Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

‘Madrid will be the tomb of neoliberalism’

Lucha | 22.05.2011 12:32 | World

An eye-witness report from la Puerta del Sol in the Spanish capital.

THERE is definitely the scent of revolution in the air in Spain at the moment.
While the regime is not expected to crumble any time this week, the astonishing nationwide mass protests calling for real democracy (in stark contrast to Sunday’s local elections contested by the usual suspects) do feel like a significant turning point.
The sheer numbers of people involved in the week-long occupation of la Puerta del Sol in Madrid, the spiritual heart of the Spanish state, is simply breathtaking.
It seemed busy enough when this visitor first arrived on the scene during the afternoon siesta period on Saturday May 21.
But by 8.30pm the huge square was so packed with people that it was almost impossible to move in many areas. There were so many others trying to get in from side streets that you wondered if it was going to be physically possible to get out again. It stayed like that well into the small hours of Sunday morning.
The protest encampment is officially illegal, but it would have been impossible for the authorities to break it up by anything other than armed force.
Of course, this is always a busy part of the city anyway, and the question did pop up as to whether a lot of those present were merely passing through or taking a curious look.
The answer came every time a chant broke out and accompanying clapping began, with a forest of hands encompassing all the many thousands present, right up to the fringes of the square and even beyond.
The next most impressive thing is the amount of views being expressed, and the articulacy with which this is happening.
Speeches and discussion groups are taking place all the time in the square, with everyone from teenagers to pensioners encouraged to grab the mike and tell it how it is, in front of a respectful audience.
But the written word is also very much in evidence, in every conceivable format, ranging from a four-storey high banner on a thoroughly redecorated construction site at one end of Sol (‘Abajo el regimen, viva la lucha del pueblo’– down with the regime, long live the people’s struggle), to hundreds of little scraps of paper sellotaped to the hoardings underneath, each bearing individual offerings to the collective Zeitgeist.
The sheets of words cover the large glass roof to the main exit from the Metro, they adorn buildings fronting the square, bus stops, tents – anywhere that there could be a poster, there is one. There are people wandering around desperately looking for a space for their own contribution.
The striking thing about many of these statements is how radical they are. Not in the posturing sloganized sense, but in the way they reveal a deep understanding of how badly we are being cheated, how deeply we are being lied to, how blatantly we are being robbed by the machineries of ruthless exploitation and destruction that hide behind the mask of so-called ‘democracy’.
‘No puede volver a dormir tranquilo aquel que alguna vez abrio los ojos’ says one small poster – once you’ve opened your eyes there’s no way you can go back to sleeping peacefully.
‘El sistema politico es un fraude, el sistema economica es un robo’ says another – the political system is fraud, the economic system is theft.
‘Banqueros + politicos = mafia legal’ says another, which doesn’t require any translation.
‘Si hay futuro, pero solo si luchamos por el’ – yes there is a future, but only if we fight for it.
‘Un pueblo organizado no vota, decide’ – an organized people doesn’t vote, it decides.
The Sol camp itself is certainly organised, with everything from solar panels and portable loos to free food and drink (non-alcoholic, though there are plenty of street vendors doing a roaring trade in cans of lager at a Euro each, despite the protest’s sober ethics).
Bands of volunteers go around picking up litter virtually the moment it lands anywhere on the ground across the square.
And the people, predominantly young, seem inwardly organised in their eagerness to express opinions and find out what others think.
Group discussions literally go on all night. At 2.30am there are people queueing up to read the little poster messages at the edge of the square. Some seem intent on going through each and every one. Others take photos so they can digest them properly later.
Middle aged couples, who you wouldn’t necessarily take for radical thinkers, stop and carefully scrutinise the words of dissent.
At the same time, there is a carnival atmosphere, aided and abetted by the warm Spanish nights that traditionally encourage nocturnal streetlife.
A samba band gets the midnight crowds dancing. Later still, another Latin American percussion group is joined by a man playing bagpipes (possibly Galician).
Others stand watching a subtitled American video projection on the pathology of modern civilization. The happy sound of guitars and human voices is everywhere.
Many of those involved, and those who have launched similar initiatives across Spain and well beyond, have mentioned the example of Tahrir Square in Egypt.
This was obviously an inspiration for the #spanishrevolution, but here the rebellion will not begin and end in this square.
Although there are no plans to move out yet, activists are already working on the next stage.
Displayed in the tarped-over centre of the occupation is an impressive list of barrios of Madrid where local people’s assemblies have been called for next Saturday, May 28, at noon.
This vibrant and determined pro-democracy movement means it for real.
‘Ha nacido en Sol un nuevo nosotros’ says a banner – a new ‘us’ has been born in Sol.
‘Madrid sera la tumba del neoliberalismo’ adds another – Madrid will be the tomb of neoliberalism.
And there’s even one in English for those of you at home – ‘People of Europe rise up!’

Lucha

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Live cam of La Puerta del Sol — lookit
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech