Spanish protests swell as youths defy rally ban

May 20, 2011

Madrid - Protests demanding a reform of Spain's democracy were gathering momentum Friday after the national electoral commission banned them ahead of Sunday's local and regional elections.

The commission prohibited rallies on Saturday, which is the pre-election 'reflection day,' and on election day itself.

But the ban instead resulted in even more people joining sit-in protests being staged in more than 30 cities.

Some protesters vowed not to move if police tried to disperse them. Other announced meetings at which they would decide how to proceed.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Interior Ministry would deal with the situation 'correctly, with intelligence.' The Justice Ministry was reviewing the extent of the rally ban, the premier said.

The government was trying to avoid pre-election violence which could cost it votes, analysts said.

Zapatero's Socialists had already been expected to suffer a heavy defeat to the opposition conservatives.

More people joined protesters at Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, where thousands had spent the night in tents or out of doors.

'We are not participating in electoral campaigns nor asking for votes,' a spokesman for the protest movement stressed.

Smaller gatherings were reported in more than 30 cities all over the country.

'If police comes, we will resist peacefully,' protest movement spokeswoman Lucia Basurto said at Barcelona's Catalonia Square.

In Valencia, about 200 demonstrators entered a bank office to protest the influence of bankers on politics. In Murcia, demonstrators staged a sit-in at a roundabout surrounded by banks, department stores and official buildings.

Madrid organizers called a 'silent cry' event at which demonstrators would seal their mouths with tape in a sign of protest when the electoral commission's order entered into force at midnight.

The protest rallies which began last week-end have been overwhelmingly peaceful so far.

The movement is becoming known as M-15 in a reference to May 15, when tens of thousands of people took to the streets in more than 50 Spanish cities.

They called for a radical overhaul of the country's political system which the protesters describe as corrupt, following the interests of banks and capital, and favoring only two large parties.

The movement emerged on the internet a few months ago in response to Spain's two-year economic crisis, which caused unemployment to soar to 20 per cent. Among young people, the jobless rate exceeds 40 per cent.

The movement has not sided with any political party, nor called for abstention or blank votes. The government, however, is concerned that its criticism of recent laws could encourage many potential Socialist voters to abstain.

The movement has divided expert opinion, with some dismissing it as little more than a street party, while others compare it with the Arab protests, or historic social movements such as France's May 1968.

'We are witnessing the birth of a new type of social movement which is independent of parties and trade unions,' sociology professor Jaime Pastor said.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1640410.php/Spanish-protests-swell-as-youths-defy-rally-ban.