Is this the end of MACBA? We had a quick tchat with Alex Braza from MACBA LIFE to know what the hell is happening

This is not the first time that the MACBA plaza has been threatened with being closed off to skateboarders—remember the #SAVEMACBA campaign in 2019 and the great article published on Free—but this time the threat seems very serious. The construction work has indeed started. Part of the plaza has already been closed off, and the 5 stairs have been shut down. Moreover, if we rely on a statement from the mayor, Jaume Collboni, he defended the idea that a space cannot be monopolized for a single use and that there must be ‘space for the elderly and playable spaces.’ So, we asked Alex Braza, the manager of the MACBA LIFE Instagram account, to tell us what is happening and how he feels about it. 

Can you introduce yourself a little bit for the people who don’t know who you are?  

Hello, I’m Alex Braza. I’m originally from South Spain. I started skateboarding when I was like 8. So that’s like 1988. I’ve been skating for 30 years. I moved to Barcelona in 2003 after  finishing my master degree. We went with a couple of homies around Spain, we stopped in Barcelona and I immediately fell in love with the city. 

You fell in love with MACBA too 

The craziest thing about MACBA is the flat ground, the granite is too good. Also, there is a lot of people skating here every day. You get there at 9 a.m. There are already people skating.  
The Long ledge on the top is also great. MACBA more globally is a playground. It’s not only about skateboarding. You can bring together people from all around the world, not only skateboarders, but artists and photographers, filmers outside of skateboarding. It’s a cultural meeting place. I’ve been there before 2001. 

Why did you create the MACBA LIFE account? 

I opened it because, basically, I was checking Instagram on a lazy Sunday. I was watching a lot of MACBA posts and I thought it would be cool to put everything together in an Instagram account. I didn’t think to make a brand or anything.  

People criticize the fact that you’re not a local and that you’re profiting from the place to make money with it. What do you respond to this?   

It’s so easy to complain, just chilling at your house or just talking shit all the time but I try to respect the place. I hire local people, photographers, filmmakers when I have video project or shooting. I always try to give back to the community and to integrate them in projects like the King of MACBA. 
Lately we’re preparing a VX video with Mario Cano, a local filmer. It will drop in a month. We’ve been filming for the last three months. So, I’ve been paying Mario and people can reach him to film for the video.  

MACAB plaza was threatened several times those last couple of years but this time it looks serious. What is happening right now in MACBA?  

They’ve been talking about this renovation project since 2019, that’s when I started the hashtag #SAVEMACBBA. So, we’ve been doing a lot of meetings with the government, with the city hall and whatever. Following these discussions, politics allowed us to keep on skating but with some rules. We just needed to respect the pedestrian and clean the trash after the session. With the government, we made together a campaign to push those rules. The government put some posters around the plaza. Everything was cool.  

Around one year and a half, they announced they are going to build a small hospital and extend the museum but the projects were approved a long time ago. The construction work started two weeks ago. The closed the five stairs and the half of the plaza because they need space to move the trucks and stuff. 
However we saw the mockup and it’s not 100% sur that they going to make everything. There are some projects they keep the front ledge, the top ledge. But right now, nobody knows what the future will be. All that I know is that we are we fighting to keep the rest of the plaza. 

The five stairs are gone? 

Yeah, the five stairs are gone but it’s not like a big, big loss. What we really, really want is to keep the podium, the top of the plaza.  

How do you feel about the potential disappearance of MACBA? 

It´s mean a lot for me so, it´s not easy. I feel so bad for the next generation to come 

MACBA is a part of skateboarding history. Are the authorities aware of this? Is there a delegation capable of discussing with them to find common ground, like in Bordeaux? 

We talked to them so many times. We’ve been with them and even with the guy who made that decision. I actually have his phone number but you know, politicians, I feel they’re all the same all around the world. They’re liars. They tell you what you want to hear then when you get out there, you see on the newspaper all the things. So right now, we are done talking. We decided to take actions. It started with the protest and the signings.   

Did the petition signed by 25k persons produce something positive? 

When you got 25k, there is an impact yeah, we don´t know yet, we are waiting to present it to the government. 

We also saw that the protest goes wild. Don’t you think it is counterproductive? 

Super counterproductive, but I do what is in my hand, I´m not the father of anyone. 

There is no even a space to imagine a shared space. In Bordeaux there is like planning with time for skateboarders, time for the people. And it’s really working well. Like Batman, you should call Leo Valls for a rescue mission 

I know him, yeah. We really trying all the ways. We had so many discussions that led to nothing. Now we are done and we change our position and we are taking concrete actions like the protest.  

Why do you feel the local authorities are not opened about the idea to do not keep the skateboarders on the place? 

Because of the neighborhoods. They complain because they think skateboarders own the plaza, but they don’t allow any kids or elder people or whatever to use the plaza.  

When there were no skateboarders over there, the place was full of thieves, full of bad people. Skateboarders keep the plaza safe. I remember the museum didn’t want us to skate in MACBA on Tuesdays and Sunday afternoons because they close on those days. They realized when there were no skateboarders, the people who used to go to the museum got robbed outside. So, they went back on their decision. They even allowed us to skate inside last year.  

What are your best memories from MACBA?  
Hanging out with my homies. The weather over there is perfect. January can be super cold all-around Barcelona but the ground in granite is still warm and agreeable to skate. You can start with a game of skate with Daniel LeBron and then skate the ledge or another shit with another homie. For me it’s the warm up spot and then a perfect spot to spend the day. My best memory is all the time I spent with all the different homies. 

How would you feel if the spot is completely forbidden to skateboarders?   

I will feel good with myself because I tried everything I can. MACBA have been through a lot of changes, at least three big ones. And skateboarders always adapted. The four blocks became three blocks. People grind on the side or use a small kicker and skate the two blocks like a Euro Gap.  
We also got a couple more spots on the podium back in the days like the low to high and a block you can pop over. There was no ledge in front of the main door of the museum. Right now, it’s a ledge. They always make some change and we adapt.