Expo 2.008 in Zaragoza, NO
Citizen Platform against the Expo2008 - 26.11.2004 12:33
In view of the media hush up about the opposition against the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza...
Help us to stop Expo 2.008
Against the Expo: Activists show a placard, Pilar festivals october 2.004
Read, spread, translate, publicize, protest, send this text:
Bureau International des Expositions:  bie@bie-paris.org
Heraldo de Aragón: expo2008@heraldo.es
Italian newspapers (Trieste is other city their council authorities want the International Exposition, too):
ufficio.centrale@ilpiccolo.it
larepubblica@repubblica.it
 http://www.corriere.it/mondo_corriere/mailcenter/carta.shtml
lettere@lastampa.it
cronaca@ilmessaggero.it
redazione.milano@ilgiorno.it
The opposition against the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza increases
The Zaragoza candidature to the International Fair 2008 is been questioned by social collectives, neighbourhood associations & part of the citizenship.Each day the opposition to this project, which attempts to point out as a virtue a non-existent social consensus, is on the increase.
After the social debate proposed by Zaragoza ecologist collectives, debate never offered to the cicizenship by Zaragoza council, several values of this project have been cast doubt on.
On the first place, we reject this kind of sumptuous, expensive & loss-making fairs typical from another centuries of which the contents & aims are unknows. In the internet age, this kind of events donīt generate real interest & neither have a practical sense. We donīt want International Fairs neither in this nor in anyother city of the world. We donīt want spendthrift & corruption generating agencies as the Bureao International des Expositions (BIE).
Besides, we object to the holding of the Expo 2008 at Zaragoza for reasons:
Ecologist: The Meandro de Ranillas, which give shelter to riverside forest of special ecological interest & the last vegetable garden close to the city, one of the few outskirts green spaces, would be destroyed & built on.
Economic: Zaragoza council is in total bankrupcy since the beginings of this year, removing inversions for neighboorhoods & social projects for this reason. In last summer beginings Zaragoza council presented suspension of payments to its suppliers. In this context Zaragoza council wants to face a massive squandering of money on a project that is beforehand loss-making & of boubtful social interest
.On the other hand, as far as we squander money coming from the DGA (Aragon Delegation), the Spanish government & the European Economic Community , we are forgetting about the solidarity with the rest of territories.
Speculative: a public money trasvase towards the private construction companies would occur, with the exclusive finality of getting benefits from the artificialy revalued lands. The true purpose of the Expo is the speculation, thatīs why the main sponsorship came from local & national promoters & construction companies.
Town-planning:becouse we donīt share the city pattern associated with the Expo, which seek to incorporate, without debate, another proyects of great social disagreement. They offer us a quick, expansionist & unteable growth, which worsen our life style, instead of the mediterranean city, with high population density & sustained growth.
Social interest: the Expo hasnīt caused social interes among the citizenship, nobody knows exactly what is all this about.
Its promoters show it as something positive for Zaragoza & big investments generator, without any other content.
& because the supposed citizen unanimity about the Expo is virtual & fake. There hasnīt existed social debate, nobody has asked nor informed to the citizenship.
The Plataforma Ciudadana Contra la Expo 2008 (citizen platform against the Expo) has been shown by different actions: at the crowded city festivities opening speech, at the council plenum , at ambassadors talks, giving out leaflets or organizing citizen debates.
Our opposition & our critical attitud agaist the Expo 2008, the International Fairs & the BIE will get harden as the voting on 16 December approachs & afterwards if Zaragoza is victim of the election as venue.
You know that...
Hannover 2000, the last International Fair, had a deficit of 204.000 millions of pesetas? ...the 94% of visitors were Germans?
The forecast fluctuate between 7ī5 & 10 million visitors? Do you think the 3 million visitors of Forum de Barcelona, the half of the expectations, would be exceeded ?
The budget for the Expo 2008 is about 110.000 million of pesetas?
Citizen Platform against the Expo2008
expo2008@ecologistasenaccion.org
www.ecologistasaragon.org/expo2008
 E-Mail: expo2008@ecologistasenaccion.org  Website: http://www.ecologistasaragon.org/expo2008
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