The revolution has started in Spain as tens of thousands take to the streets in protest of high unemployment and draconian austerity measures.
In Spain, protesters rally a battered nation as Anti-system movement vows to press beyond election day
In the shadow of a landmark building in Madrid’s center, a village of unhappy Spaniards on Friday kicked off their sixth day of protesting against capitalism and a system they say is not representing them.
Slide show: Madrid protests on eve of elections.
Directly in front of it, the turtle-shaped dome that covers the Sol train station is plastered with banners that read “Spain is not a business, we are not slaves,” and “Now is the time, young people, do not stop.”
And stopping they are not.
Protests have swelled each evening from a clutch of 200 mostly young people who have been camping out into the tens of thousands. The protests have spread beyond Madrid to other cities and reportedly to Italy as well.
Complaints about austerity measures taken to keep Spain from a forced financial bailout are on visible display in Madrid.
Jorge Herrero, 34, has been coming to join the protests each evening after his job as a security worker. He said the government for years has been stripping away workers’ rights, with pensions frozen and labor rights diminished.
“We are 5 million unemployed here in Spain,” said Herrero. “A colleague of mine was fired five months ago just for being sick.”
THE REVOLUTION HAS STARTED – SPAIN
PUT THIS INTO YOUR BROWSER (LIVE SPANISH TV)
http://ustream.tv/channel/motionlook
(Cliquez sur le lien en haut)My thanks to eloyente for this snippet of spanish TV videotaped earlier today 21st MAY 2011
Je remerci eloyente a youtube pour la mourceau de video de TV espagnol et aussi a amosLee a Ustream pour la rapportage de mis a jour et actuelle.
Also amosLee at Ustream for the continued TV coverage
Watch The Revolution Live
Media Coverage Of The Spanish Revolution
Time Magazine writes:
Protests: Has the Revolution Come to Spain?
Protesters gather at the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid on May 19, 2011, to speak out against Spain’s economic crisis and its sky-high jobless rate – Pedro Armestre / AFP / Getty
Two political earthquakes have shaken Spanish life in the past week. First were the massive sit-ins that had tens of thousands of citizens camping out in the public squares of major cities in protest of the country’s capsized economy and unresponsive political class. The second came Sunday night, May 22, when voters in regional and municipal elections delivered a sound drubbing to the governing Socialist Party (PSOE). Now, in Monday’s harsh light, no one seems sure whether the first phenomenon had anything to do with the second. And everyone is wondering what both mean for the future of Spain.
Since May 15, tens of thousands of Spaniards have taken over squares in 60 cities, clamoring for political, economic and social reform. As articulated by the group Real Democracy Now, which helped organize the protests, unemployment (21.3% among the general population; a shocking 40% among youth) is high on the list of complaints. But so too are political corruption (more than 100 candidates in Sunday’s elections are currently under judicial investigation), social-welfare cuts and a general sense that elected officials in both of the two main political parties aren’t listening to them. “This isn’t solely about unemployment or the upcoming election,” says Raúl, 29, who works for a marketing agency when he isn’t volunteering in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. “We’re after a more responsible society.”
The protests, whose success has taken even organizers by surprise, have transformed the public squares of Madrid, Barcelona and other cities into models of the participatory democracies their members would like to create, reminding some observers of the huge examples of civil disobedience in Egypt and Tunisia. Amid a festive air of concerts and impromptu theatrical performances, volunteers have organized themselves into committees to provide food to protesters, organize cleanups, set up an open-air reading room complete with a comfortable sofa and a battered copy of Franz Kafka’s The Trial and even plant an organic vegetable garden. Meanwhile, daily meetings of individual commissions (electoral policy, environmental protection, women’s rights) and a general assembly have helped the spontaneously formed movement elucidate its concerns and propose solutions.
So popular have the protests become that on May 19, when Spain’s electoral commission ruled the gatherings illegal because they would break the ban on political activities the day before elections, participation grew only stronger, even incorporating foreign cities like London, Mexico City and New York. “It’s incredible how fast this is spreading,” said protester Yanira Castro, a 30-year-old musician, as she prepared signs for a rally in Madrid. “On Monday I wasn’t sure about what it meant, but once I came down here, I knew I had to pitch in.”
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Source: Time Magazine
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