Royal expelled 
Reportage of Caroline Agullo and Franck Detranchant - F3 LR


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## otch0z (May 13, 2017)

Thanks, you did a way better job than me haha


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## Ligeia (Jun 23, 2017)

Yep, it was a horrible day. 
I am amazed to see a post about it in here though


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## dodi (Jul 4, 2017)

Geez, ahah, fun fact is, this happened right before the presidential elections  But maybe it's just a coincidence....


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