2011 Spanish protests
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Spanish protests, also referred to as the 15-M Movement and the Indignants movement, are a series of ongoing demonstrations in Spain
whose origin can be traced to social networks and Real Democracy NOW
among other civilian digital platforms and 200 other small associations. The protests started on 15 May with an initial call in 58 Spanish cities.
The series of protests demands a radical change in Spanish politics
, as protesters do not consider themselves to be represented by any traditional party nor favoured by the measures approved by politicians. Spanish media have related the protests to the economic crisis
, Stéphane Hessel
's Time for Outrage!
, the NEET
troubled generation and current protests in the Middle East and North Africa, Greece
, Portugal
(Geração à rasca
movement) as well as the Icelandic protest and riots in 2009
. The movement drew inspiration from 2011 revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and uprisings in 1968 France, and Greece in 2008. The protests were staged close to the local and regional elections
, held on 22 May.
Even though protesters form a heterogeneous and ambiguous group, they share a strong rejection of unemployment
, welfare
cuts, Spanish politicians, the current two-party system
in Spain between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
and the People's Party
, as well as the current political system
, capitalism
, bank
s and bankers, political corruption
and firmly support what they call basic rights: home, work, culture, health and education.
According to statistics published by RTVE
, the Spanish public broadcasting company, between 6.5 and 8 million Spaniards have participated in these protests.
, reaching a eurozone
record of 21.3%. The number of unemployed people in Spain stood at 4,910,200 at the end of March 2011, up about 214,000 from the previous quarter, while youth unemployment rate stands at 43.5%, the highest in the European Union
. In order to reduce the jobless rate, the government approved in September 2010 a sweeping overhaul of the labour market designed to slash unemployment and revive the economy. Main trade unions CCOO and Unión General de Trabajadores
(UGT), as well as minor ones, rejected the plan as it made it easier and cheaper for employers to hire and fire workers. Trade unions called for a general strike on September 29, the first one in a decade in Spain.
During the rest of the year, the government went on with economic reforms and in January 2011, it agreed to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 after reaching an agreement with the main trade unions. Despite that, anarcho-syndicalist unions and other minors ones rejected the plan and called for a strike on January 27 in Galicia, Catalonia
and the Basque Country
. Demonstrations were also held in Madrid and ended up in clashes. The raise was also rejected by the majority of Spaniards.
Although not related to economics, Spanish media have reported the pass in February of the so-called Sinde law, an anti-internet download law which allows for a judicial order to close down any web page which shows links to illegal or illegal downloads of copyright content, as one of the reasons that led to the protests. The law, approved by PSOE, PP and Convergence and Union, has been heavily criticized in Spanish forums and social networks and after the pass an anonymous campaign called #nolesvotes appeared on the Internet, calling on refusing to vote any of the parties that passed the law.
Prior to 15 May and the following camp-sites many demonstrations were held in Spain during 2011 and serving as a precedent of the protests, such as the April 7 demonstration in Madrid
by the student group Youth without Future which gathered 5,000 people. Spanish media has linked the demonstrations with the 2008-2009 protests against the Bologna Process
.
The Portuguese "Geração à Rasca"
movement, also served as an inspiration. The Portuguese movement attracted many Spaniards and Portuguese residents in Spain who protested in front of the Portuguese embassy in Madrid.
and Facebook it called "the unemployed, poorly paid, the subcontractors, the precarious, young people..." to take the streets on 15 May in the following places (in alphabetical order): A Coruña
, Albacete
, Algeciras
, Alicante
, Almería
, Arcos de la Frontera
, Badajoz
, Barcelona
, Bilbao
, Burgos
, Cáceres
, Cadiz
, Castellón
, Ciudad Real
, Córdoba, Cuenca
, Ferrol, Figueres
, Fuengirola
, Granada
, Guadalajara, Huelva
, Jaén
, Lanzarote
, La Palma
, León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
, Lleida
, Logroño
, Lugo
, Madrid
, Málaga
, Menorca, Mérida
, Monforte de Lemos
, Murcia
, Ourense
, Oviedo
, Palma, Pamplona
, Plasencia
, Ponferrada
, Puertollano
, Salamanca
, San Sebastián
, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
, Santander
, Santiago de Compostela
, Seville
, Soria
, Tarragona
, Toledo
, Torrevieja
, Ubrique
, Valencia, Valladolid
, Vigo
, Vitoria
and Zaragoza
. That same day, small demonstrations in support of the Spanish ones were organised in Dublin, Lisbon
, Amsterdam
, Istanbul
, Bologna
, London
and Paris
.
Before the demonstrations, Democracia real YA staged several symbolic events, such as the occupation of a bank in Murcia on 13 May. At the time of the demonstrations, the Democracia real YA website had the support of over 500 diverse associations, whilst continuing to reject any collaboration from any political party
or labour union, defending the protests’ independence from all institutionalised political ideology.
.
Protests took place in all the planned cities. According to Democracia real YA, 50,000 people gathered in Madrid alone. The National Police, however, placed the number at 20,000. The march started in Plaza de Cibeles
and ended in Puerta del Sol
, where several manifestos were read. Also according to the organisers, 15,000 gathered in the demonstration in Barcelona, which ended in front of the Parliament of Catalonia
. In other cities such as Granada, up to 5,000 protesters showed up and the protest took place without incident, except for an exchange of insults between some protesters and members of the Fraternity of the Virgin of Rosario, whose procession overlapped with the end of the protest after the latter had gone on longer than expected. In Santiago de Compostela, a group of eight hooded people smashed several banks and local businesses. It is estimated that the protesters that day were followed by about 130,000 people throughout Spain.
At the end of Madrid's demonstration, protesters blocked the Gran Vía
avenue and staged a peaceful sit-in in Callao street, to which police responded beating protesters with truncheons. As a result of the clashes and the following riots, several shop windows were destroyed and trash containers burnt. 24 people were arrested and five police officers injured. On 17 May, Democracia real YA condemned the "brutal police repression" and rejected having any relation with the incidents. After the incidents, a group of 100 people headed to Puerta del Sol
and started the camping in the middle of the square, what would result in the following day's protests.
.
, Facebook and Twitter for a mass response at 8pm in several Spanish squares. Large groups of demonstrators returned to protest in various cities, standing apart from the group in Madrid. This time the protests were not called together by Democracia real YA. In a few cities, the police permitted the protesters to camp out, as took place in A Coruña
, where more than 1,000 people gathered. In Madrid, more than 12,000 people gathered and about 200 protesters organized into an assembly
, during which they decided to organize themselves for spending the night in the square, creating cleaning, communication, extension, materials and legal committees. Previously they had received a great deal of help from small businesses in the form of food.
Protests and nighttime camp-outs took place in 30 cities around Spain, including Barcelona and Valencia. The protests gained the support of people in the United Kingdom
, who announced that they would sit outside of the Spanish embassy from 18 until 22 May. The protest in Plaza del Sol on the night of the 17 May consisted of about 4,000 people according to the authorities. 300 of them stayed until the dawn of 18 May. Earlier that day, dozens of people gathered in front of the court in Madrid where the people arrested during the 15 May demonstration had been held. All detainees were released.
