The Hotel Bauen is a recuperated business

Workers' self-management

Worker self-management is a form of workplace decision-making in which the workers themselves agree on choices instead of an owner or traditional supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it...

 located at 360 Callao Avenue

Callao Avenue

Avenida Callao is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Overview:Mayor Torcuato de Alvear, inspired by the urban redevelopment works in Paris at the direction of Baron Haussmann, drew up master plans for major boulevards, running east to west and north to south...

 in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 run collectively by its workers, serving both as a hotel and as a free meeting place for Argentine leftist and workers' groups. It is also used as a personal residence by some of the worker-owners.

Inaugurated in 1978, the four-star establishment received generous government subsidies in anticipation of the 1978 FIFA World Cup

1978 FIFA World Cup

The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...

, which took place in Buenos Aires that June. The original owner, Marcelo Iurcovich, received 37 million USD for its development in 1976 from the Banco Nacional de Desarollo (BANADE), a state-owned business lender later absorbed into the Banco de la Nación Argentina

Banco de la Nación Argentina

Banco de la Nación Argentina is a state-owned bank in Argentina, and the largest in the country's banking sector.-Overview:The bank was founded on October 18, 1891, by President Carlos Pellegrini by way of stabilizing the nation's finances following the Panic of 1890; its first director was...

. Tourism in Argentina

Tourism in Argentina

Tourism in Argentina is favored by its ample and varied natural assets and by its cultural offerings. The country is lucky to have everything a tourist would ask for...

 subsequently suffered from the effects of the military dictatorship

National Reorganization Process

The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...

's Dirty War

Dirty War

The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...

 and the collapse of its economic policies

José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz

José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was an Argentine executive and policy maker. He served as Minister of the Economy under de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla between 1976 and 1981, and shaped economic policy during the self-styled National Reorganization Process military dictatorship.-Early...

, however. The hotel's finances worsened further after the opening of a number of newer, competing hotels in the 1990s, and during the crisis that developed in the early 2000s. In the wake of the December riots

December 2001 riots (Argentina)

The December 2001 uprising was a period of civil unrest and rioting in Argentina, which took place during December 2001, with the most violent incidents taking place on December 19 and December 20 in the capital, Buenos Aires, Rosario and other large cities around the country.- Background :The...

 in 2001, and after systematic firings, the Hotel Bauen was closed on December 28.

In March 2003, with the help of the Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas (National Movement of Recovered Businesses, MNER), the hotel's former employees occupied the building. While fighting for ownership through activism and negotiation, they began repairs to the building and slowly re-opened business. Since then, the Bauen cooperative has gained 150 workers, inaugurated a streetfront café (whose tile floors come from FaSinPat

FaSinPat

FaSinPat, formerly known as Zanon, is a worker-controlled ceramic tile factory in the southern Argentine province of Neuquén, and one of the most prominent in the recovered factory movement of Argentina...

, a worker-controlled ceramics factory) and equipped more than 200 hotel rooms. Today the Hotel Bauen boasts rising profits, and is a center of cultural and political activity in Buenos Aires.

However, the long term legality of the worker's ownership and operation is ambiguous. On October 21, 2005, the hotel was informed that, while a legal right of former employees to keep residence in the hotel was recognized, they were not permitted to function as a business. Upon delivery of this notice, entrances were closed off with official tape, but this tape was quickly removed by hotel workers, and business operations continue today.

In May 2006, Judge Carla Cavaliere officially approved the suspension of the closure order. Workers can now move freely and legally in and out of the hotel. What remains to be determined is who is to be considered the official owner of the hotel. A bill of expropriation, the Ley Nacional de Expropiación, which would definitively entitle the Bauen workers to ownership of the hotel, has already been drafted and is being considered at the municipal and federal levels. Sponsored by Deputy Victoria Donda in the National Congress, the bill is being opposed by the original owners, led by Marcelo Iurcovich, and supported by the Bauen Cooperative, who are circulating a petition in support of the bill.

In June 2009, the hotel served as the Proyecto Sur

Proyecto Sur

Proyecto Sur is a political party established in 2007 in Argentina. It was founded and would be led by film maker Fernando "Pino" Solanas, who ran on the Proyecto Sur ticket for President in 2007 and for Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires in 2011....

 party headquarters during the legislative election

Argentine legislative election, 2009

Legislative elections were held in Argentina for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the seats in the Senate on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires and other municipalities.-Background:...

.