Protests block Spain's Catalan parliament

Spain’s ‘Indignant Ones’
by Pablo Ouziel, Middle East Online, 2011-06-15

... It has been one month since the country’s ‘Indignados’ (Indignant Ones) movement claimed nonviolently sixty city-squares in cities across the country, calling for economic democracy, political justice and peace. Since then, much has happened within Spanish borders, and what is happening there is clearly spreading across Europe, where we have already witnessed social movements making similar demands. We have seen the Bastille in Paris, taken nonviolently by French ‘Indignados’ only to be quickly reclaimed by the country’s police force. We have observed the rise of a parallel movement in Portugal where most city squares have also been camped on by ‘Indignados’, and where only hours before the country’s general elections protestors in Lisbon were attacked and beaten by police. We have witnessed how on that same night, in Athens, Greece,80,000 protestors congregated in the city’s main square in opposition to the country’s ‘austerity measures’, waving banners in solidarity with the ‘Indignados’ of Spain and of other European countries.

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The movement’s first nationwide coordinated initiative since the spontaneous movement mushroomed on May 15th, the boycott of Town Halls, was well represented over the weekend by ‘Indignados’ across Spain. Demonstrators across the country blocked entrances to Town Halls, climbed onto the balconies, blocked official cars from exiting car parks, disturbed investiture sessions with incriminating speeches, and followed politicians across cities as they celebrated their victories, shouting to them, “shame on you!”

Sadly, the police force was equally mobilized. In Valencia, where the new government has ten of its members including its president facing corruption charges, police charged at demonstrators injuring twelve and arresting five. The vice president of Spain, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, was forced to cancel a planned trip to the city in order to avoid further protests. In the city of Santiago de Compostela police also attacked the protestors. In the city of Madrid, police batons hit them. In the city of Salamanca five ‘Indignados’ were injured. In the city of Burgos two were arrested. In the city of Castellón, they were violently dispersed. In the city of Vigo, they were also dispersed; and, in the city of Palma de Mallorca, three were arrested. Following the numerous arrests across the country, spontaneous demonstrations followed in front of police headquarters demanding the prompt release of those detained. Most protestors where released on bail.

As things stand in Spain right now, according to a survey published by newspaper El Pais, there exists wide support (81%) amidst the Spanish population for the movement. In fact, in addition to public intellectuals such as Vicent Navarro, Arcadi Oliveras, or Eduardo Galeano giving them support, political figures such as Santiago Carrillo, who was the secretary general ofthe Spanish Communist Party during the country’s transition to democracy – a key voice throughout the transition, and Cayo Lara, the coordinator for the third largest political party in Spain, Izquierda Unida, have both aligned withthe movement’s views. Even Rosalía Mera, who is Spain’s richest woman according to Forbes Magazine, has expressed public support for the ‘Indignados’...

/... http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=46733

When the Youth took the Squares…
15/06/2011 By Carmen de Paz Nieves

The so-called Spanish Revolution movement that has peacefully taken over the Spanish squares in the last weeks has voiced a clear demand of our times, which many citizens across Europe share: more open, effective and closer democratic institutions.

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In this sense, agreement seems to be forging, as we are seeing already in some European countries, on the need for adjustments of public institutions in at least five main areas:

- the ways that institutions interact with people, but also and mostly in the ways that people can interact with and shape institutions;
- the ways that the own institutions are organized, towards more transversal and fluid structures where certain aspects of power or influence are transferred from the elites to the wider targeted public;
- the internal control mechanisms and incentives that help prevent negative behaviours which can affect the public image of entire institutions;
- the transparency and accountability mechanisms of institutions to their final client, the individual citizen, with accuracy, effectiveness and accessibility as guiding criteria; and
- the association between competence or performance and returns within all public institutions, related to effective and public evaluation, towards strengthening efficiency and fairness in the way they operate.

The same way we now consider the post-II World War years as a turning point in the framework for the relationships between the economy, society and public institutions in Europe, in twenty or thirty years time we will very likely look back at this period as the one that defined the new 21st century institutional framework. Hopefully, by then, public and especially representative institutions will be stronger and not weaker; otherwise, social democracy will have lost one of the most relevant battles of our days.

/... http://www.social-europe.eu/2011/06/when-the-youth-took-the-squares/

... The world’s leading marketing and advertising network McCann Worldgroup yesterday released the findings of The Truth About Youth, a quantitative study of 7,000 16-30 year olds across seven global markets, including the UK and Spain within the European region.

The study examined the motivations of young people around the world and sought to uncover what makes them different from every generation that has come before.

In the UK and Spain, out of 16 motivations tested “flight” – the need to release pressure and find tranquility/peace in a fast paced world – ranked very highly, being the first and second most im­portant motivations respectively compared to eighth most important in China and 14th most important in India.

In the UK and Spain, youth are feeling the constant pressure and stress of their current situation, with several factors, including struggling economies, university tuition fee hikes in the UK, and high unemployment rates in Spain having a sobering effect. Fifty seven per cent of young people in the UK strongly agreed that they had “grown up a lot in the last couple of years” – acknowledgement that changing circumstances had forced them to forgo some of the carefree elements of being young...

/... http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110616/world/Stressed-out-European-youth-seeking-escapism.370828