Villa Amalia to be revamped with EU funds, mayor says

European Union structural funds will be used to renovate Villa Amalia, the squat that was cleared by police last month, Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis told Skai on Friday.

The mayor’s comments came a day after the squat was sealed off, its windows and doors cemented in and its yard surrounded with barbed wire, to avert a possible attempt by evicted anarchists to reoccupy the building which had been a squat for more than 30 years.

Kaminis said that authorities did not intend to sell the building and that City Hall’s plans were to transform it into a school or cultural center.

A series of raids on Villa Amalia — first in December and then last month — prompted a vehement dispute between the government and the main leftist opposition SYRIZA.