MOBILE PHONES AND POTS AND PANS.

 

A five minute walk from where I live in the centre of Madrid is Atocha station where two of the bombs exploded on Thursday. Last night one hundred meters from my front door three Moroccans were arrested for “involvement” in the crime; and from my kitchen window I can see the queue of those waiting to vote in today’s general election.(14th March.) I have just interviewed a fifty two year old resident called Shaaban, who once worked in journalism, insisting the attack was still carried out by ETA. This demonstrates how effective outgoing President Aznar and his Popular Party government’s manipulation of the news has been. The question on everyone’s lip is “Will the truth get out in time?” It did for one Grandmother I spoke to who refused to give her name. “I voted for the PP last time but I can’t vote for these thugs again who lead us into a war nobody wanted. They lied about the weapons in Iraq, and they’re lying again today. How dare they manipulate the dead? Many of my friends think the same.”

 

Yesterday there was growing fury as more dirty tricks by the Minister of Interior and Foreign Minister were exposed – all exacerbated by deep frustration than none of this was being covered by the main TV Stations, especially TV 1, Antena 3 and Tele-Madrid which are all pro Government. Even after a van was discovered with detonators and tape with Koranic verses Aznar phoned the editor of the biggest paper El Pais to say he still thought it was ETA´s doing while the PP´s new Presidential candidate Mr Rajoy said he had “the moral conviction” ETA were responsible. But tens of thousands of mobiles were on the go flashing messages between friends. Have you seen Bloomberg? Check article in New York Times. Check out Radio Ser – 95% of police investigating Al Quaida and on it went all day contradicting the Government line till I received a message  – “Meet outside PP party headquarters to demand the truth…..followed by a “cacerolada” (literally, protest by banging of pots and pans) at 10pm wherever you live………pass it on.”

 

By the time I arrived at the PP headquarters at 7 pm there were hundreds streaming from the metro and the road was already closed off. I met a woman Marisol who had been among the first to arrive. The police moved in and demanded identification papers but backed off as hundreds more arrived. Now there were around five thousand, and rising,  chanting “We want the truth before we vote”, “Our Dead – Your War” and then a continuous chant of “Liars…..Liars…..Liars” followed by “Don´t play with the Dead”. More mobiles flashing – there were demonstrations outside the PP offices in all the big cities and spirits rose.   

 

By the time I got home the neighbourhood of Lavapies was a cacophony of unbelievable noise and my two month old son was beginning to look overwhelmed. Balconies were full of protesting families. The square was a throng of clinking kitchen implements. Africans, Moroccans, Latin Americans, Spaniards, children and parents were banging their pots and pans. Some had soup spoons and one old man, arthritic fingers gripping an enormous ladle, pounded a plastic bin with all his might “ I want the truth!……Liars!” he spat, “God damn those liars!” Beside him a six foot African clanged a road sign with his umbrella as his friends held up a sign, “Senegal for Peace”. It was overpowering; grassroot fury at the manipulation suddenly given expression. Next, news filtered through more mobiles, and it was as many suspected – Al Quaida sympathisers had been arrested.  

 

Another spontaneous meeting was organised in Sol, the most famous square in Spain right at the heart of the city. At midnight thousands more arrived. More chants “Esto es el regalo del amigo Americano”. “This is a present from our American friend”. On TV a Government spokesperson condemned the spontaneous meetings and warned against participation. There was speculation whither the riot police would take a heavy hand as they did during the anti war demonstrations when peaceful marchers were battened and fired upon with rubber bullets which forced us to rush into bars and hotels for safety, or whither they would do anything to avoid more bad publicity. It was the later; still more arrived in the square as more and more inventive slogans proliferated. At 2 am the crowd decided as one to head for Atocha station by the scene of the massacre. Suddenly the mood changed. Hushing sounds swept though an enormous crowd from the Atocha roundabout to adjoining streets. Everyone sat down, held up their hands, and there was a stunning silence apart from the police helicopter above. Some cried, some cuddled, some prayed, and some were lost in private thoughts. After a perfectly observed two minute silence there was a spontaneous applause before they hung their banners and placed candles for the dead at the station wall. Some made reference to the innocent lives taken in Madrid and the ten thousand civilians killed in Baghdad. Some called for the end to terror – of every kind. Some referred to the “three wise monkeys” of Blair, Bush and Aznar and their infamous encounter in the Azores prior to the war, and some mentioned names of loved ones. “Sergio, I love you.” I laid mine – No more lies.  

 


 

(Written on Sunday afternoon, 14th of March.)