#indignados: the fight continues

Local and regional elections were held yesterday in Spain. Right-wing People’s Party swiped out the socialists everywhere. One of the claims of the protests, not to vote any of the two major parties, was clearly not assembled.

Two clear conclusions can be agreed:

• Although it’s open to everyone, 15M is a purely left-wing movement. Conservatives have not joined in. Indeed, many right-wing media have criticised and manipulated information regarding the camps and the movement.
• From now on, political fight is not going to be held inside parliaments and councils. They will now need to face directly the people, organised through social media and internet.

After a slight feeling of defeat, the conscience that our fight was now more important than ever overtook us. Camps, that were to be held originally only until yesterday, decided to remain until a consensus on demands was reached and a solid organisation was running, with the idea to spread the protests to every district in Spain and every city in Europe.

Europe needs to awake. We cannot be dominated anymore by the markets. We have made a stand, and now it’s on us to go beyond the pure dissatisfaction.

People of Europe, rise up!

Critican hoy lo que defenderán mañana

Éstos que ahora claman contra el 15M por ser «antidemocrático» son los mismos que impidieron que la democracia llegara a España hasta 1931, los que la caparon en 1936 y los que volvieron a atrasarla hasta 1975.

Ahora intentamos dar un paso adelante, y lo vuelven a coartar. Cuando dentro de 50 ó 200 años este paso haya cuajado ellos lo enviciarán, lo desvirtuarán y lo usarán de bastión frente a un nuevo movimiento regenerador.

#indignados: People have the power

The size of protests have been growing incredibly during this week. From the 50-some campers on Monday night, when they were cleared out by the police, to the 5000+ of Thursday evening (only in Sol).

But yesterday night (Friday 20th May) the response was amazing. Elections are held tomorrow (Sunday 22nd), and the movement have overshadowed all political propaganda during this week. The only news of politicians were on their opinion on the protests. So the «Commission for Elections» forbid all protests on Saturday on the grounds that «asking for responsible vote may alter the voting decision». Remember that in Spain the day before elections no political propaganda can be held.

But this has only made anger rise. More than 25,000 people gathered in Sol yesterday night defying the ban, adding to a total of around 50,000 people throughout the country.

At midnight, when the ban started, in most cities and towns throughout Spain a minute of silence spread, waiting for the police to charge. It was followed a minute later by a tremendous shout of exaltation. We had won. Nothing can stop us now. People have the power.

[Click on image for more pictures]

The Spanish Revolution 2.0 is here

After last Sunday’s (15th May) demonstrations in more than 50 cities across Spain, people have started to take spontaneously the main squares of many cities on what is known as the «15M movement». The biggest concentration is in Puerta del Sol (Madrid’s Trafalgar Square) were police crashed with protesters at 5:00am last Monday… Only to make it grow bigger! Tuesday saw 3000+ of us (as estimated by the police, real figure probably higher) concentrating there, and yesterday we were even more. And that’s only in Madrid, concentrations elsewhere are growing by the hour.

The organisation is amazing. Now Sol has its own kitchen, water supply, press room, sickbay, nursery, art workshop, rubbish collection, space for debate, etc. People bring and share all sorts of supplies (food, medicines, materials to build stuff… ) with the volunteer-based organisation. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are given away at certain hours. Due to the high concentration of people, «roads» have been created with tape; outside them, resting areas are covered with cardboards. Alcohol is prohibited past a certain hour, as it’d be an excuse for the police to take on us… although I wonder how they can crush such a crowd!

And this is only the beginning.

[Click on image for more pictures]