. In addition, they organized a food stand which provided food donated by local businesses and set up a webcam
to provide news from Plaza del Sol through the website Ustream.tv. The protesters were advised not to drink alcohol or to organize into groups of more than 20 people, as these acts could provoke a legal police crackdown.
The police ordered protesters to disperse in Valencia, Tenerife and Las Palmas. During the evacuation of the Plaza del Carmen in Granada there were 3 arrests. Speeches continued on throughout the afternoon. The protests grew to include León
, Seville
, where a camp out started as of 19 May, and in other provincial capitals and cities of Spain. Support groups were created on social networks for each camp out through the social network Twitter
and other national and international networks. Google Docs and other servers began to receive download requests for documents needed to legally request permission for new protests.
In the morning, the Federación de Asociaciones de Vecinos de Barcelona (FAVB) announced their support of the protests in Barcelona. In Madrid, an activist created a flag that depicts a sun and a hand over a black background, which serves as an emblem for the protests, according to Belén Hernández at El País.
In addition to The Washington Post, which covered the protests on 15 May, news reports took place on the 18th in various media outlets, among them Le Monde
, the most widely circulated newspaper in French, in an article which noted the rarity of such large scale protests in Spain. The German newspaper, Der Spiegel
, noted the importance of the effects of what has been called "The Facebook Generation" and the youth on the protests. The Portuguese paper Jornal de Notícias
, reported on the protests in Madrid on 18 May as soon as it was known that they had been prohibited. And The New York Times
, which cited El País and noted the strong organization of the protesters, particularly the 200 people who had been placed in charge of security and the use of Twitter to ensure dissemination of their message. The Washington Post again reported on the protests in Puerta del Sol, giving them the name of a "revolution" and estimating the presence of 10,000 people on Wednesday afternoon's protest and comparing it with those in Cairo
's Tahrir Square, which had recently ousted Egypt
ian president Hosni Mubarak
. The BBC
made reference to the peaceful nature of the protests in Puerta del Sol.
The various protests agreed to hold meetings between their organizing committees each day at 1pm and assemblies
at 8pm.
In the evening, the President of the Regional Electoral Committee of Madrid issued a statement declaring the protests illegal because "calls for a responsible vote can change the results of the elections". Police units at Sol, however, received orders from the Government Delegation not to take out any further action.
, "tens of thousands" had camped out in Madrid and throughout the country on the night of 19–20 May.
United Left
appealed the Electoral Board's decision to ban the protests before Spain's Supreme Court, to which the State Prosecution presented its arguments shortly after.
Spain's public broadcaster, RTVE
reported that the State Prosecutor upheld the decision taken by the Central Electoral Board to ban the rallies. Meanwhile, the police announced that they had been given instructions not to dissolve the crowd at Puerta del Sol provided that there was no disturbance of the peace.
Appeal before the Tribunal Constitucional
RTVE
later reported that the country's Constitutional Court had been deliberating since 7.30pm whether to review an appeal against the decision of the Central Electoral Board. At 10.08 pm (local time), RTVE informed that the Constitutional had rejected the appeal on the formality that the appellant had not appealed first to the Supreme Court.
At 22:47 United Left
announced it would appeal the Supreme Court's decision before the Tribunal Constitucional. They had until midnight.
At around 23:00, some 16,000 people (according to the police) and 19,000 (according to other sources) were gathered at and around Puerta del Sol.
Around 28,000 people, according to the police, crowded Puerta del Sol and the neighboring streets despite the prohibition. Other cities also gathered large numbers of people: 15,000 in Malaga, 10,000 in Valencia, 6,000 in Zaragoza, 4,000 in Seville, 1,500 in Granada, 800 in Almeria, 600 in Cadiz, 200 in Huelva, around 100 in Jaen. 8,000 people gathered in Barcelona, 1,000 in Vigo, 3,000 in Bilbao, 2,000 in Oviedo, 2,000 in Gijón, around 800 in Avilés, 3,000 in Palma.
There were demonstrations in other European cities, with 300 protesters participating in London, 500 in Amsterdam, 600 in Brussels and 200 in Lisbon. Minor demonstrations occurred in Athens, Milan, Budapest, Tangiers, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Rome.
, won by the People's Party
, suggested the protest movement could have contributed to losses for the ruling PSOE
, and to increased numbers of spoilt or blank votes, which reached record levels.
, some 80 people gained access to the headquarters of the television channel 7 Región de Murcia
, avoiding security staff, in order to read a manifesto denouncing media manipulation
. Likewise, some 30 people gained unobstructed entry to the Tarragona
office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance
and shouted slogans against the political and economic systems, before moving to several financial sites in the city centre to do the same.
, the Ministry of Defence
decided to relocate various activities for Armed Forces Day
planned for Friday 27. Protesters had already been occupying the Plaza de la Constitución, where the events were scheduled to take place, for eight days.
decided to send 350 police officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra
and another one hundred or so from the Guàrdia Urbana to temporarily vacate Plaça de Catalunya
so that it could be cleaned ahead of the final of the Champions League final
on 28 May, in which FC Barcelona
were playing. The resulting violent clash ended in 121 light injuries and provoked new calls to protest in all squares still occupied across Spain. The majority of those injured suffered bruises and open wounds caused by police officers' truncheons, and one protester leaving with a broken arm. By shortly after midday those protesters vacated had already returned to the square.
Similar incidents also occurred in Lleida
and Sabadell
, where Mossos d'Esquadra officers dismantled the protesters' encampments. According to police figures, more than 12,000 people gathered in Barcelona through the course of the day, angry about the earlier actions of the police, painting their hands white and carrying flowers as symbols of protest. They demanded, among other things, the resignation of the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Felip Puig. They also claimed that following the incident the encampment would likely not be taken down on Sunday 28, as had previously been stated.
The clearing of the Barcelona camp was broadcast live by two Spanish television channels, including Antena 3
, and was also widely dispersed through social networks such as Twitter
.
The Catalan
ombudsman opened an investigation into the incident to check if police action was disproportionate and if it violated citizens' rights.
, Barcelona and prevented court officials from serving a family with the order to leave their home immediately, and protesting against banks repossessing people's homes.
in Madrid
, began to leave, dismantling the "acampada," packing up tents, libraries, shops, and removing protest signs from surrounding sites.
and organised themselves to spend the night, in order to start on the following day a blockade of the Catalan Parliament (which is inside the park) and prevent deputies from entering the building, where the debate on the 2011 budget, which results in cuts in education and health, was to take place.
were jostled, heckled and sprayed on their way in, while other used used police helicopters to get to the parliament. Among those, the president of Catalonia Artur Mas. Despite that lawmakers managed to enter the Catalonian Parliament and the scheduled session started with a 15 minute delay. By midday, most of the protestes remained outside the parliament, while some confronted police with rocks and bottles. At least 36 people were injured, 12 of them Mossos d'Esquadra, and 6 people were arrested.
The protest was criticized by politicians across the country, and during a press conference, Mas warned of a possible "legitimate use of force" in case demonstrators stayed outside the Parliament and called on the public to be understanding. Some politicians went so far as dennouncing an attempted "coup d'etat
". Acampadabcn, the organiser of the event, and Democracia real YA "rejected" the use of violence but denounced the criminalisation of the movement by the media. On Twitter and other social networks, many users suggested the possibility that secret police, infiltrated to cause the violence, started most of the clashes. At the end of the day, demonstrators left the area and organised a march towards Plaça de Sant Jaume.
