So what's this Spanish Revolution, then?

I've wanted to address the topic of this post for some time now, but I was afraid I'd get stigmatized for not stating the facts correctly. I am aware that this will still happen, in fact, please do comment on this post if you feel you have something that will contribute to the better understanding of this situation. If, however, it is a rude comment, I will not hesitate to delete it.

The "situation" I am talking about is what's cooking in Spain at this minute. Let's do some gap filling, as I am appalled by the lack of media coverage this revolution has received until recently.

Spain, as well all know, is not in its best time economically speaking. Being down at the bottom with Greece, Portugal and a couple of others, it's just about managing to keep its head above water and trying, albeit with no success, to crawl out of the economic crisis. Furthermore, it is the country with the highest unemployment rate in the EU.

Spaniards feel the government hasn't done much for them, and -as always- the rich remain rich, while the poor remain poor and -dare I say it- are getting poorer. On Sunday 22nd May, Spain was holding elections for the autonomic communities and municipalities; we could compare it to shires: Catalonia, Andalucia, Galicia, Basc Country, Madrid, Extremadura.... I would venture to say that Spain is notorious for it's lack of voting initiative. This time round, recollections from each area have abstentions of 20-45%, Catalonia has the highest percentage of blank votes with 4.1%

The Spanish Revolution (as some refer to) began a week before the elections (Sunday 15th May), when people in Madrid took the Puerta del Sol and demanded change and a true democracy. The media tried to picture it as an angry mob of unemployed youths, but demonstrators were soon found to be old and young, graduates, unemployed, retired, workers. They camped in the square and refused to leave. Over that week, many squares around Spain were also taken by Spaniards wanting a change. Little by little, the demand for a true democracy was heard around the country.

This is one of the videos that was spread across social networks and which I also found thanks to my friends in Spain, I wouldn't have heard of it until now had it not been for them. While the media and politicians were trying to water this down as angry youths, the social networks were thriving and were organizing the where and when of next peaceful sittings around the country. The aim was to motivate people to not only vote, but also to vote the smaller parties, as that way everyone would be better represented and the major parties PP and PSOE wouldn't end up in power, as they have been ever since the dictatorship ended. That was the most eminent one, as it was the week before elections, but it also engulfed real democracy, jobs, banks, politicians, etc.

Slowly but surely, European countries learned of what was going on, and Spanish people living abroad gathered in front of embassies and squares to show their support. 

Dublin in Ireland

New York in the US

Frankfurt in Germany  

Gdańsk in Poland

Amsterdam in Holand

Lisbon in Portugal

London in England

Edinburgh in Scotland

Reykjavík in Iceland

Prague in the Czech Republic

You get the gist of it. 

Did I mention that the government banned the peaceful demonstration on Saturday 14th May as it was "Reflecting Day"? Apparently hanging posters and advertising don't influence the people's vote. How bizarre. The of the elections came and went, and where the PSOE used to be now governs PP (from socialists to right wing); despite the elections having finished, people are still taking the major squares and are demanding change.

Then, this happens in Catalonia  and this and all hell breaks loose. Felip Puig, the Minister of Home Affairs, instructed the order, and Manel Prat, the General Director of the Police made sure it was followed out (there are two types, the Local and the Mossos. The Mossos are the ones who have been violent) saying that the objective of the police was to "clean" the area of rubbish. What they also did was take the food away, as well as IT equipment, other objects that -to anyone else except them- weren't rubbish but essentials. Everyone says they actually wanted to dissolve the peaceful sitting.

When people saw this violence, people in places like Madrid  and Alicante came out with flowers and shouted: 'Barcelona, no estás sola'. Barcelona, you're not alone. 

The government doesn't seem to to be able to realize that charging against the people will not silence them, it will only make them more angry. And yes, we are in an economic crisis, and we do need to be careful with our money, but instead of taking money away from those who are unemployed, retired or earning the minimum wage, why not take a percentage off the wages of bankers, politicians and football players, for example? There are people in town halls that are being paid to do nothing, and there's corruption everywhere. 

There was a piece of news that went practically unheard, when Julio Anguita (from Izquierda Unida) refused his pension as a former member of the -Spanish- Parliament because he "had enough with what he got from his teaching pension". The article can be found in Spanish here and here . I wonder how many politicians do that on their own accord.

I'm sorry if this post has dealt with a political affair, but I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. If I have at least informed a couple of you, I am happy.