15-M Movement on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
The anti-austerity movement in Spain, also referred to as the 15-M Movement (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: ''Movimiento 15-M''), and the Indignados Movement,
was a series of protests, demonstrations, and
occupations
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
against
austerity policies in Spain that began around the
local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
and
regional elections of 2011 and 2012.
First starting on 15 May 2011, many of the subsequent demonstrations spread through various
social network
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for ...
s such as
Real Democracy NOW ( es, link=no, Democracia Real YA) and Youth Without a Future ( es, link=no, Juventud Sin Futuro).
Spanish media related the movement to the
2008–14 Spanish financial crisis, the
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
, as well as demonstrations in
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
and
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
.
The movement was also compared to
Stéphane Hessel's political manifesto ''
Time for Outrage!,''
which was seen to empower Spanish youth who were
not in school, training, or employment. Protestors rallied against high unemployment rates, welfare cuts, politicians, and the
two-party system
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually refe ...
in Spain, as well as the
political system,
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
,
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
s, and public corruption. Many called for basic rights, of home, work, culture, health and education.
The movement transferred to Europe the model of the protest camp which had been formed in the Arab Spring, adapting it to a more countercultural framework.
This would later expand until influencing the creation of Occupy Wall Street.
According to
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...
, the Spanish public broadcasting company, between 6.5 and 8 million Spaniards participated in these events.
Background
Since the
2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis
The 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis, also known as the Great Recession in Spain or the Great Spanish Depression, began in 2008 during the world financial crisis of 2007–08. In 2012, it made Spain a late participant in the European sovere ...
began, Spain has had one of the
highest unemployment rates in Europe, reaching a
eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro ( €) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU polici ...
record of 21.3%. The number of unemployed people in Spain stood at 4,910,200 at the end of March 2011, up about 214,000 from the previous quarter, while the youth unemployment rate stands at 43.5%, the highest in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
. In September 2010 the government approved a sweeping overhaul of the labour market designed to reduce unemployment and revive the economy. Large trade unions such as
CCOO and
Unión General de Trabajadores
The Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT, General Union of Workers) is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).
History
The UGT was founded 12 August 1888 by Pablo Iglesias Posse ...
(UGT), among other minor ones, rejected the plan because it made it easier and cheaper for employers to hire and fire workers. Trade unions called for the first general strike in a decade, on 29 September 2010.
![Manifestacio22gener](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Manifestacio22gener.jpg)
For the rest of the year, the government proceeded with economic reforms. In January 2011, the government reached an agreement with the main trade unions to increase the retirement age from 65 to 67.
Anarcho-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...
and other related unions rejected the plan and called for a strike on 27 January in
Galicia, Catalonia and the
Basque Country. Other demonstrations in Madrid ended up in altercations with the police. The majority of Spaniards also rejected the higher retirement age. In February a wide-sweeping internet copyright infringement policy known as the
Sinde law passed, adding another motivation for the protests.
The law allowed an administrative commission to shut down any website that showed links or allowed irregular downloading of copyrighted content without judicial supervision.
Users on Spanish forums and social networks criticized the law; the PSOE, PP and
Convergence and Union
Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...
affirmed these criticisms. An anonymous campaign with the
#nolesvotes appeared online, calling on citizens to vote against any of the parties that passed the law.
Prior to 15 May, other demonstrations served as precursors to the main protests in Madrid.
These demonstrations include the 7 April protest in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
by the student group Youth without Future (''Juventud Sin Futuro''), which gathered 5,000 people.
Spanish media drew comparisons between the demonstrations and the 2008-09 protests against the
Bologna Process. The
anti-austerity movement in Portugal
The 12th March Movement ( pt, Movimento 12 de Março) or the Geração à Rasca (, "struggling generation") protest took place in more than 10 cities of Portugal against the economic crisis and labour rights. They were the biggest events since t ...
also inspired the demonstrations undertaken in Spain.
According to Peter Gelderloos, the movement led to the creation of hundreds of police-free zones across the country, hospitals were occupied and saved from
privatisation,
neighbourhood assemblies sprang up, unused land and homes were occupied and
squatted
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
,
worker cooperative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by ...
s were founded and urban
community gardens
A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plo ...
were established.
Organization
In January 2011, users on Spanish
social media networks and forums created the digital platform ''¡Democracia Real YA!''
Using
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
, it called "the unemployed, poorly paid, the
subcontractor
A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract.
Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...
s, the
precarious, young people..." to take the streets on 15 May in the following places:
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
,
Albacete
Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete.
Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the ...
,
Algeciras
Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...
,
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
,
Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...
,
Arcos de la Frontera
Arcos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality in the Sierra de Cádiz comarca, province of Cádiz, in Andalusia, Spain. It is located on the northern, western and southern banks of the Guadalete river, which flows around three sides of the ...
,
Badajoz
Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
,
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...
,
Cáceres,
Cadiz,
Cartagena,
Castellón,
Ciudad Real,
Córdoba,
Cuenca,
Ferrol,
Figueres
Figueres (, ; , es, Figueras, ) is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museu ...
,
Fuengirola,
Gijón
Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...
,
Granada,
Guadalajara,
Huelva
Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...
,
Jaén,
Lanzarote,
La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
,
León,
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...
,
Lleida,
Logroño
Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...
,
Lugo,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
,
Málaga,
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
,
Mérida,
Monforte de Lemos
Monforte de Lemos is a city and municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo, Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km² and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2017 it had a population of 18,783.
Location
Monforte de Lemos i ...
,
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
,
Ourense,
Oviedo,
Palma,
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
,
Plasencia
Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047.
Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...
,
Ponferrada
Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only ''comarca'' recognized as a ...
,
Puertollano
Puertollano () is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha. The city has a population of 47,035 (2019). Contrasting to the largely rural character of the region, Puertollano stands out for the importance o ...
,
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
,
San Sebastián,
Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
Santander
Santander may refer to:
Places
* Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain
* Santander Department, a department of Colombia
* Santander State, former state of Colombia
* Santander de Quilichao, a m ...
,
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...
,
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
,
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...
,
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...
,
Toledo,
Torrevieja
Torrevieja (; ca-valencia, Torrevella ) is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in the southern part of the Valencian Community, on the southeastern Mediterranean coast of Spain.
Torrevieja ...
,
Ubrique
Ubrique is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. According to the 2005 census, it has a population of 17,362 inhabitants. It is the most important municipality in the Sierra de Cádiz. ...
,
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
,
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
,
Vigo
Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
,
Vitoria
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória (b ...
and
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
.
[¡Democracia Real Ya!; ]
Convocatorias
'', 15 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011. That same day, small demonstrations in support of the Spanish ones were organised in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
,
Lisbon,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
,
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
Before the demonstrations, ''¡Democracia Real YA!'' staged several symbolic events, such as the occupation of a bank in
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
on 13 May.
2011 events
May 2011
15 May
The first event was called under the motto "we are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers" and was focused on opposition to what the demonstrators called "antisocial means in the hands of bankers." The motto referred partly to the changes made in 2010 to contain the
ongoing European sovereign debt crisis through bailout of the banks, which the Spanish society saw as responsible for the crisis. At the same time, the government continued to announce social program cutbacks. Protesters demanded spiritual philanthropy.
![Democracia real YA Madrid](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Democracia_real_YA_Madrid.jpg)
According to ''¡Democracia Real YA!'', 50,000 people gathered in Madrid alone.
The
National Police National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries:
*Afghanistan: Afghan National Police
*Haiti: Haitian National Police
*Colombia: National Police of Colombia
*Cuba: Cuban National Police
*East Timor: National Police of ...
placed the number at 20,000. The march started in
Plaza de Cibeles and ended in
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...
, where several manifestos were read. Also according to the organizers, 15,000 gathered in the demonstration in Barcelona, which ended in front of the
Parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
. In other cities such as Granada, up to 5,000 protesters attended. These protests took place mostly without incident, except for an exchange of insults between some protesters and members of the Fraternity of the Virgin of Rosario, whose procession overlapped with the end of the protest after the latter continued longer than expected. In Santiago de Compostela, a group of eight hooded people smashed several banks and local businesses. It was estimated by ''Deconomia'' that about 130,000 people throughout Spain followed the protesters that day.
At the end of the demonstrations in Madrid, protesters blocked the
Gran Vía avenue and staged a peaceful sit-in in Callao street, to which police responded by beating protesters with
truncheons. As a result of the clashes and the following riots, several shop windows were destroyed and trash containers burned. Police officers arrested 24 people, and five police officers were injured. On 17 May, ''¡Democracia Real YA!'' condemned the "brutal police repression" and rejected any association with the incidents.
After the incidents, a group of 100 people headed to Puerta del Sol and started camping in the middle of the square, which would result in the following day's protests.
16 May
During the day, several people gathered in Puerta del Sol and decided to stay in the square until the elections on 22 May. Meanwhile, 200 people started a similar action in Barcelona's
Plaça Catalunya, although police initially attempted to disperse the crowds. That day the tag #spanishrevolution, as well as other ones related to the protests, became trending topics on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
[
]
17 May
In the early hours of 17 May, police cleared the Puerta del Sol square and removed the 150 people who had camped out. Two protesters were arrested and one injured. In response to the eviction and police violence, protesters (independent of the ''¡Democracia Real YA!'' organization) used SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
, Facebook and Twitter to call for a mass response at 8 p.m. in several Spanish squares.[ Large groups of demonstrators returned to protest in various cities, standing apart from the group in Madrid. The police allowed protesters to camp out in a few cities, like ]A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
, where more than 1,000 people gathered.["Varias acampadas reavivan las movilizaciones de «indignados» en Galicia", 17 May 2011.]
''La Voz de Galicia
''La Voz de Galicia'' ( en, The Voice of Galicia) is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. ''La Voz'' is highest circulation newspaper in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation general-interest daily newspaper ...
''. Retrieved 17 May 1011. In Madrid more than 12,000 people gathered and about 200 protesters organized into an assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
, during which they decided to organize themselves for spending the night in the square, creating cleaning, communication, extension, materials and legal committees. Previously, small businesses had provided a great deal of assistance with supplies, including food.["Miles de 'indignados' vuelven a tomar la Puerta del Sol", 17 May 2011]
''El Diario Montañés''. Retrieved 17 May 1011.[Pérez-Lanzac, Carmen ]
'' El País''. Retrieved 17 May 1011. Dozens of people also gathered in front of the courthouse in Madrid, where the people arrested during the 15 May demonstration were being held. All detainees were released.[
Protests and nighttime camp-outs took place in 30 cities around Spain, including Barcelona and Valencia.][El Mundo; ]
Acampadas en cadena hasta el próximo 22-M
' The protests gained the support of some people in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, who announced that they would sit outside of the Spanish embassy from 18 to 22 May. The protest in Plaza del Sol on the night of 17 May consisted of about 4,000 people, according to the authorities. As evening fell, the protesters put up a large tarp canopy beneath which they passed out signs with the intention of spending the night.[ Three hundred of them stayed until the dawn of 18 May.][Muñoz Lara, Aurora, de El País; ]
El movimiento 15-M abarrota Sol
' The camp can be considered a form of prefigurative politics and can be understood as a small symbolic city within the city.