.
to leave behind an information booth, called PuntoSol, where people interested in the movement could find information about how it had been decentralized
to the neighborhood assemblies. An organic garden
surrounding one of the fountains in Sol was also left behind in the square. At 6:30 AM on 2 August, the national and municipal police evicted the remaining protestors at the information booth and cleaning crews dismantled PuntoSol and the organic garden. At the same time they evicted the tent city which had sprung up on the Paseo del Prado. The police then blocked off all access to Sol including Metro
and Cercanías
and filled the square with over 300 police, including riot police, and 50 police vans.
In response, protestors called an immediate convergence to try to access the square. The heavy police presence impeded their entry. The protestors, then numbering over 5000, decided to turn to the streets, demonstrating from Callao, Gran Vía
, Cibeles
, Paseo del Prado, all the way to the Congress of Deputies building, where they were met with more riot police, police barricades and police vans. Protests then turned to Atocha and once more to Sol where they were met with an overwhelming police presence. The decision was then made by the protestors to occupy Plaza Mayor where an emergency participatory
assembly was held in order to decide what to do. Ultimately, protestors set up a temporary information booth in Plaza Mayor while some decided to stay there camping through the night. At the end of the night, two people were arrested, and released the day after.
square at 6pm in order to attempt entering the square. The square was then cordoned off by police and metro and train stations closed, while police asked for identification to anyone trying to pass into the square. Police also asked customers from shops around Sol to close their businesses several hours earlier than usual. As the attempt failed, the protestors decided to start a new march from Atocha two hours later. The march from Atocha grew larger as people began passing through Cibeles and up the Gran Vía heading toward Puerta del Sol, where officers and police vans, prevented the demonstrators from marching up San Jerónimo
street. Police and about 4,000 demonstrators then played a game of cat-and-mouse as the demonstrators tried to enter Puerta del Sol through different streets. There were several moments of tension at different points and by 11pm, the groups of demonstrators disbanded and retreated to Callao Square, where an assembly was held and it was decided that a demonstration would be held at 12pm on the following day and there would be another attempt to enter Sol at 8pm.
, (related to the "Occupy" protests), hundreds of thousands marched in Madrid and other cities.
Half million people took part in the demonstration that filled the street and marched from Alcala and Cibeles toward Puerta del Sol
square in Madrid
, home of the "Indignants" movement, of which this has merged, according to Europapress media agency
. There 50 thousand people remained and most of them participated in the activities and general assembly organised. Barcelona, had as many as a quarter million.
, who after debating issued statements on 16 May. On 15 May, the day of the first demonstration, almost every party was willing to be quoted on the situation.
Jaime Mayor Oreja
, Member of the European Parliament
representing the Partido Popular
, was critical of the protesters’ alleged intention of not casting ballots on the forthcoming election. So was Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
(PSOE) member and Minister of Public Works and Transport José Blanco
. United Left
had a positive view of the protesters’ demands, but admitted not having been capable of connecting to them. The communist party’s political coordinator Cayo Lara
, defended the protesters’ refusal to become a “lost generation” and was critical of their removal from the Puerta del Sol
on 16 May. Other politicians, such as José Antonio Griñán
, showed sympathy for the protests, while insisting in that not voting is not a solution. Esteban González Pons
, general vicesecretary of the Partido Popular linked the demonstrations to the “antisystem far left”.
Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González
compared the protests, which he considered "an extraordinarily important phenomenon", with those staged in Arab countries
, pointing out that "in the Arab world they are demanding the right to vote while here they are saying that voting is pointless".
On 25 July 2011, Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz participated to the "I Foro Social del 15M" organised in Madrid
(Spain) expressing his support to the 2011 Spanish protests. During an informal speech, he made a brief review of some of the problems in Europe and in the United States, the serious unemployment rate and the situation in Greece. "This is an opportunity for economic contribution social measures," argued Stiglitz, who made a critical speech about the way authorities are handling the political exit to the crisis. He encouraged those present to respond to the "bad ideas", not with indifference, but with "good ideas". "This does not work, you have to change it," he said.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
whose origin can be traced to social networks and Real Democracy NOW
Democracia real Ya
¡Democracia Real YA! , also known as Plataforma Democracia Real Ya! , is a grassroots citizens' organization that was started in March 2011 in Spain, and that by May 15 sparked the political movement of the 2011 Spanish protests, which gained world wide attention and has been inspired by the...
among other civilian digital platforms and 200 other small associations. The protests started on 15 May with an initial call in 58 Spanish cities.
The series of protests demands a radical change in Spanish politics
Politics of Spain
The politics of Spain take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the Monarch is the Head of State and the President of the Government is the head of government in a multi-party system. Executive power is vested in the government...
, as protesters do not consider themselves to be represented by any traditional party nor favoured by the measures approved by politicians. Spanish media have related the protests to the economic crisis
2008–2009 Spanish financial crisis
The 2008–2011 Spanish financial crisis is part of the world Late-2000s financial crisis. In Spain, the crisis was generated by long term loans , the building market crash which included the bankruptcy of major companies, and a particularly severe increase in unemployment, which rose to 21.4% in...
, Stéphane Hessel
Stéphane Hessel
Stéphane Frédéric Hessel is a diplomat, ambassador, writer, concentration camp survivor, former French Resistance fighter and BCRA agent. Born German, he became a naturalised French citizen in 1939...
's Time for Outrage!
Time for Outrage!
Time for Outrage! is the English translation of the bestselling tract Indignez-vous ! by the French diplomat, member of the French Resistance and concentration camp survivor Stéphane Hessel...
, the NEET
NEET
NEET is a government acronym for people currently "not in education, employment, or training". It was first used in the United Kingdom but its use has spread to other countries, including Japan, China, and South Korea...
troubled generation and current protests in the Middle East and North Africa, Greece
2010–2011 Greek protests
The 2010–2011 Greek protests are an ongoing series of demonstrations and general strikes taking place across Greece. The protests, which began on 5 May 2010, were sparked by plans to cut public spending and raise taxes as austerity measures in exchange for a bail-out, aimed at solving the...
, Portugal
2011 Portuguese protests
The 2011 March Portuguese protests, also referred to as the Geração à Rasca protests or Movimento 12 de Março was a series of protests in over 10 cities of Portugal over the economic crisis in Portugal....
(Geração à rasca
2011 Portuguese protests
The 2011 March Portuguese protests, also referred to as the Geração à Rasca protests or Movimento 12 de Março was a series of protests in over 10 cities of Portugal over the economic crisis in Portugal....
movement) as well as the Icelandic protest and riots in 2009
2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests
The 2009-2011 Icelandic financial crisis protests, also referred to as the Kitchenware Revolution or Icelandic Revolution occurred in the wake of the Icelandic financial crisis. There had been sporadic protests since October 2008 against the Icelandic government's handling of the financial crisis...
. The movement drew inspiration from 2011 revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and uprisings in 1968 France, and Greece in 2008. The protests were staged close to the local and regional elections
Spanish local and regional elections, 2011
Local and regional elections were held on 22 May 2011 in Spain. Local elections are held at once across all of Spain, while regional elections were held in 13 of Spain's 17 autonomous communities; Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country have different electoral cycles.The days before...
