"There's No Solution Without a Revolution" (Barcelona, 15th May 2011)

"This square has been reclaimed for the people". This is what is written across half of Spain in various different ways to express the anger caused by policemen bashing peaceful protesters with truncheons on Friday 27th May when they didn't want to leave the Plaza Catalunya, the central square of Barcelona.

This poster, for instance, targets policemen not to attack them, because the Health service would not cope with the insurge of patients. To understand this you must read a little bit further on.

So what exactly is going on in Spain these days with the street protests and campsites in squares? Well, I have had a chance to see some of the protests first hand, and I can safely say that their main concern is unemployment and the political corruption and misruling of Spain. However, after the violent attacks of police against peaceful protesters on Friday 27th May, the flame has once more been reignited in both Madrid's Puerta del Sol, the central square and epicentre of the protests across Spain and across haf the world by Spaniards who live abroad. 

15-M stands for "Movimiento 15-M", otherwise known across Spain and beyond as "Democracia Real YA!" ("Real Democracy NOW!"), or as the Spanish Revolution on Twitter.

As I write this, I am referring specifically to events on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st May 2011, and it has now been over two weeks that peaceful protesters have been camped out here. On that Friday, armed policemen entered Plaza de Catalunya saying that the street cleaners needed to clean the square of potential hazardous material ahead of Saturday's Championship final (Manchester United vs Barcelona). In case of Barcelona winning, this would be immediately packed with thousands of people celebrating on the streets, and in case of losing it would probably end up with a few odd riot. 

The few hundred protesters sitting in the square let the lorries into the centre, but then surrounded it and sat on the floor because they were taking away all the posessions, including laptops, microphones for the regular assemblies and essential food supplies as well as camping tents and plastic sheets for roofing. What happened next stunned the world: the police approached the sitting protesters in a thick line and started to hit the people, many of them aiming at their heads specifically, whilst the protesters sat there with their arms covering their faces for protection. Such an image conveyed anger once more throughout Spain, and prompted a new wave of gathering across many squares in main cities, in Spain and as far afield as Washington and Tokyo. 

I would like to remember at this point that these are not oponions, but facts, so please do not accuse of anything which is not true!

One thing which I will now speak about is the organization of these gatherings. As you can see in the picture below, the crowds were more than large on the evening of Friday 20th, in support of the people who were beaten up by the police that morning. This is what is called a "cacerolada", when thousands of people congregate at a certain hour and spend a few minutes shaking any metal objects theymight have. Many bring saucepans and frying pans and start making a lot of noise, in a "silent" cry of indignation against what the officers did. if people didn't have saucepans or similar things, all they did was shake their house keys over their heads. This went on for several minutes, and ended with a very long cry of "Puig, dimision!" ("Puig, satdn down!")

As you can see from the pictures, there were many stores set up around the perimeter of the square, each one housing a particular group of people or a certain facility: a voting house, a kitchen, a portaloo area, a resting area, a proposals area, etc... This, being Spain, seems like the most organised anyone has ever been until now, especially as us Spaniards have a reputation for being late, laid back and generally quite lax about things. But what we were seeing here, and even more obviously at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, were mini republics being set up, places where each person knew where to go and how to act, and what to do and what not to do. In short, a reverse of what Spain seems like at the moment. 

The next morning I happened to cross the square once more, and stopped at various assemblies. These were being arranged to discuss issues like how long the camping would remain, or how to draw up a document for the authorities stating their wishes, or when to have a next big congregation and cacerolada. Again, this was not the Spain I knew: it was quite, civilised, patient and organised. There was a rota for who would speak at what time. When a speaker made a point supported by many people they would shake their hands over their heads instead of roaring in agreement and clapping, and if they disliked his/her point they would move their hand in a rotating manner, like a wheel. 

So why are people protesting and why at this time? Well, to answer the first question precisely would mean having to ask each individual, which would amount for a large list, but in short they want to curb the extraordinarily high level of unemployment in Spain, to shake up the political system, end corruption within political parties, to name but a few. 

Personally, I think such a movement has raised enough awareness in the press to give politicians much to worry about. It has also been good that the protesters, most of whom are younger that 35, should have finally raised their anger at Spain's current crisis. One thing that I don't understand is why most people out here seem to be almost like hippies. Although this movement never properly spread over to Spain because of General Franco's opporession, the people here should maybe start being entrepreneurs and start to shape their own ideas or businesses, rather than sit around all day not looking on the Internet for jobs. However, it is a very difficult situation, and had I been in their position I would have definitely protestes earlier or emigrated!