After last Sunday's elections, plazas and public spaces across Spain have continued to be occupied by tens of thousands of protesters. Now, about two weeks after the protests began, the police are finally starting to attack. These images are from the Plaça Catalunya, where riot cops were sent in to evict the occupation, striking with batons and firing blanks and rubber bullets, at about 7 am local time. El país reports that two people were arrested and 121 lightly injured, including 37 cops. Authorities justified the eviction, saying it was for "reasons of hygiene" (motivos de salubridad). After clearing the plaza, the police withdrew. Soon the protesters had returned and retaken the space.



(photo above via)

[Update 12:49 pm]: Retaking the plaza...

["I think, therefore I obstruct"]

Since May 15, massive mobilizations have taken place across Spain in the lead-up to regional and municipal elections scheduled for Sunday, May 22. In Madrid, the main plaza, called the Puerta del Sol, has been occupied by tens of thousands of protesters, holding general assemblies and even spending the night, in an action that is being compared to the protests in Egypt's Tahrir Square.


Protesters have specifically singled out the PP (Partido Popular, the more right-wing party) and the PSOE (the "socialists," which occupies the supposed center-left) for their fundamental agreement regarding the economic austerity measures and structural adjustment that are currently being imposed. The political classes have run the country into the ground -- currently, unemployment is 21 percent in general and a stunning 45 percent for people under 25. Some are calling for a complete boycott of the elections; while others are calling for a "voto nulo," that is, to vote with a "null" ballot that can't be counted; others call for blank ballots, in other words, that will be included in the final count (full explanation here, in Spanish). Because the protests are so large, spontaneous, and apparently horizontal, there aren't clear, overarching demands -- nothing is being filtered through major political parties or organizing structures. They want everything. (We've copied below the fold a list of some of the concrete demands that have come out of the popular assemblies held in the plaza in Madrid, to get an idea of their diversity. One of the key demands has to do with the Plan Bolonia, an austerity program that targets the public education system and re-structures it in the image of the U.S. Obviously, youth and students are playing a major role in the mobilization.)

Today, Spain's electoral committee officially declared the protests illegal, arguing that the right to vote outweighed the freedom of assembly. It remains to be seen whether the government will actually send in the riot police to evict the occupation in Madrid -- a deputy prime minister has now stated that it will not use force. However, at least 500 riot cops are currently stationed around the square. We'll try to keep the updates coming as the election approaches.




Check out more photos here, here, and here, and some of the demands below the fold.

[Update Saturday 12:07am]: An interesting take on the #spanishrevolution from an anarchist in Barcelona here.

(via)

"Austerity on fire"...

Since last Saturday, the old headquarters of the Banco Español de Crédito in Barcelona has been occupied by a group calling itself the "Movimiento 25 de Septiembre." They plan to continue the occupation until Wednesday, September 29, when a general strike will take place across Spain.

(video via)