, held on 22 May.
Even though protesters form a heterogeneous and ambiguous group, they share a strong rejection of unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, welfare
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
cuts, Spanish politicians, the current two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
in Spain between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
and the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
, as well as the current political system
Political system
A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems...
, capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s and bankers, political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and firmly support what they call basic rights: home, work, culture, health and education.
According to statistics published by RTVE
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. or Corporación Radiotelevisión Española is the state-owned public corporation that assumed the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service from Ente Público Radiotelevisión Española in 2007...
, the Spanish public broadcasting company, between 6.5 and 8 million Spaniards have participated in these protests.
Background
Since the beginning of the ongoing economic crisis, Spain has been hit hard with one of the highest unemployment rates in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, reaching a eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
record of 21.3%. The number of unemployed people in Spain stood at 4,910,200 at the end of March 2011, up about 214,000 from the previous quarter, while youth unemployment rate stands at 43.5%, the highest in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. In order to reduce the jobless rate, the government approved in September 2010 a sweeping overhaul of the labour market designed to slash unemployment and revive the economy. Main trade unions CCOO and Unión General de Trabajadores
Unión General de Trabajadores
The Unión General de Trabajadores is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .-History:...
(UGT), as well as minor ones, rejected the plan as it made it easier and cheaper for employers to hire and fire workers. Trade unions called for a general strike on September 29, the first one in a decade in Spain.
During the rest of the year, the government went on with economic reforms and in January 2011, it agreed to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 after reaching an agreement with the main trade unions. Despite that, anarcho-syndicalist unions and other minors ones rejected the plan and called for a strike on January 27 in Galicia, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
. Demonstrations were also held in Madrid and ended up in clashes. The raise was also rejected by the majority of Spaniards.
Although not related to economics, Spanish media have reported the pass in February of the so-called Sinde law, an anti-internet download law which allows for a judicial order to close down any web page which shows links to illegal or illegal downloads of copyright content, as one of the reasons that led to the protests. The law, approved by PSOE, PP and Convergence and Union, has been heavily criticized in Spanish forums and social networks and after the pass an anonymous campaign called #nolesvotes appeared on the Internet, calling on refusing to vote any of the parties that passed the law.
Prior to 15 May and the following camp-sites many demonstrations were held in Spain during 2011 and serving as a precedent of the protests, such as the April 7 demonstration in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
by the student group Youth without Future which gathered 5,000 people. Spanish media has linked the demonstrations with the 2008-2009 protests against the Bologna Process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
.
The Portuguese "Geração à Rasca"
2011 Portuguese protests
The 2011 March Portuguese protests, also referred to as the Geração à Rasca protests or Movimento 12 de Março was a series of protests in over 10 cities of Portugal over the economic crisis in Portugal....
movement, also served as an inspiration. The Portuguese movement attracted many Spaniards and Portuguese residents in Spain who protested in front of the Portuguese embassy in Madrid.
Demands of Democracia Real Ya
Democracia Real Ya and the protesters have stated that their demands of the Spanish government are: elimination of privileges for the political class, measures to combat unemployment, measures to promote rights to housing, measures to improve public services in teaching, health, and public transport, increased regulation of the banking industry, implementation of new fiscal measures, measures in favor of citizen’s rights and participatory democracy, and a reduction in military spending. Together they believe that this culmination will bring about the change in society needed to assist those who are not among the country's privileged elite.Organising the protests
On January 2011, the digital platform Democracia real YA was created on Spanish social networks and forums. Using TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and Facebook it called "the unemployed, poorly paid, the subcontractors, the precarious, young people..." to take the streets on 15 May in the following places (in alphabetical order): A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
, Albacete
Albacete
Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....
, Algeciras
Algeciras
Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...
, Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Arcos de la Frontera
Arcos de la Frontera
Arcos de la Frontera is a town in the province of Cádiz in southern Spain. It is located on the eastern bank of the Guadalete river, which flows to the Bay of Cadiz. The town commands a fine vista atop a sandstone ridge, from which the peak of San Cristobal and the Guadalete Valley can be seen...
, Badajoz
Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257....
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
, Cáceres
Cáceres, Spain
Cáceres is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. , its population was 91,131 inhabitants. The municipio has a land area of 1,750.33 km², and is the largest in geographical extension in Spain....
, Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Castellón
Castellón de la Plana
Castellón de la Plana or Castelló de la Plana is the capital city of the province of Castelló, in the Valencian Community, Spain, in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Costa del Azahar by the Mediterranean Sea...
, Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is a city in Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of c. 74,000. It is the capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It has a stop on the AVE high-speed rail line and has begun to grow as a long-distance commuter suburb of Madrid, located 115 miles to the north. A high capacity...
, Córdoba, Cuenca
Cuenca, Spain
-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...
, Ferrol, Figueres
Figueres
Figueres is the capital of the comarca of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors...
, Fuengirola
Fuengirola
Fuengirola, in ancient times known as Suel and then Suhayl, is a large town and municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga, autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is a major tourist resort, with more than 8 km of beaches, and home to a mediæval Moorish fortress...
, Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Guadalajara, Huelva
Huelva
Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The...
, Jaén
Jaén, Spain
Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Lanzarote
Lanzarote
Lanzarote , a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands...
, La Palma
La Palma
La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...
, León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
, Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
, Logroño
Logroño
Logroño is a city in northern Spain, on the Ebro River. It is the capital of the autonomous community of La Rioja, formerly known as La Rioja Province.The population of Logroño in 2008 was 153,736 and a metropolitan population of nearly 197,000 inhabitants...
, Lugo
Lugo
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, Menorca, Mérida
Mérida, Spain
Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura, western central Spain. It has a population of 57,127 . The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.- Climate :...
, Monforte de Lemos
Monforte de Lemos
Monforte de Lemos is a city and municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo, Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km² and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2005 it had a population of 19,472. It is located in a valley between the shores of Sil River and Miño River, in the area...
, Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, Ourense
Ourense
Ourense is a city in northwestern Spain, the capital of the province of the same name in Galicia. Its population of 108,674 accounts for 30% of the population of the province and makes it the third largest city of Galicia.-Population:...
, Oviedo
Oviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
, Palma, Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Plasencia
Plasencia
Plasencia is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it had a population of 41,447.Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's strategic location along the Silver Route, or Ruta de la Plata...
, Ponferrada
Ponferrada
Ponferrada is a city in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. It lies on the Sil River, a tributary of the river Miño, in the El Bierzo valley, completely surrounded by mountains. It is the last major town along the French route of the Way of St. James before it reaches its destination...
, Puertollano
Puertollano
Puertollano is an industrial city in province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is situated on the AVE High Speed Train line linking Madrid and Seville . The city has a population of 51,842 .- Legend of the lie :...
, Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009...
, Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
, Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Soria
Soria
Soria is a city in north-central Spain, the capital of the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile and León. , the municipality has a population of c. 39,500 inhabitants, nearly 40% of the population of the province...
, Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
, Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Torrevieja
Torrevieja
Torrevieja is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in south-eastern Spain.Torrevieja lies about 30 miles south of the city of Alicante and has a population of 104,000...
, Ubrique
Ubrique
- External links :* -...
, Valencia, Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
, Vigo
Vigo
Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...
, Vitoria
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...
and Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
. That same day, small demonstrations in support of the Spanish ones were organised in Dublin, Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Before the demonstrations, Democracia real YA staged several symbolic events, such as the occupation of a bank in Murcia on 13 May. At the time of the demonstrations, the Democracia real YA website had the support of over 500 diverse associations, whilst continuing to reject any collaboration from any political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
or labour union, defending the protests’ independence from all institutionalised political ideology.
15 May
The first protest was called under the motto "we are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers" and was focused on opposition to what the protesters called "antisocial means in the hands of bankers", partly referring to the changes made in 2010 to contain the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis through bailout of the banks, which the Spanish society saw as responsible for the crisis, while at the same time the government kept announcing social program cutbacks. Protesters also demanded more democracy, a new electoral law and end to political corruption as well as other claims, such as banks nationalisationNationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
.
Protests took place in all the planned cities. According to Democracia real YA, 50,000 people gathered in Madrid alone. The National Police, however, placed the number at 20,000. The march started in Plaza de Cibeles
Plaza de Cibeles
The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid.-Cibeles Fountain:...
and ended in Puerta del Sol
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year...
, where several manifestos were read. Also according to the organisers, 15,000 gathered in the demonstration in Barcelona, which ended in front of the Parliament of Catalonia
Parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament of Catalonia is the unicameral legislature of Catalonia. It is formed by 135 members , who are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolution and call of elections by the President of Catalonia, by universal suffrage in proportional lists with four...
. In other cities such as Granada, up to 5,000 protesters showed up and the protest took place without incident, except for an exchange of insults between some protesters and members of the Fraternity of the Virgin of Rosario, whose procession overlapped with the end of the protest after the latter had gone on longer than expected. In Santiago de Compostela, a group of eight hooded people smashed several banks and local businesses. It is estimated that the protesters that day were followed by about 130,000 people throughout Spain.
At the end of Madrid's demonstration, protesters blocked the Gran Vía
Gran Vía
Gran Vía is an ornate and upscale shopping street located in central Madrid. It leads from Calle de Alcalá, close to Plaza de Cibeles, to Plaza de España....
avenue and staged a peaceful sit-in in Callao street, to which police responded beating protesters with truncheons. As a result of the clashes and the following riots, several shop windows were destroyed and trash containers burnt. 24 people were arrested and five police officers injured. On 17 May, Democracia real YA condemned the "brutal police repression" and rejected having any relation with the incidents. After the incidents, a group of 100 people headed to Puerta del Sol
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year...
and started the camping in the middle of the square, what would result in the following day's protests.
16 May
During the day, several people gathered in Puerta del Sol and decided to stay in the square until the elections on 22 May. Meanwhile, 200 people started a similar action in Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya, although police had first tried to disperse the crowds. That day the tag #spanishrevolution, as well as other ones related to the protests, became a trending topic in the social-network TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
17 May
On the early hours of the morning, police cleared the Puerta del Sol square and removed the 150 people who had camped out. Two protesters were arrested and one injured. As a response to the eviction and police violence, protesters called via SMSSMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
, Facebook and Twitter for a mass response at 8pm in several Spanish squares. Large groups of demonstrators returned to protest in various cities, standing apart from the group in Madrid. This time the protests were not called together by Democracia real YA. In a few cities, the police permitted the protesters to camp out, as took place in A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
, where more than 1,000 people gathered. In Madrid, more than 12,000 people gathered and about 200 protesters organized into an assembly
Popular assembly
A popular or people's assembly is a gathering called to address issues of importance to participants. Assemblies tend to be freely open to participation and operate by direct democracy...
, during which they decided to organize themselves for spending the night in the square, creating cleaning, communication, extension, materials and legal committees. Previously they had received a great deal of help from small businesses in the form of food.
Protests and nighttime camp-outs took place in 30 cities around Spain, including Barcelona and Valencia. The protests gained the support of people in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, who announced that they would sit outside of the Spanish embassy from 18 until 22 May. The protest in Plaza del Sol on the night of the 17 May consisted of about 4,000 people according to the authorities. 300 of them stayed until the dawn of 18 May. Earlier that day, dozens of people gathered in front of the court in Madrid where the people arrested during the 15 May demonstration had been held. All detainees were released.
18 May
In Madrid, the protesters put up a large tarp canopy beneath which they passed out signs with the intention of spending the night there between the 17 and 18 May. According to a reporter from El País, many of them wore carnations, much as took place during the Portuguese Carnation RevolutionCarnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
. In addition, they organized a food stand which provided food donated by local businesses and set up a webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
to provide news from Plaza del Sol through the website Ustream.tv. The protesters were advised not to drink alcohol or to organize into groups of more than 20 people, as these acts could provoke a legal police crackdown.
The police ordered protesters to disperse in Valencia, Tenerife and Las Palmas. During the evacuation of the Plaza del Carmen in Granada there were 3 arrests. Speeches continued on throughout the afternoon. The protests grew to include León
León, Spain
León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...
, Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, where a camp out started as of 19 May, and in other provincial capitals and cities of Spain. Support groups were created on social networks for each camp out through the social network Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and other national and international networks. Google Docs and other servers began to receive download requests for documents needed to legally request permission for new protests.
In the morning, the Federación de Asociaciones de Vecinos de Barcelona (FAVB) announced their support of the protests in Barcelona. In Madrid, an activist created a flag that depicts a sun and a hand over a black background, which serves as an emblem for the protests, according to Belén Hernández at El País.
In addition to The Washington Post, which covered the protests on 15 May, news reports took place on the 18th in various media outlets, among them Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, the most widely circulated newspaper in French, in an article which noted the rarity of such large scale protests in Spain. The German newspaper, Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, noted the importance of the effects of what has been called "The Facebook Generation" and the youth on the protests. The Portuguese paper Jornal de Notícias
Jornal de Notícias
Jornal de Notícias is a Portuguese daily national newspaper. JN was founded in Porto on 2 June 1888, and has since become one of the most popular newspapers, especially after the Carnation Revolution....
, reported on the protests in Madrid on 18 May as soon as it was known that they had been prohibited. And The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, which cited El País and noted the strong organization of the protesters, particularly the 200 people who had been placed in charge of security and the use of Twitter to ensure dissemination of their message. The Washington Post again reported on the protests in Puerta del Sol, giving them the name of a "revolution" and estimating the presence of 10,000 people on Wednesday afternoon's protest and comparing it with those in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
's Tahrir Square, which had recently ousted Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian president Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
made reference to the peaceful nature of the protests in Puerta del Sol.
The various protests agreed to hold meetings between their organizing committees each day at 1pm and assemblies
Popular assembly
A popular or people's assembly is a gathering called to address issues of importance to participants. Assemblies tend to be freely open to participation and operate by direct democracy...
at 8pm.
In the evening, the President of the Regional Electoral Committee of Madrid issued a statement declaring the protests illegal because "calls for a responsible vote can change the results of the elections". Police units at Sol, however, received orders from the Government Delegation not to take out any further action.
20 May
According to Britain's The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, "tens of thousands" had camped out in Madrid and throughout the country on the night of 19–20 May.
