Protest camps grow and spread across Spain claiming for “real democracy” during the last days of the electoral campaign
They call themselves “angry people”, they are fed up and they are asking for a “real democracy”, as they believe the political class has failed to represent them. Most of them are in their twenties, but there are people of all ages and backgrounds present. Since Sunday May 15th they are camping in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square and in Barcelona’s Catalunya Square. The movement pretends to change the political system in a peaceful way and is being organised via social networks, probably inspired by Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Politicians, in the final days of the political campaign, have asked for an understanding of the protests and have called for calm.
Barcelona / Madrid (ACN).- Many people in Spain are “angry” and disappointed with the political class and system due to the economic slowdown and the political class. Some are said to be fed up and started protesting last Sunday May 15th with demonstrations on the streets of Madrid and Barcelona. They are individual citizens, they want to change the system in a peaceful way, and they are organising themselves via social networks. The protest is coinciding with the last days of the campaign for the May 22nd local elections. Politicians have given their reaction from this Wednesday, combining an open attitude where they have been asking for an understanding of the protests but also asking for the people to protest with their vote next Sunday. They have also asked for those involved not to interfere with the elections.
The demonstration had been organised via Twitter, Facebook and other social media. Their motto was “real democracy now”, a motto that became the name of the civil society platform behind the protest. Actually, no political parties or trade unions are part of the protests, at least in an official and open way. They are protesting against “the system”, a system that has created an unemployment rate of around 20% in Spain, which increases to more than 40% among young people. Some of the hashtags used are #spanishrevolution or #yeswecamp.
The protest’s first days
Several individuals decided to camp after Sunday’s demonstration in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and the action was repeated on Monday night in Madrid and also in Barcelona’s Catalunya Square. On Monday, 500 people spent the night in the improvised camp in Madrid and about 200 did so in Barcelona’s Plaça Catalunya, a square full of doves and tourists on a regular day. Almost all of them were young and many had an alternative look or had participated in previous anti-system protests.
However, the turning point was Tuesday, when the number of people increased both in Barcelona and Madrid, and it gained more support. Tuesday saw older people, professionals, students, from very different backgrounds join the protest. During the day around 5,000 people congregated in Madrid and around 2,000 gathered together in Barcelona. The camp had already started organising itself in committees and assemblies on Monday though, and on Tuesday the first tents and chairs could be seen in Barcelona. The police intervened on Monday night in Barcelona and detained some people, who were afterwards released. However, Tuesday night was the final turning point, as police did not intervene and many stayed after midnight.
The intervention of Madrid’s Electoral Board
This Wednesday, the protest carried on in both Madrid and Barcelona, and spread to other cities across Spain. During the day, fewer people were congregated, but at peak hours more than 5,000 were gathering in Madrid, occupying the entire Puerta del Sol Square, and more than 2,000 people were doing the same in Barcelona’s Catalunya Square. People are coming and leaving, but the squares are always very crowded.
Today politicians started to talk about the protests. In a generalised way, all of them asked people to understand and respect the protesters. However, they reminded everybody that the electoral process cannot be interfered. The Vice President of the Catalan Government, Joana Ortega, announced that the Catalan Police may intervene and stop demonstrations during the reflection day (the day just before the election day) as she said the law bans public protests on that day. Ortega announced that the Catalan Government is now waiting for the final decision from Barcelona’s Electoral Board. It appears that protests in Barcelona would be tolerated by the authorities until Friday midnight but not during Saturday or the election day.
This is not the case in Madrid. This Wednesday afternoon, Madrid’s Electoral Board banned a scheduled demonstration for 8pm. However, the Puerta del Sol protesters decided at an assembly to maintain their camp and the demonstration. Police occupied the surrounding streets and protesters said they were trying to impede people transporting sleeping bags or other materials to the square. Finally, the protest is carrying on and campers are getting ready to spend another night, in Madrid, in Barcelona, and from today on, in other cities in Spain.