Another controversial advertising banner. Back in Madrid. And Desokupa again. A building under construction at No. 15 Luchana Street in the capital was opened this Friday, December 1, with a huge advertising banner right above the iconic Palafox Cinemas. The poster is divided into three parts. A first with the words Desokupa turns 9 years old, next to the face of the owner of this controversial company, Daniel Esteve, 53 years old. A second with the flag of Spain. And a third with the faces of Irene Montero, Ione Belarra and Pablo Iglesias, along with Carles Puigdemont, dressed in an orange suit that imitates the suit of American prisoners with the number 155 on the chest, and a final part with the co-founder of Podemos , Juan Carlos Monedero, holds one of the ballot boxes of the illegal referendum of October 1, 2017 in Catalonia. On this urn you can see the logos of the newspaper EL PAÍS, the SER network, La Sexta and El Español.
Desokupa leader Daniel Esteve plans to distribute 500 T-shirts in the next few hours with the slogan “I like Fruit,” the latest viral phrase from President Isabel Díaz Ayuso after she was caught red-handed by the chambers of the House of Representatives when he insulted President Pedro Sánchez in a low voice during the last investiture debate. “What a son of a bitch,” he said.
His communications team immediately responded with irony, asserting that the sentence he said was: “I like fruit.” Ayuso played with words and double entendres, just like the day before, and maintained her insult in the meeting the next day , without saying it again, and played with the meanings: “Of course I like fruit.” Since then, the national and regional PP has been promoting a corresponding campaign on social networks. Some MPs even printed T-shirts, which Desokupa joined. In fact, this Friday Esteve uploaded a video to his Instagram profile in which he says with a smile: “I like fruit, Pedrito.”
It is the second banner this company has hung in the capital this year. The last one was a few days before the start of the July election campaign, with a banner hanging on a building on Atocha Street: “To Morocco.” [con el rostro de Sánchez] and Desokupa to La Moncloa.”
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Desokupa is one of the companies specializing in extrajudicial evictions in Spain. With practices that operate on the fringes of the law, its owner, Esteve, 53, has capitalized like no other on social media and prime-time TV shows, raising the specter of a squat. The flagship of the network of companies that Esteve leads (he has 10 active positions) in the hospitality, cosmetics and nightlife sectors is Conciencia y Respeto 1970 SL, the company name of Desokupa.
The company has a legion of followers on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram. A loyal audience of more than half a million people for his eviction videos and his aggressive political views towards left-wing parties and various media outlets. But also for the moments when you hug older people, with sick children or in defense of animals.
The leader of Desokupa, Dani Esteve, next to the screen he financed on July 3 in Madrid. Diego Radames (EL PAIS)
The July tarp lasted two weeks. It was financed by Xaime da Pena, owner of DP Abogados Consultores SL. “I paid Desokupa 40,000 euros,” Da Pena confirmed to this newspaper by telephone at the time. “The idea of the tarpaulin came to him and I made sure there was no hate crime.” Now, he assures, this canvas was not financed by him, but the price was “similar”.
The relationship between the two is “due to problems faced by lawyers and professionals,” explains the lawyer. “I don’t share many things with Dani. I’m not even from Vox, in fact it was more orange [en referencia a Ciudadanos] something else. “It’s more marketing and sarcasm,” he said last July about his adventure with the company that he says is the number one in the extrajudicial eviction market.
The latest accounts filed by Desokupa in the commercial register show that the company ended 2021 with a loss of 180,000 euros (on a turnover of 888,799), compared to 240,000 euros the previous year. But it is still a low-debt and healthy company, where Esteve earns an annual salary of 184,842 euros. It has nine employees and two official offices, although there is only one address in Barcelona.
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