United Left
United Left (Spain)
The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...
appealed the Electoral Board's decision to ban the protests before Spain's Supreme Court, to which the State Prosecution presented its arguments shortly after.
Appeal before the Supreme Court
Spain's public broadcaster, RTVE
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. or Corporación Radiotelevisión Española is the state-owned public corporation that assumed the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service from Ente Público Radiotelevisión Española in 2007...
reported that the State Prosecutor upheld the decision taken by the Central Electoral Board to ban the rallies. Meanwhile, the police announced that they had been given instructions not to dissolve the crowd at Puerta del Sol provided that there was no disturbance of the peace.
Appeal before the Tribunal ConstitucionalConstitutional Court of Spainthumb|300px|The [[Domenico Scarlatti]] Building located in [[Madrid]], seat of the Constitutional Court of Justice of Spain.The Constitutional Court of Spain is the highest judicial body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes of the Spanish Government. It is...
RTVE
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. or Corporación Radiotelevisión Española is the state-owned public corporation that assumed the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service from Ente Público Radiotelevisión Española in 2007...
later reported that the country's Constitutional Court had been deliberating since 7.30pm whether to review an appeal against the decision of the Central Electoral Board. At 10.08 pm (local time), RTVE informed that the Constitutional had rejected the appeal on the formality that the appellant had not appealed first to the Supreme Court.
At 22:47 United Left
United Left (Spain)
The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...
announced it would appeal the Supreme Court's decision before the Tribunal Constitucional. They had until midnight.
At around 23:00, some 16,000 people (according to the police) and 19,000 (according to other sources) were gathered at and around Puerta del Sol.
21 May
In Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and other cities 21 May started with a minute of silence followed by cheers and applause. Smaller cities, such as Granada, decided to start before midnight to avoid disturbing the neighbors. These protests occurred even though protests on the day before elections are banned.Around 28,000 people, according to the police, crowded Puerta del Sol and the neighboring streets despite the prohibition. Other cities also gathered large numbers of people: 15,000 in Malaga, 10,000 in Valencia, 6,000 in Zaragoza, 4,000 in Seville, 1,500 in Granada, 800 in Almeria, 600 in Cadiz, 200 in Huelva, around 100 in Jaen. 8,000 people gathered in Barcelona, 1,000 in Vigo, 3,000 in Bilbao, 2,000 in Oviedo, 2,000 in Gijón, around 800 in Avilés, 3,000 in Palma.
There were demonstrations in other European cities, with 300 protesters participating in London, 500 in Amsterdam, 600 in Brussels and 200 in Lisbon. Minor demonstrations occurred in Athens, Milan, Budapest, Tangiers, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Rome.
22 May
Just after 14:00 on election day, the indignados (the outraged) that had gathered at Puerta del Sol announced they had voted to stay at least another week, until noon on 29 May. Early analysis of the nationwide electionsSpanish local and regional elections, 2011
Local and regional elections were held on 22 May 2011 in Spain. Local elections are held at once across all of Spain, while regional elections were held in 13 of Spain's 17 autonomous communities; Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country have different electoral cycles.The days before...
, won by the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
, suggested the protest movement could have contributed to losses for the ruling PSOE
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
, and to increased numbers of spoilt or blank votes, which reached record levels.
24 May
In MurciaMurcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, some 80 people gained access to the headquarters of the television channel 7 Región de Murcia
7 Región de Murcia
7 Región de Murcia is an autonomous television channel for the Region of Murcia, Spain. It is owned by Televisión Autonómica de Murcia, S.A. Test transmissions began on 14 April 2006, with the main launch on 20 September 2006....
, avoiding security staff, in order to read a manifesto denouncing media manipulation
Media manipulation
Media manipulation is an aspect of public relations in which partisans create an image or argument that favours their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, and often involve the suppression of information or points of view by crowding...
. Likewise, some 30 people gained unobstructed entry to the Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance
Ministry of Economy and Finance (Spain)
The Ministry of Economy and Finance is the Ministry of Economic affairs and Second Vice President of the Government of SpainThis Ministry is in charge of the development, proposal and execution of the economical policy of the government, specially of the State Budgets, the control of Public...
and shouted slogans against the political and economic systems, before moving to several financial sites in the city centre to do the same.
25 May
In MálagaMálaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (Spain)
The Ministry of Defence is the Spanish government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the Spanish Armed Forces.- Functions :...
decided to relocate various activities for Armed Forces Day
Armed Forces Day
Several nations of the world hold an annual Armed Forces Day in honor of their military forces. - Armenia :Բանակի օր is celebrated on 28 January to commemorate the formation of the armed forces of the newly independent Republic of Armenia in 1992....
planned for Friday 27. Protesters had already been occupying the Plaza de la Constitución, where the events were scheduled to take place, for eight days.
27 May
At approximately 7am on 27 May a more serious incident occurred when the city council of BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
decided to send 350 police officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra
Mossos d'Esquadra
The Mossos d'Esquadra are the police force of Catalonia, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. It is the oldest civil police force in Europe, founded in the 18th century as the Esquadres de Catalunya to protect the people of Catalonia....
and another one hundred or so from the Guàrdia Urbana to temporarily vacate Plaça de Catalunya
Plaça de Catalunya, Barcelona
Plaça de Catalunya is a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built Eixample meet....
so that it could be cleaned ahead of the final of the Champions League final
2011 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2011 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played on 28 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London that decided the winner of the 2010–11 season of the UEFA Champions League. The winners received the European Champion Clubs' Cup...
on 28 May, in which FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
were playing. The resulting violent clash ended in 121 light injuries and provoked new calls to protest in all squares still occupied across Spain. The majority of those injured suffered bruises and open wounds caused by police officers' truncheons, and one protester leaving with a broken arm. By shortly after midday those protesters vacated had already returned to the square.
Similar incidents also occurred in Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
and Sabadell
Sabadell
Sabadell is the second largest city in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the comarca, on the River Ripoll, 20 km north-west of Barcelona...
, where Mossos d'Esquadra officers dismantled the protesters' encampments. According to police figures, more than 12,000 people gathered in Barcelona through the course of the day, angry about the earlier actions of the police, painting their hands white and carrying flowers as symbols of protest. They demanded, among other things, the resignation of the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Felip Puig. They also claimed that following the incident the encampment would likely not be taken down on Sunday 28, as had previously been stated.
The clearing of the Barcelona camp was broadcast live by two Spanish television channels, including Antena 3
Antena 3 (Spain)
Antena 3 is a Spanish terrestrial television channel owned by Antena 3 de Televisión. Some of the more popular programmes broadcast by Antena 3 include Aquí no hay quien viva, El Barco, Los Protegidos, Los Simpson and El Internado....
, and was also widely dispersed through social networks such as Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
.
The Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
ombudsman opened an investigation into the incident to check if police action was disproportionate and if it violated citizens' rights.
2 June
At least 40 people gathered in Montcada i ReixacMontcada i Reixac
Montcada i Reixac , often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Ripoll river and the Besós river, and very close to the northernmost neighbourhoods of the city of Barcelona and is...
, Barcelona and prevented court officials from serving a family with the order to leave their home immediately, and protesting against banks repossessing people's homes.
