Two plans were combined: on the one hand, Plácido wanted to organize his daughter’s birthday party, though he didn’t have the resources, and was trying get them through the solidarity of various sectors; and on the other hand, the workers at the BAUEN cooperative no longer only wanted to help out a compañero who had helped them to recover the hotel, but as reason to return to restore the rooms, kitchen, and other parts of the building, and give themselves proof that they were able to perform their functions without the bosses. The organization of that party was a key moment.
The truth is that, looking at it objectively, it seemed impossible. We had no money, we were persecuted by the police, the rooms were in such terrible condition after being closed for a year that to fix them up in so little time seemed impossible. With the compañeros at the BAUEN, we decided to carry out the project. We started in April, and by then, my family was getting tense, because nothing was resolved yet. So, it came together like a melody, in which each one contributed a note. One compañero gave me the sound, another the video, the BAUEN provided the room and the waiters, a recovered bakery gave me the cake, we passed a hat for a few more expenses, and so, the melody was completed in time. At some point, before the party, the group of waiters, who had donated their services, met in a circle and one of them says, ‘this is our trial by fire, everything has to go well, no matter what, give it everything.’ They were like the soccer players before a game, all bunched together to get fired up. It suprised me and made me emotional to see how they took it as a challenge to demonstrate what they were capable of, and to look good.