Enric Duran

Enric Duran Giralt (born 23 April 1976, in Vilanova i la Geltrú) also known as Robin Banks or the Robin Hood of the Banks is a Catalan anticapitalist activist and a founding member of the Catalan Integral Cooperative (CIC - Cooperativa Integral Catalana) and Faircoop.

On September 17, 2008, he publicly announced that he had 'robbed' dozens of Spanish banks of nearly half a million euros as part of a political action to denounce what he termed the predatory capitalist system.

From 2006 to 2008, Duran took out 68 commercial and personal loans from a total of 39 banks with no guarantees or property as collateral. He had no intention of repaying the debts, and used the money to finance various anti-capitalist movements. In 2008, Duran released both an online article entitled "I have "robbed" 492,000 euros from those who rob us the most, in order to denounce them and build alternatives for society" (translated), and an online video, each explaining what he had done and that he had left the country to view the reaction and consider his next move. This was also published in the free magazine Crisis, in Catalan, of which 200,000 copies were printed and distributed by volunteers throughout Catalonia. A second newspaper, We can! Live Without Capitalism was distributed on March 17, 2009, and a third, We want! on September 17, 2009.

Duran stated that he sought to create a debate about the financial system and the current capitalist system, proliferate protest actions against it and fund the social movements that seek to create alternatives. Duran called what he did an act of 'financial civil disobedience', and stated that he was prepared to go to prison for his actions.

In 2009 Duran returned to Spain, and was arrested by Spanish police on March 17, 2009 at the University of Barcelona, as charges had been brought against him by six of the thirty-nine banks concerned. He spent two months in prison before being freed on a bail of 50,000 euros.

For the first anniversary of the announcement of his "robbery", an action day was planned in over 100 cities on September 17, 2009, in which people met, both in Spain and abroad, to share alternatives to capitalism.

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