4 June
Representatives from 53 assemblies around Spain gathered in a mass assembly in Puerta del Sol.8 June
In Madrid, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Congreso de los Diputados, with a police barrier preventing them from entering the building. Demonstrations in front of the Parliament are banned in Madrid, but the protest finished without incidents. In Valencia, dozens of people decided to stay in front of the regional Parliament. In Barcelona, around 50 people protested outside the Catalan Parliament against Felip Puig.9 June
In the morning, police clashed with protesters in Valencia, injuring 18. As a response of the police violence, demonstrators called for a protest in the city later that day, which gathered around 2,000 people. Support demonstrations were held in Barcelona and Madrid, the latter ending up in front of the Parliament for a second night. Barcelona's protest finished in front of the Popular Party's office.12 June
On Sunday, 12 June, four weeks after the protests had begun, protestors in the Puerta del SolPuerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year...
in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, began to leave, dismantling the "acampada," packing up tents, libraries, shops, and removing protest signs from surrounding sites.
14 June
Thousands of people assembled in front of Barcelona's Parc de la CiutadellaParc de la Ciutadella
The Parc de la Ciutadella is a park in Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Spain. After its establishment during the mid 19 century, it was for decades the only green area in the city, and hitherto of the most popular...
and organised themselves to spend the night, in order to start on the following day a blockade of the Catalan Parliament (which is inside the park) and prevent deputies from entering the building, where the debate on the 2011 budget, which results in cuts in education and health, was to take place.
15 June
Clashes between protesters and Mossos d'Esquadra occurred in the early hours of the morning when hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the police cordon, while officers fired plastic bullets in order to disperse a group of protesters who had set up barricades using rubbish containers. Hours later, scuffles broke out as Mossos de Esquadra pushed protesters back so the deputies who arrived on foot could get in. Some deputies, such as former Minister of Labour Celestino CorbachoCelestino Corbacho
Celestino Corbacho Chaves is a Spanish politician, who is currently serving as Member of Catalan Parliament....
were jostled, heckled and sprayed on their way in, while other used used police helicopters to get to the parliament. Among those, the president of Catalonia Artur Mas. Despite that lawmakers managed to enter the Catalonian Parliament and the scheduled session started with a 15 minute delay. By midday, most of the protestes remained outside the parliament, while some confronted police with rocks and bottles. At least 36 people were injured, 12 of them Mossos d'Esquadra, and 6 people were arrested.
The protest was criticized by politicians across the country, and during a press conference, Mas warned of a possible "legitimate use of force" in case demonstrators stayed outside the Parliament and called on the public to be understanding. Some politicians went so far as dennouncing an attempted "coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
". Acampadabcn, the organiser of the event, and Democracia real YA "rejected" the use of violence but denounced the criminalisation of the movement by the media. On Twitter and other social networks, many users suggested the possibility that secret police, infiltrated to cause the violence, started most of the clashes. At the end of the day, demonstrators left the area and organised a march towards Plaça de Sant Jaume.
19 June
A massive demonstration was carried out in almost 80 Spanish cities and towns. It is believe that more than a half million people rallied that day.1 July
Dozens of people protested outside Barcelona's town hall during the swearing-in ceremony of Spanish Convergence and Union's candidate Xavier TriasXavier Trias
Xavier Trias i Vidal de Llobatera is a Spanish Catalan politician, member of Democratic Convergence of Catalonia and Mayor of Barcelona since July 2, 2011...
.
27 July
2 August
When the 12 June assembly decision was made to dismantle the tent city in Puerta del Sol, the assembly decided by consensusConsensus democracy
Consensus democracy is the application of consensus decision-making to the process of legislation in a democracy. It is characterised by a decision-making structure which involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible, as opposed to systems where minority opinions can...
to leave behind an information booth, called PuntoSol, where people interested in the movement could find information about how it had been decentralized
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
to the neighborhood assemblies. An organic garden
Guerrilla gardening
Guerrilla gardening is gardening on another person's land without permission. It encompasses a very diverse range of people and motivations, from the enthusiastic gardener who spills over their legal boundaries to the highly political gardener who seeks to provoke change through direct action. It...
surrounding one of the fountains in Sol was also left behind in the square. At 6:30 AM on 2 August, the national and municipal police evicted the remaining protestors at the information booth and cleaning crews dismantled PuntoSol and the organic garden. At the same time they evicted the tent city which had sprung up on the Paseo del Prado. The police then blocked off all access to Sol including Metro
Madrid Metro
The Madrid Metro is a metro system serving the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. The system is the sixth longest metro in the world though Madrid is approximately the fiftieth most populous metropolitan area in the world...
and Cercanías
Cercanías
Cercanías is the name given to the commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas. In Catalonia and Valencia, however, the term is replaced by Rodalies , while the designation Aldirikoak is used in the Basque Country....
and filled the square with over 300 police, including riot police, and 50 police vans.
In response, protestors called an immediate convergence to try to access the square. The heavy police presence impeded their entry. The protestors, then numbering over 5000, decided to turn to the streets, demonstrating from Callao, Gran Vía
Gran Vía
Gran Vía is an ornate and upscale shopping street located in central Madrid. It leads from Calle de Alcalá, close to Plaza de Cibeles, to Plaza de España....
, Cibeles
Plaza de Cibeles
The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid.-Cibeles Fountain:...
, Paseo del Prado, all the way to the Congress of Deputies building, where they were met with more riot police, police barricades and police vans. Protests then turned to Atocha and once more to Sol where they were met with an overwhelming police presence. The decision was then made by the protestors to occupy Plaza Mayor where an emergency participatory
Participatory democracy
Participatory Democracy, also known as Deliberative Democracy, Direct Democracy and Real Democracy , is a process where political decisions are made directly by regular people...
assembly was held in order to decide what to do. Ultimately, protestors set up a temporary information booth in Plaza Mayor while some decided to stay there camping through the night. At the end of the night, two people were arrested, and released the day after.
3 August
During the Plaza Mayor assembly, it was decided that on the next day, an assembly would be held at Jacinto BenaventeJacinto Benavente
Jacinto Benavente y Martínez was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922....
square at 6pm in order to attempt entering the square. The square was then cordoned off by police and metro and train stations closed, while police asked for identification to anyone trying to pass into the square. Police also asked customers from shops around Sol to close their businesses several hours earlier than usual. As the attempt failed, the protestors decided to start a new march from Atocha two hours later. The march from Atocha grew larger as people began passing through Cibeles and up the Gran Vía heading toward Puerta del Sol, where officers and police vans, prevented the demonstrators from marching up San Jerónimo
San Jerónimo
San Jerónimo is a municipality in the Honduran department of Comayagua....
street. Police and about 4,000 demonstrators then played a game of cat-and-mouse as the demonstrators tried to enter Puerta del Sol through different streets. There were several moments of tension at different points and by 11pm, the groups of demonstrators disbanded and retreated to Callao Square, where an assembly was held and it was decided that a demonstration would be held at 12pm on the following day and there would be another attempt to enter Sol at 8pm.
4 August
Police charged against protesters in front of Interior Ministry in Madrid.15 October
As part of the 15 October movement15 October 2011 global protests
The 15 October 2011 global protests were part of a series of protests inspired by the Arab Spring, the Spanish "Indignants", the Greek Protests and the Occupy movement. Global demonstrations were held on October 15 in more than 950 cities 82 countries. The date was chosen to coincide with the 5...
