The anti-austerity movement in Spain, also referred to as the 15-M Movement (Spanish: Movimiento 15-M), and the Indignados Movement, was a series of protests, demonstrations, and occupations against austerity policies in Spain that began around the local and regional elections of 2011 and 2012. Beginning on 15 May 2011, many of the subsequent demonstrations spread through various social networks such as Real Democracy NOW () and Youth Without a Future ().
Spanish media related the movement to the 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis, the Arab Spring, as well as demonstrations in North Africa, Iran, Greece, Portugal, and Iceland. 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 education, employment, or training (NEET). Protestors rallied against high unemployment rates, welfare cuts, politicians, and the two-party system in Spain, as well as the political system, capitalism, banks, 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 Spanish public broadcasting company, between 6.5 and 8 million Spaniards participated in these events.
Background Since the 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis began, Spain has had one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe, reaching a eurozone 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. 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 (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.
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 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 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 by the student group Youth without Future (), 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 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, worker cooperatives were founded and urban community gardens were established.
Organization
In January 2011, users on Spanish social media networks and forums created the digital platform ¡Democracia Real YA!. Using Twitter and Facebook, it called "the unemployed, poorly paid, the subcontractors, the precarious, young people..." to take to the streets on 15 May in the following places: A Coruña, Albacete, Algeciras, Alicante, Almería, Arcos de la Frontera, Badajoz, Barcelona, Bilbao, Burgos, Cáceres, Cádiz, Cartagena, Castellón de la Plana, Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Cuenca, Ferrol, Figueres, Fuengirola, Gijón, Granada, Guadalajara, Huelva, Jaén, Lanzarote, La Palma, León, Las Palmas, Lleida, Logroño, Lugo, Madrid, Málaga, Menorca, Mérida, Monforte de Lemos, Murcia, Ourense, Oviedo, Palma de Mallorca, Pamplona, Plasencia, Ponferrada, Puertollano, Salamanca, San Sebastián, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Soria, Tarragona, Toledo, Torrevieja, Ubrique, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zaragoza.¡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, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Bologna, London and Paris.
Before the demonstrations, ¡Democracia Real YA! staged several symbolic events, such as the occupation of a bank in Murcia 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 euro area 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.
According to ¡Democracia Real YA!, 50,000 people gathered in Madrid alone. The National Police placed the number at 20,000. The march started in Plaza de Cibeles and ended in Puerta del Sol, 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. 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.
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, 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, where more than 1,000 people gathered. "Varias acampadas reavivan las movilizaciones de «indignados» en Galicia", 17 May 2011. La Voz de Galicia. Retrieved 17 May 1011. In Madrid more than 12,000 people gathered and about 200 protesters organized into an assembly, 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 "Indignados y acampados", 17 May 2011. 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, 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. "El movimiento 15-M abarrota Sol". El País. 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 carnations, 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 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.