Barcelona eyewitness: The Indignant beat back
authorities 

By Dick Nichols,

Sunday, May 29, 2011 

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/47731

[photo] Barcelona Protesters in Plaza Catalonia, 
Barcelona, resist police attacks on their protest camp, 
may 27. Photo from Revoltaglobal.cat.

The central plazas of dozens of cities and towns across
Spain bear an uncanny resemblance to Tahrir Square in
Cairo. They have been taken over by thousands of
demonstrators demanding a "new system". As of May 29,
dozens of other central plazas in Spanish cities and
towns look the same -- taken over by thousands of
ordinary people demanding "a new system".

The movement, known as "#spanishrevolution" after the
Twitter hashtag used to spread news, pictures and
footage of the revolt, began with an internet call for
a May 15 protest to demand "Real Democracy Now!".

Across Spain, more than 100,000 people turned out. In
Madrid, protesters decided to establish a permanent
camp in the central plaza, the Puerta del Sol.

The protesters -- dubbed indignados (the indignant) --
were violently attacked, but tens of thousands of
people retook the plaza. The plaza occupations spread
across Spain, despite the fact that no major unions or
political parties have taken part.

The movement is driven by anger at the savage austerity
imposed by the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero from the center-left Spanish
Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). Having spent billions
of euros bailing out the big banks after the 2008
financial crisis, the government is making ordinary
people pay the cost.

Suffering is widespread among Spanish people. The
official youth unemployment rate is more than 40%.

This led to the rout of the PSOE in local and regional
elections on May 22.

The occupations were originally planned to last until
the May 22 poll. But the assembly at Puerta del Sol
voted to continue the encampment for at least another
week -- and to use the plaza as a base to spread the
protest movement to neighbourhoods throughout the city.

===

The strength of the movement was shown when, on May 27,
the Catalonian government carried out an ill-fated
attack on the occupation of Plaza Catalonia in
Barcelona.

Dick Nichols, from the Green Left Weekly European
bureau, reports from the scene at Plaza Catalonia.

* * *

Somewhere in this city lives a group of brutal
numbskulls called the "government of Catalonia".

On Thursday, May 26, these people decide that it is
time to "clean up" Plaza Catalonia, the big square in
the centre of Barcelona where the "indignants" of the
#spanishrevolution and Real Democracy Now movement have
pitched tents, installed webcams and planted veggie
patches.

Early the next day, we awake to the thump-thump of the
police helicopter as their operations begin.

It is 6.45am, and 100 police have entered the camp to
explain to the disconcerted "indignants" that they had
come to clean up the area "for reasons of public
health": the protestors have to leave the area. The
protestors refuse, but offer nicely to help with any
clean-up.

The police then surround the camp with a double cordon
to prevent the support that the protestors had called
from entering.

At this point there are 300 campers inside the square,
who watch on while council workers started to dismantle
the entire camp, taking away everything.

As support arrives it began to surround the outer
police cordon, which tries to force people back to the
outer edges of the square. When people link arms to
oppose passive resistance to this operation, the police
begin to attack with truncheons.

The passive resistance continues, and the police
attacks intensify, even as the protestors keep up the
chant: "We won't move from Plaza Catalonia."

The police next try to open space for the council
trucks to leave the square, but it keeps filling up
with protestors sitting down before the trucks.

The police attacks intensify, especially after 10.15am,
when reinforcements arrive to force a way out for the
trucks. All this is televised live.

The council trucks finally manage to get out around
11am, and a tense calm returns.

Mission accomplished, so it would seem. Felip Puig, the
Catalan interior minister appears before the media to
explain that he had reluctantly to bring in 300 riot
police to protect Barcelona's decent garbos from
assault by violent weirdo protestors.

For a short time, the square seems to re-open to normal
business (tourists taking photos and buying schlock).

Slight hiccup, however. No-one in the Catalan
government seems to have heard of things called
"Facebook" or "Twitter" (or maybe they think such
things only work in Cairo).

Over the next hour supporters of the camp pour in from
around Barcelona, so that by 1pm the police can no
longer hold the square. They begin to retreat before a
crowd now numbered at over 2000 and finally abandon the
square.

Next, at 2.30pm, in solidarity with Plaza Catalonia,
students from the University of Barcelona block off the
Diagonal, the big avenue that runs across the whole
city, generating traffic chaos.

At the same time everyone even vaguely connected with
the #spanishrevolution movement starts receiving
messages to go to Plaza Catalonia by 7pm --with
saucepans and spoons for a cacerolazo (pot banging
protest).

Result? By 8.30pm the square is full of up to 10,000
people and the "indignants" are re-establishing their
camp. Enormous enthusiasm for victory over the idiots!

Protest gatherings and marches in solidarity with
Barcelona (and Lleida, where a similar "clean up" took
place) now explode in towns across Catalonia and Spain.

A petition demanding Puig's resignation has already
gathered 10,000 signatures. All the other parties start
to criticise the government's action.

The movement has been given a huge shot in the arm.
#spanishrevolution -- 1, Catalan government -- 0.

===

___________________________________________

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