, (related to the "Occupy" protests), hundreds of thousands marched in Madrid and other cities.
Half million people took part in the demonstration that filled the street and marched from Alcala and Cibeles toward Puerta del Sol
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year...
square in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, home of the "Indignants" movement, of which this has merged, according to Europapress media agency
Europa Press (news agency)
Europa Press is a Spanish independent, privately held news agency, established in Madrid in 1957.- Areas :The Europa Press group is made up of several independent limited-liability companies, built around seven areas of business:* Europa Press Noticias...
. There 50 thousand people remained and most of them participated in the activities and general assembly organised. Barcelona, had as many as a quarter million.
Political response
The demonstration triggered reactions from the main political partiesPolitical Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
, who after debating issued statements on 16 May. On 15 May, the day of the first demonstration, almost every party was willing to be quoted on the situation.
Jaime Mayor Oreja
Jaime Mayor Oreja
Jaime Mayor Oreja, is a €Spain|Spanish]] politician who served as Interior Minister in the People's Party government of José María Aznar before resigning in February 2001 to stand for Basque President on 13 May 2001, a post he failed to win. He is known for his strongly anti-ETA views.He graduated...
, Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
representing the Partido Popular
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
, was critical of the protesters’ alleged intention of not casting ballots on the forthcoming election. So was Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE) member and Minister of Public Works and Transport José Blanco
José Blanco López
José Blanco López , also known as Pepe Blanco, is a Spanish socialist politician. He is currently the deputy general of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and Minister of Public Works and Transport. He began his political career in 1986 when he was elected to the Spanish Senate...
. United Left
United Left (Spain)
The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...
had a positive view of the protesters’ demands, but admitted not having been capable of connecting to them. The communist party’s political coordinator Cayo Lara
Cayo Lara
Cayo Lara Moya is a Spanish politician. He has been the leader of United Left since December 2008. He is also a member of the leadership of the Communist Party of Spain.-Early Years and Regional Leadership:...
, defended the protesters’ refusal to become a “lost generation” and was critical of their removal from the Puerta del Sol
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year...
on 16 May. Other politicians, such as José Antonio Griñán
José Antonio Griñán
José Antonio Griñán Martínez is a Spanish politician of the left-of-center PSOE.As of 2009 he is a Member of the Andalusian Parliament for the district of Córdoba elected at the 2008 election and since April 23, 2009, he holds the position of President of the Andalusian Autonomous Government,...
, showed sympathy for the protests, while insisting in that not voting is not a solution. Esteban González Pons
Esteban González Pons
Esteban González Pons is a Spanish politician who belongs to the People's Party .Married with two children, he gained a doctorate in law and constitutional rights and practised as a lawyer. He entered politics in 1993 serving as senator for Valencia province, in the process becoming the youngest...
, general vicesecretary of the Partido Popular linked the demonstrations to the “antisystem far left”.
Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González
Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.-Early life:Felipe was...
compared the protests, which he considered "an extraordinarily important phenomenon", with those staged in Arab countries
2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
, pointing out that "in the Arab world they are demanding the right to vote while here they are saying that voting is pointless".
On 25 July 2011, Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz participated to the "I Foro Social del 15M" organised in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(Spain) expressing his support to the 2011 Spanish protests. During an informal speech, he made a brief review of some of the problems in Europe and in the United States, the serious unemployment rate and the situation in Greece. "This is an opportunity for economic contribution social measures," argued Stiglitz, who made a critical speech about the way authorities are handling the political exit to the crisis. He encouraged those present to respond to the "bad ideas", not with indifference, but with "good ideas". "This does not work, you have to change it," he said.
See also
- 15 October 2011 global protests15 October 2011 global protestsThe 15 October 2011 global protests were part of a series of protests inspired by the Arab Spring, the Spanish "Indignants", the Greek Protests and the Occupy movement. Global demonstrations were held on October 15 in more than 950 cities 82 countries. The date was chosen to coincide with the 5...
- 2010–2011 Greek protests2010–2011 Greek protestsThe 2010–2011 Greek protests are an ongoing series of demonstrations and general strikes taking place across Greece. The protests, which began on 5 May 2010, were sparked by plans to cut public spending and raise taxes as austerity measures in exchange for a bail-out, aimed at solving the...
- 2011 Greek protests2010–2011 Greek protestsThe 2010–2011 Greek protests are an ongoing series of demonstrations and general strikes taking place across Greece. The protests, which began on 5 May 2010, were sparked by plans to cut public spending and raise taxes as austerity measures in exchange for a bail-out, aimed at solving the...
- 2011 Chilean protests2011 Chilean protestsThe 2011 Chilean protests,Chilean Winter or Chilean Education Conflict are a series of ongoing student-led protests across Chile, demanding a new framework for education in Chile, including more direct state participation in secondary education and an end to the existence of profit...
- 2011 Israeli social justice protests2011 Israeli social justice protestsThe 2011 Israeli social justice protests , which are also referred to by various other names in the media, are a series of ongoing demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of thousands of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds opposing the...
- "Geração à Rasca"2011 Portuguese protestsThe 2011 March Portuguese protests, also referred to as the Geração à Rasca protests or Movimento 12 de Março was a series of protests in over 10 cities of Portugal over the economic crisis in Portugal....
- 2011 United Kingdom anti-austerity protests2011 United Kingdom anti-austerity protestsThe 2011 United Kingdom anti-austerity protests were a series of anti-austerity protests that took place in the United Kingdom in early 2011...
- Real democracy NOWDemocracia real Ya¡Democracia Real YA! , also known as Plataforma Democracia Real Ya! , is a grassroots citizens' organization that was started in March 2011 in Spain, and that by May 15 sparked the political movement of the 2011 Spanish protests, which gained world wide attention and has been inspired by the...
- Iceland Kitchenware Revolution
- "Occupy" protests
- Occupy Wall StreetOccupy Wall StreetOccupy Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district...
- Protests of 1968Protests of 1968The protests of 1968 consisted of a worldwide series of protests, largely participated in by students and workers.-Background:Background speculations of overall causality vary about the political protests centering on the year 1968. Some argue that protests could be attributed to the social changes...
- Reacts
- Time for Outrage!Time for Outrage!Time for Outrage! is the English translation of the bestselling tract Indignez-vous ! by the French diplomat, member of the French Resistance and concentration camp survivor Stéphane Hessel...
External links
- Official blog
- takethesquare.net
- ¡Democracia real Ya! Official Web
- SolTV (live streaming)
- RTVE (Spanish public broadcaster) Webcam: El 15M mantiene el pulso y convoca una concentración el sábado RTVE Webcam over Puerta del Sol (live)
- Brochure protests convened on June 19
- Article on the Spanish protests by Peter GelderloosPeter GelderloosPeter Gelderloos is an American anarchist author known for his 2005 book, How Nonviolence Protects the State.Gelderloos was arrested in 2001 while attending a protest at the Georgia-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation , a controversial school that trains Central and South...
- "Inside 15m: 48h with the indignants" is a documentary (English subtitles) about the Spanish protests made by the people's assemblies of Madrid.
- Timeline, political analysis, and eyewitness reportage of the Spanish protests on crimethinc
- Republican Reflections on the 15-M movement by Philip Pettit