18 May
According to '' El País'', many protesters wore carnation
''Dianthus caryophyllus'' (), commonly known as the carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus''. It is likely native to the Mediterranean region but its exact range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years.Med ...
s, imitating protesters during the Portuguese Carnation Revolution. In addition, protesters organized a food stand, which provided food donated by local businesses, and set up a webcam
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral ...
to provide news from Puerta del Sol through the website '' Ustream.tv''. The protesters were advised not to drink alcohol or to organize into groups of more than 20 people, as these acts could provoke a legal police crackdown.
The police ordered protesters to disperse in Valencia, Tenerife and Las Palmas. During the evacuation of the Plaza del Carmen in Granada, three people were arrested. Speeches continued throughout the afternoon. The protests grew to include León, Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
(where a campout started as of 19 May), and other provincial capitals and cities in Spain. Protesters created support groups for each campout on Twitter and other national and international networks. Google Docs and other servers began to receive download requests for documents needed to legally request permission for new protests. In the morning, the ''Federación de Asociaciones de Vecinos de Barcelona'' (FAVB) announced its support of the protests in Barcelona. Protesters agreed to hold meetings between their organizing committees each day at 1 p.m. and assemblies at 8 p.m.
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' covered the protests on 15 May; on 18 May, more media outlets began to publish news reports. Among them was ''Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', the most widely circulated newspaper written in French, with an article that noted the rarity of such large-scale protests in Spain. The German newspaper '' Der Spiegel'' noted the importance of the effects of what has been called " The Facebook Generation" on the protests. The Portuguese paper '' Jornal de Notícias'' reported on the protests in Madrid as soon as it was known that they had been prohibited. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' cited ''El País'' and noted the strong organization of the protesters, particularly the 200 people who had been placed in charge of security, and the use of Twitter to ensure dissemination of their message.[''The New York Times'' (en inglés); ]
Protesters Rally in Madrid Despite Ban
', 18 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011. ''The Washington Post'' again reported on the protests in Puerta del Sol, giving them the name of a "revolution," estimating that 10,000 people attended Wednesday afternoon's protest, and comparing the protests with those in Cairo's Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cai ...
, which had recently ousted Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian president Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
. The BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
made reference to the peaceful nature of the protests in Puerta del Sol.
In the evening, the President of the Regional Electoral Committee of Madrid issued a statement declaring the protests illegal because "calls for a responsible vote can change the results of the elections." Police units stationed at Plaza del Sol, however, received orders from the
Government Delegation not to take out any further action.
20 May
According to Britain's ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', "tens of thousands" had camped out in Madrid and throughout the country on the night of 19–20 May.
At 10:00 AM
United Left appealed the Electoral Board's decision to ban the protests before Spain's Supreme Court. Hours later, the State Prosecution presented its arguments to the court.
= Appeal before the Supreme Court
=
Spain's public broadcaster,
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...
, reported that the State Prosecutor upheld the decision taken by the Central Electoral Board to ban the rallies. Meanwhile, the police announced that they had been given instructions not to dissolve the crowd at Puerta del Sol provided that there was no disturbance of the peace.
= Appeal before the Tribunal Constitucional
=
RTVE later reported that the country's Constitutional Court had been deliberating since 7:30 p.m. whether to review an appeal against the decision of the Central Electoral Board. At 10:08 p.m., RTVE reported that the Constitutional Court had rejected the appeal on the formality that the appellant had not appealed first to the Supreme Court.
At 10:47 p.m. United Left announced it would appeal the Supreme Court's decision before the Tribunal Constitucional. They had until midnight.
At around 11:00 p.m., some 16,000 (according to the police) to 19,000 (according to
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...
) people were gathered at and around Puerta del Sol.
21 May
In Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and other cities, 21 May started with a "mute scream" followed by cheers and applause.
Smaller cities, such as Granada, decided to start before midnight to avoid disturbing the neighbors.
These protests occurred even though protests on the day before elections are banned.
Around 28,000 people (according to the police) crowded Puerta del Sol and the neighboring streets despite the prohibition. Other cities also gathered large numbers of people: 15,000 in Malaga, 10,000 in Valencia, 8,000 in Barcelona, 6,000 in Zaragoza, 4,000 in Seville, 3,000 in Bilbao, 3,000 in Palma, 2,000 in Gijón, 2,000 in Oviedo, 1,500 in Granada, 1,000 in Vigo, 800 in Almeria, around 800 in Avilés, 600 in Cadiz, 200 in Huelva, and around 100 in Jaen.
Demonstrations also occurred in other European cities, with 300 protesters participating in London, 500 in Amsterdam,
600 in Brussels and 200 in Lisbon. Minor demonstrations occurred in Athens, Milan, Budapest, Tangiers, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Rome.
22 May
Just after 2:00 p.m. on election day, the ''indignados'' (outraged) that had gathered at Puerta del Sol announced that they had voted to stay at least another week, until noon on 29 May. Early analysis of the
local
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
* Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
and
regional elections, won by the
People's Party, suggested the protest movement could have contributed to losses for the ruling
PSOE
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
, and to increased numbers of spoilt or blank votes, which reached record levels.
24 May
In
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
about 80 people gained access to the headquarters of the television channel
7 Región de Murcia, avoiding security staff, in order to read a manifesto denouncing
media manipulation. Approximately 30 people gained unobstructed entry to the
Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...
office of the
Ministry of Economy and Finance and shouted slogans against the political and economic systems, before moving to several financial sites in the city centre to do the same.
25 May
In
Málaga, the
Ministry of Defence decided to relocate various activities for
Armed Forces Day
Many nations around the world observe some kind of Armed Forces Day to honor their military forces. This day is not to be confused with Veterans Day or Memorial Day.
Africa
Egypt
In Egypt, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on 6 October, ...
, including the King's visit, planned for Friday 27. Protesters had already been occupying the Plaza de la Constitución, where the events were scheduled to take place, for eight days.
27 May
At approximately 7 a.m. on 27 May, another incident occurred when the city council of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
decided to send 350 police officers from the
Mossos d'Esquadra
The ''Mossos d'Esquadra'' (; en, Squad), also known as the ''Policia de la Generalitat de Catalunya'' and informally as ''Mossos'', is the autonomous police force responsible for law enforcement in Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia.
...
and roughly 100 more from the
Guàrdia Urbana to temporarily vacate
Plaça de Catalunya so that it could be cleaned ahead of the
Champions League final
The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...
on 28 May, in which
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Found ...
were playing against Manchester United.
The resulting violent clash ended in 121 light injuries and provoked new calls to protest in all squares still occupied across Spain.
[The Washington Post; ]
Scores injured as Spanish police clash with protesters in makeshift camp
', 27 May 2011 (accessed the same day). The majority of those injured suffered bruises and open wounds caused by police officers' truncheons; one protester left with a broken arm.
The protesters who had been vacated returned to the square by early afternoon.
Similar incidents also occurred in
Lleida and
Sabadell, where Mossos d'Esquadra officers dismantled the protesters' encampments.
According to police figures, more than 12,000 people gathered in Barcelona through the course of the day, angry about the earlier actions of the police and painting their hands white and carrying flowers as symbols of protest. They demanded, among other things, the resignation of the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra,
Felip Puig. They also claimed that, following the incident, the encampment likely would not be taken down on Sunday, 29 May, as had previously been stated.
The clearing of the Barcelona camp was broadcast live by two Spanish television channels, including
Antena 3, and was also widely dispersed through social networks such as Twitter.
The
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
ombudsman opened an investigation into the incident to check if police action was disproportionate and violated citizens' rights.
June 2011
2 June
At least 40 people gathered in
Montcada i Reixac
Montcada i Reixac (In Spanish Moncada y Reixach ) (), often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Ripoll river and the Besós ...
, Barcelona. They prevented court officials from serving a family with the order to leave their home immediately and protested against banks repossessing people's homes.
4 June
Representatives from 53 assemblies around Spain gathered in a mass assembly in Puerta del Sol.
8 June
In Madrid, hundreds of people gathered in front of the
Congreso de los Diputados
The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
It has 350 members elect ...
, with a police barrier preventing them from entering the building. Demonstrations in front of the Parliament are banned in Madrid, but the protest finished without incident. In Valencia, dozens of people decided to stay in front of the regional Parliament. In Barcelona, around 50 people protested outside the Catalan Parliament against Felip Puig.
9 June
In the morning, police clashed with protesters in
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
, injuring 18. As a response to the police violence, demonstrators called for a protest in the city later that day, which gathered around 2,000 people. Support demonstrations were held in Barcelona and Madrid, the latter ending up in front of the Parliament for a second night. Barcelona's protest finished in front of the Popular Party's office.
11 June
Thousands of ''indignados'' from the whole country concentrated at the gates of major city halls during the mayors' swearing-ins after the elections. Protesters broke in on the act in
Granada, while two activists were arrested in
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...
and three in
Palma. In
Castellón, the police dissolved the demonstration violently.
12 June
On Sunday, 12 June, four weeks after the protests had begun, protesters in the
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...
in Madrid began to leave, dismantling the camp site; packing up tents, libraries, and shops; and removing protest signs from surrounding sites.
14 June
Thousands of people assembled in front of Barcelona's
Parc de la Ciutadella
The (; "Citadel Park") is a park on the northeastern edge of Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. For decades following its creation in the mid-19th century, this park was the city's only green space. The grounds include the city zoo (o ...
and organized themselves to spend the night, in order to start a blockade of the
Catalan Parliament
The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
(which is inside the park) on the following day and prevent deputies from entering the building, where the debate on the 2011 budget, which would result in cuts in education and health, was to take place.
15 June
![Parlamentcamp barcelona](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Parlamentcamp_barcelona.jpg)
Clashes between protesters and Mossos d'Esquadra occurred in the early hours of the morning when hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the police cordon, while officers fired plastic bullets in order to disperse a group of protesters who had set up barricades using rubbish containers. Hours later, scuffles broke out as Mossos de Esquadra pushed protesters back so the deputies who arrived on foot could pass through. Some deputies, such as former Minister of Labour
Celestino Corbacho
Celestino Corbacho Chaves ( Valverde de Leganés, Badajoz, 14 November 1949) is a Spanish politician, who was Member of Catalan Parliament and Minister of Labour and Immigrations in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero cabinet between 2008 and 2010.
H ...
, were jostled, heckled and sprayed on their way in, while others used police helicopters to get to the parliament, including the president of Catalonia,
Artur Mas
Artur Mas i Gavarró (; born 31 January 1956) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. He was president of the Government of Catalonia from 2010 to 2015 and acting president from September 2015 to 12 January 2016.
Mas is a long time member of ...
. Although lawmakers managed to enter the Catalan Parliament, the scheduled session started with a 15-minute delay.
The protest was criticized by politicians across the country. During a press conference, Mas warned of a possible "legitimate use of force" in case demonstrators stayed outside the Parliament, and he called on the public to be understanding. Some politicians went so far as to denounce an attempted "coup d'etat." Acampadabcn, the organiser of the event, and ''¡Democracia Real YA!'' rejected the use of violence but denounced the criminalization of the movement by the media. On Twitter and other social networks, many users suggested the possibility that secret police, infiltrated to cause the violence, started most of the clashes.
19 June
![Inicio de la manifestación en la Plaza de la Corredera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Inicio_de_la_manifestaci%C3%B3n_en_la_Plaza_de_la_Corredera.jpg)
A massive demonstration was carried out in almost 80 Spanish cities and towns. It is believed that more than three million people rallied that day.
20–25 June
The first columns of the Indignant People's March began walking towards Madrid from throughout the country, planning to arrive in the capital on 23 July. The March's goal was to expand the proposals of the Movement while visiting rural areas, collecting their demands, and starting people's assemblies.
The March was organized in eight columns, consisting of dozens of activists from 16 cities:
* Eastern route: from
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
, 20 June
* Murcia route: from
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
, 20 June
* Northern route: from
Santander
Santander may refer to:
Places
* Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain
* Santander Department, a department of Colombia
* Santander State, former state of Colombia
* Santander de Quilichao, a m ...
,
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
and
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, 23 and 29 June
* Northwest route: from
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...
,
Vigo
Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
,
Ferrol,
Avilés and
Gijón
Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...
, between 24 and 30 June
* Southern route: from
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
, 24 June
* Southeastern route: from
Málaga and
Motril
Motril () is a town and municipality on the Mediterranean coast in the Granada, Spain. It is the second largest town in the province, with a population of 60,368 as of 2016. The town is located near the Guadalfeo River and is from Granada.
Hi ...
, 25 June
* Northeastern route: from
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, 25 June
* N-II route: from
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...
, 7 July
July 2011
1 July
Dozens of people protested outside Barcelona's town hall during the swearing-in ceremony of Spanish
Convergence and Union
Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...
's candidate
Xavier Trias
Xavier Trias i Vidal de Llobatera (; born in Barcelona on 5 August 1946) is a Spanish politician, member of the Catalan European Democratic Party and was Mayor of Barcelona from July 2011 to June 2015. Among other responsibilities to the Governm ...
.
23 July
![013 15M Sabado 23](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/013_15M_Sabado_23.JPG)
After a month-long walk, the columns of the Indignant People's March joined in Puerta del Sol, where the movement first emerged. Thousands collapsed the main entrances of Madrid in an improvised demonstration, as sympathizers from Madrid and all over Spain joined the walkers.
The eight columns reunited at 9 p.m. in Puerta del Sol under a banner saying "WELCOME DIGNITY," received with cheers and applause. The march culminated in a wrap up and after-action review assembly, at which participants shared the social, political and economic problems of the towns visited along the way, as well as the proposals made by the townspeople. The protesters created The Book of the People to collect these experiences and redacted it into an official document to be deposited in the
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
It has 350 members elect ...
' register. A provisional camp was established in
Paseo del Prado
The Paseo del Prado is one of the main boulevards in Madrid, Spain. It runs north–south between the Plaza de Cibeles and the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V (also known as Plaza de Atocha), with the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo (the locati ...
to host the thousands of newly arrived walkers.
24 July
During the day's rally, protesters sprayed red hand graffiti on buildings and posted bills saying "GUILTY" on bank offices and ministries, referencing the widely held belief that the crisis was caused by banks, the Government, and cuts in social services. Due to the large crowds, the demonstration split into two columns to avoid congestion. The demonstration ended with a protest camp in front of the
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
It has 350 members elect ...
.
25 July
The "I Foro Social del 15M" was held in order to coordinate the mobilizations of the following winter. During the economics assembly, 2001
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
winner
Joseph Stiglitz appeared to show his support to the movement. The camp in front of the Congress continued.
26 July
Fifty ''indignados'' left
Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...
walking in an International March to Brussels planning to arrive on 8 October, a week before the demonstrations of
15 October
Events Pre-1600
*1066 – Following the death of Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, Edgar the Ætheling is proclaimed King of England by the Witan; he is never crowned, and concedes power to William the Conqueror two months later.
*1211 ...
, in order to give the people's proposals to the European Parliapoment.
27 July
Police violently removed the camp in Paseo del Prado, injuring a dozen people. As a response, 500 demonstrators rallied towards the Congress. Meanwhile, several activists crossed the police line in the Congress wearing formal dresses and succeeded entering the
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
It has 350 members elect ...
, where the Book of the People, containing the rural problematics found during the Indignant People's March, was delivered. Deputy
Gaspar Llamazares
Gaspar Llamazares Trigo (; born 28 November 1957) is a Spanish politician. He was the leader of the leftist coalition Izquierda Unida (IU, ''United Left'') from 2001 to 2008, in the post of General Coordinator.
Early years and career
Llamaza ...
compromised on presenting it to the Congress and forwarded it to the Prime Minister. However, he made clear that he had no connection to the Movement.
August 2011
2 August
When the assembly decided on 12 June to dismantle the
tent city
A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures.
State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...
in Puerta del Sol, it also decided by
consensus to leave behind an information booth, called PuntoSol, where people interested in the movement could find information about how it had been
decentralized
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.
Conce ...
to the neighborhood assemblies. An
organic garden
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to organic gardening and farming:
Organic farming – alternative agricultural system that relies on fertilizers of organic origin such as compost, manure, green manure, ...
surrounding one of the fountains in Sol was also left behind in the square. At 6:30 a.m. on 2 August, the
national
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
and
municipal police
Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...
evicted the remaining protesters at the information booth, and cleaning crews dismantled PuntoSol and the organic garden. At the same time, they evicted the tent city that had sprung up on the Paseo del Prado. The police then blocked off all access to Sol, including
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
and
Cercanías
The commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas are called ''Cercanías'' () in most of Spain, ''Rodalia'' () in the Valencian Community, ''Aldiriak'' () in the Basque Country and ''Rodalies'' () in Catalonia. There are twelve ''Ce ...
, and filled the square with over 300 police, including riot police, and 50 police vans.
In response, protesters called an immediate convergence to try to access the square. The heavy police presence impeded their entry. The protestors, then numbering over 5,000,
decided to turn to the streets, demonstrating from Callao,
Gran Vía,
Cibeles, and Paseo del Prado, all the way to the Congress of Deputies building, where they were met by more riot police, police barricades and police vans. Protesters then turned to
Atocha and once more to Sol, where they again encountered an overwhelming police presence. The decision was then made by the protesters to occupy
Plaza Mayor, where an emergency
participatory
Citizen Participation or Public Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participato ...
assembly was held in order to decide what to do. Ultimately, protesters set up a temporary information booth in Plaza Mayor, and some stayed to camp through the night. At the end of the night, two people were arrested, and released the day after.
3 August
During the Plaza Mayor assembly, protesters decided to hold another assembly at Jacinto Benavente on the next day at 6 p.m. in order to attempt entering the square again. Police then cordoned off the square, and metro and train stations closed, while police asked for identification from anyone trying to pass into the square. Police also asked customers from shops around Sol to close their businesses several hours earlier than usual. As the attempt to enter the square failed, the protesters decided to start a new march from Atocha two hours later. The march from Atocha grew larger as people began passing through Cibeles and up the Gran Vía heading toward Puerta del Sol, where officers and police vans prevented the demonstrators from marching up San Jerónimo street.
Police and about 4,000 demonstrators then played a game of cat-and-mouse as the demonstrators tried to enter Puerta del Sol through different streets. There were several moments of tension at different points and by 11 p.m., the groups of demonstrators disbanded and retreated to Callao Square, where they held an assembly and decided to hold a demonstration at 12 p.m. on the following day and attempt to enter Sol once again at 8 p.m.
[
]
4 August
Police charged against protesters in front of the Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
in Madrid.
October 2011
15 October
As part of the October 15 movement, (related to the Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
), hundreds of thousands marched in Madrid and other cities.
A half million people took part in the demonstration that filled the street and marched from Alcala and Cibeles toward Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, home of the "Indignants" movement. Another 450,000 people participated in Barcelona. In both cities, thousands remained and participated in the activities and general assembly.
December 2011
5 December
Two hundred police officers cleared a hotel in Madrid that had been occupied since 15 October. No injuries were reported. Later that day, 3,000 people marched against the eviction in the center of Madrid.
28 December
Around 3,000 protesters marched in the center of Madrid in what was called the "Cabalgata de los Indignados" (''Outraged Cavalcade''). At the beginning of the protest, demonstrators clashed with police, leaving five injured, including two police officers. Two people were arrested. After the initial scuffles with police officers, demonstrators made their way to Puerta del Sol without further incident.
2012 events
May
In May, the protesters celebrated the first anniversary of the "Indignants" protest movement with thousands of people gathering in several Spanish cities at the same time. As part of a global day of action, similar protests occurred simultaneously in other cities including London, Lisbon, Frankfurt and Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
. In Spain, at least 100,000 were estimated to have marched against the austerity measures.
Asturian miners' strike
In late May, a physical altercation between protestors and the police, involving more than 8,000 coal miners, involved demonstrations on a march to the federal capital, Madrid. The demonstrators concerns stemmed from a diminishing coal industry in Spain. Between 1990 and 2015 coal extraction in Spain dropped by 76.5 percent and the number of workers employed in the industry declined by 85.7 percent. On 15 June, clashes were reported by the Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
to have resulted in seven injuries, two of them serious, comprising four police officers and three journalists.
August
Marinaleda
Marinaleda is a Spanish municipality of the province of Seville that belongs to the region of Sierra Sur, located in the basin of Genil, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It has an area of and a population of 2,778 inhabitants accordi ...
Mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo led protests started by labor union SAT (''Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores'', "Andalusian Union of Workers") to get the federal government, led by Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
, to end austerity measures that involved budget cuts and layoffs of public sector workers. The labor unions stole food from several supermarkets to feed jobless people and to ignite controversy, earning Gordillo the nickname of "Robin Hood." The goal of these actions was to stress that the attention was currently on the Spanish risk premium, debt and deficit instead of on the hunger of the middle and lower classes.
September
As of 25 September, an action to surround the Spanish Congress took place in Madrid. The protest became violent with armed police dispersing the crowd across the Plaza de Neptuno.
2014 events
On 31 January 2015, the protestors joined, in central Madrid, the Podemos political party, then an insurgent force within the movement. Podemos’ anti-corruption platform and its singularity in "threatening to bring an end to the wo-partypolitical system that has governed Spain since the death of general Francisco Franco in 1975" brought Podemos to the top of opinion polls last year in anticipation of "a year packed with municipal, regional, and general elections". The new party won 1.2 million votes and five seats in May's European elections.
In Spain, nearly 25% of people were unemployed and evictions had reached a rate of as high as 500 per day among a wide variety of other economic issues, leading to a number of generally peaceful protests seeking change in the way the government handles them. In addition to forming the foundation of Podemos, these protests have elicited multiple attempts by the government to silence them culminating in what many see as "something out of the generalissimo's handbook".[Belen Fernandez]
“Outlawing public opinion in Spain.”
/ref> The measures the law takes to silence the voices of the Spanish people are devastating, including steep fines or jail time for disrespecting police officers (€600), taking and sharing images of state security forces that might endanger them or their operations" (€30,000), protesting in front of government buildings, protesting at a time or location not approved by the police (€600,000), or even using a hashtag in a tweet publicizing an event that breaks the rules in any way. Internet activity alone can result in up to five years behind bars. The law also extends to even more restrictive and vague measures, such as "playing games or sports in public spaces that are not designed for such activity" (€1,000),[Belen Fernandez]
/ref> "projecting 'luminous devices' (e.g. lasers) in the vicinity of public transport in a way that 'might cause accidents'” (€600,000), insulting the state or "participating in the disruption of citizens' security while using hoods, helmets, or any other article of clothing or object that covers the face, rendering identification difficult or impossible" (€30,000), and "failure to cooperate with law enforcement during crime investigations or in the prevention of acts that might put citizens' security at risk" (€30,000). Acts of terrorism under the act include clauses as loosely defined as "the commission of any serious crime against...liberty".
According to Spain's interior minister, Jorge Fernández Diaz, "It's a law for the 21st Century. It provides better guarantees for people's security and more judicial security for people's rights". What is allegedly an act against terrorism "to guarantee a freer and more peaceful coexistence for all Spaniards...eradicating violence", ironically quite seriously threatens this ideal by making police and federal security personnel (who are often responsible for committing this type of violence) significantly less accountable, while expanding the role of private security forces "lacking both proper training and the proper level of public accountability" (assuming that normal police forces do indeed possess these qualities). Another problem with this policy is that it is fundamentally anti-immigrant in nature, crippling the group targeted most severely by austerity measures even more by forcing everyone to present identity documents at internet cafés, prohibitively complicating undocumented migrants' communications outside the country. The law also contains a provision validating and formalizing the process of expulsion for Moroccans who jump the border fence into Spain's African outposts of Ceuta and Melilla, which according to the International Federation for Human Rights "restrict the right to seek asylum and violate the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of collective expulsions" as well as " xposingmigrants to a serious risk of torture and ill-treatment by denying them the possibility of filing a claim against law enforcement personnel in case of abuse".
The anti-austerity movement in Spain was fundamentally rooted in resistance to Spain's unopposed right-wing government led by the People's Party. The recently passed Citizens Security Law (dubbed the "gag law"), viewed by protestors as a restriction of civil liberties comparable to the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, was designed to quell this opposition. In response, the Spanish people subverted these measures by protesting via holograms instead, avoiding arrest and setting an incredibly unique precedent across the world.
2015 events
March
The day before a closely watched Andalusian parliamentary election, 2015, thousands of people took part in a "march for dignity" in Madrid on Saturday 21 March 2015 to protest against austerity measures.
April
These gatherings have been fundamental in shaping the narrative of Spanish politics both in the media and in policy over the last few years. In response to this restriction, Spanish citizens launched a protest that questioned not only the People's Party but how the internet and digital media have changed the way the world changes. On 11 April 2015, Instead of marching in front of government buildings in person, they created recordings of themselves marching and projected them as holograms instead. The project was largely crowdsourced, reaching out to individuals across the internet to add their face and voice to the mass, collapsing digital space to physical space in defiance. This type of subversion creates new modes of action that promise some higher degree of equality by enabling the creation of an entirely new type of space where individuals can freely enact the rights they are fighting for.
Political response
The main political parties issued statements on 16 May 2011, following debate. On 15 May, the day of the first demonstration, almost every party was willing to be quoted on the situation. Jaime Mayor Oreja
Jaime Mayor Oreja (born 12 July 1951) is a former Spanish conservative politician of the People's Party. He served as member of the Basque Parliament, of the Spanish Parliament, and of the European Parliament, as well as being Spanish Minist ...
, Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
representing the Partido Popular, was critical of the alleged intention of activists to not cast ballots in the coming election. So was Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...
(PSOE) member and Minister of Public Works and Transport José Blanco. United Left had a positive view of the activists' demands. The United Left's political coordinator Cayo Lara
Cayo Lara Moya (born 1952) is a Spanish politician. He was the leader of United Left (IU) from December 2008 to July 2016. He is also a member of the leadership of the Communist Party of Spain.
Early years and regional leadership
Born at Argama ...
defended the refusal of the activists to become a "lost generation" and criticized their removal from the Puerta del Sol on 16 May. Other politicians, such as PSOE's José Antonio Griñán
José Antonio Griñán Martínez (born 7 June 1946) is a Spanish politician. He was the chairman of the centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), and from 23 April 2009 until 7 September 2013 he held the position of President of the R ...
, showed sympathy for the movement while insisting that abstaining from voting was not a solution. Esteban González Pons, general vicesecretary of the Partido Popular, linked the demonstrations to the "antisystem far left".
Former prime minister Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...
compared the movement, which he considered "an extraordinarily important phenomenon,"[ with the ]Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
,[Ideal.es; ]
Felipe González compara a los 'indignados' con los protagonistas de las revueltas árabes
' 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011. saying out that "in the Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
they are demanding the right to vote while here they are saying that voting is pointless."[Ideal.es; ]
Felipe González, sobre los 'indignados': "Están hartos, los partidos no deberían descalificarlos"
' 17 May 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
On 25 July 2011, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz participated at the "I Foro Social del 15M" organized in Madrid expressing his support for the movement. During an informal speech, he made a brief review of some of the problems in the United States and Europe, including the high unemployment rate and the situation in Greece. "This is an opportunity for economic contribution social measures," argued Stiglitz. He encouraged those present to respond to the "bad ideas" not with indifference, but with "good ideas." "This does not work, you have to change it," he said. On 15 September 2012, Stiglitz said "accepting the bailout would be suicidal" for the country.
See also
* 15 October 2011 global protests
The 15 October 2011 global protests were part of a series of protests inspired by the Arab Spring, the Icelandic protests, the Portuguese "Geração à Rasca", the Spanish "Indignants", the Greek protests, and the Occupy movement. The protes ...
* 2009 Iranian presidential election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...
* 2011 Chilean protests
* 2011 Israeli social justice protests
The 2011 Israeli social justice protests ( he, מְחָאַת צֶדֶק חֶבְרָתִי), which are also referred to by various other names in the media, were a series of demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of ...
* 2013 Bulgarian protests
* Anti-austerity movement in Greece
The anti-austerity movement in Greece involved a series of demonstrations and general strikes that took place across the country. The events, which began on 5 May 2010, were provoked by plans to cut public spending and raise taxes as austerit ...
* Anti-austerity protests in Ireland
The anti-austerity movement in Ireland saw major demonstrations from 2008 (the year of the Irish economic downturn) to 2015.
The protests began during October 2008 after the Fianna Fáil–Green Party coalition of the 30th Dáil oversaw the im ...
* Anti-austerity protests in Portugal
The 12th March Movement ( pt, Movimento 12 de Março) or the Geração à Rasca (, "struggling generation") protest took place in more than 10 cities of Portugal against the economic crisis and labour rights. They were the biggest events since t ...
* Anti-austerity movement in the United Kingdom
* Real democracy NOW ( es, link=no, Democracia real YA)
* 2012 European general strike
* Kitchenware Revolution (Iceland)
* Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
* Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca
Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH; Platform for People Affected by Mortgages) is a Spanish grassroots organization that takes direct action to stop evictions and campaigns for housing rights. The PAH was set up in Barcelona in February ...
* Protests of 1968
The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, predominantly characterized by popular rebellions against state militaries and the bureaucracies.
In the United States, these protests marked a turning point for the ci ...
* ''React REACT or React may refer to:
Science and technology
*REACT (telescope), a telescope at Fenton Hill Observatory, New Mexico, US
Computing
* React (JavaScript library) , a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, from Facebook
** React Nati ...
''
* Spanish Teen Rally (Estudiar en primavera)
* Time for Outrage!
* List of protests in the 21st century
This is a list of protests in the 21st century.
Revolutions and uprisings Plants (Colour) revolutions
* Rose Revolution (Georgia, 2003)
* Tulip Revolution (Kyrgyzstan, 2005)
* Cedar Revolution (Lebanon, 2005)
* Orange Revolution (Ukraine, 2 ...
References
Sources
*
External links
15Mpedia
an encyclopedia about the movement
¡Democracia real Ya! Official Web
Toma la plaza.net
takethesquare.net
* Spanish Revolution collection at Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
SolTV
(live streaming)
Brochure protests convened on 19 June
"Inside 15m: 48h with the indignants"
is a documentary (English subtitles) about the Spanish protests made by the people's assemblies of Madrid.
Timeline, political analysis, and eyewitness reportage
of the Spanish protests on crimethinc
CrimethInc., also known as CWC, which stands for either "CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective" or "CrimethInc Ex-Workers Ex-Collective", is a decentralized anarchist collective of autonomous cells.
*
*
* CrimethInc. emerged in the mid-1990s, initia ...
Republican Reflections on the 15-M movement
by Philip Pettit
* 15M: "Excellent. A Wake-up call. Important" Written and directed by: Stéphane M. Grueso, Documental, CC BY-SA
Documentary "SPANISH TEEN RALLY (Estudiar en primavera)"
* Peña-López, I., Congosto, M. & Aragón, P. (2014).
Spanish Indignados and the evolution of the 15M movement on Twitter: towards networked para-institutions
.
*Ramírez-Blanco, J. (2021)
15M. El tiempo de las plazas.
Alianza 2021. A book on the movement.
{{European sovereign-debt crisis
2011 in Spain
2011 protests
2012 in Spain
2012 protests
2013 in Spain
2013 protests
2014 in Spain
2014 protests
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
Articles containing video clips
Euroscepticism in Spain
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
Protest marches
Protests in Spain
Squatting in Spain