anti-austerity movement in spain Anti-Austerity-Movement-in-Spain | Page 2

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that shows links or allows irregular downloading of copy-
righted content, without judicial supervision, even when
the courts had repeatedly declared the legality of linking
to these contents. Users on Spanish forums and social
networks have criticized the law, which PSOE, PP and
Convergence and Union approved. An anonymous cam-
paign, #nolesvotes, appeared online, calling on citizens to
vote against any of the parties that passed the law. [22]
Prior to 15 May, other demonstrations served as precur-
sors of the protests. These demonstrations include the
7 April demonstration in Madrid by the student group
Youth without Future (Spanish: Juventud Sin Futuro),
which gathered 5,000 people. Spanish media have linked
the demonstrations to the 2008–2009 protests against the
Bologna Process. [23] The Portuguese “Geração à Rasca”
movement was also an inspiration. [11]
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2011 EVENTS
3.1 May 2011
3.1.1 15 May
The first event was called under the motto "we are not
goods in the hands of politicians and bankers" and was
focused on opposition to what the demonstrators called
“antisocial means in the hands of bankers.” The motto re-
ferred partly 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 responsi-
ble for the crisis. At the same time, the government con-
tinued to announce social program cutbacks. Protesters
demanded spiritual philanthropy.
Organization
Main article: Plataforma ¡Democracia Real YA!
In January 2011, users on Spanish social networks and
forums created the digital platform ¡Democracia Real
YA! [24] Using Twitter and Facebook, it called “the un-
employed, poorly paid, the subcontractors, the precari-
ous, 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, Cartagena, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Córdoba,
Cuenca, Ferrol, Figueres, Fuengirola, Gijón, 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 Se-
bastián, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Santiago
de Compostela, Seville, Soria, Tarragona, Toledo,
Torrevieja, Ubrique, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Vitoria
and Zaragoza. [25] That same day, small demonstrations
in support of the Spanish ones were organised in Dublin,
Lisbon, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Bologna, London and
Paris.
Demonstration in Madrid
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. [27] The march started in Plaza de Cibeles and
ended in Puerta del Sol, where several manifestos were
read. Also according to the organizers, 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 attended. These protests
took place mostly without incident, except for an ex-
change of insults between some protesters and members
of the Fraternity of the Virgin of Rosario, whose proces-
sion overlapped with the end of the protest after the latter
continued longer than expected. In Santiago de Com-
postela, a group of eight hooded people smashed sev-
eral banks and local businesses. [28][29][30] It is estimated
that about 130,000 people throughout Spain followed the
Before the demonstrations, ¡Democracia Real YA! staged protesters that day. [31]
several symbolic events, such as the occupation of a bank
At the end of Madrid’s demonstration, protesters blocked
in Murcia on 13 May. [26] At the time of the demonstra-
the Gran Vía avenue and staged a peaceful sit-in in Callao
tions, the website from ¡Democracia Real YA! had the
street, to which police responded by beating protesters
support of over 500 diverse associations, while contin-
with truncheons. As a result of the clashes and the follow-
uing to reject collaboration with any political party or
ing riots, several shop windows were destroyed and trash
labour union, defending the protests’ independence from
containers burned. Police offers arrested 24 people, and
all institutionalized political ideology.
five police officers were injured. [32] On 17 May, ¡Democ-
racia Real YA! condemned the “brutal police repression”
and rejected any association with the incidents. [33] Af-
ter the incidents, a group of 100 people headed to Puerta
3 2011 events
del Sol and started camping in the middle of the square,