(Image source: Girilecek)
BY MARIA LOPEZ
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They’ve been dubbed the “Indignados” -- or “The Angry Ones.”
Youth-led protests in Spain continue to gain momentum just days before local elections-- as protesters take to the streets, angry about the nation’s 21% unemployment rate under the ruling Socialist Party.
Reporter (BBC): “This began as a spontaneous outpouring of frustration and anger with many different actors but one clear message: the problem is the political system itself.”
What do the protesters want? The Guardian explains - it’s complicated.
“Angry at the banks, at the labour market, at the main political parties and most of all at the politicians, who they feel don't represent them. What they actually want is less clear. They pride themselves on not having leaders or a specific political platform, an ideological fuzziness...”
Bloomberg reports- the protesters are using social media to organize and fuel the movement-- attracting a younger generation of Spaniards, a group with a 45% unemployment rate.
A blogger writing for El Pais says- the “information viruses” are spreading-- but the movement does not have many clear leaders.
“José Luis Sampedro is one of the few intellectual referents in a movement that so far is suspicious of well-known faces. His video backing Democracia Real Ya (Real Democracy Now,) has been reproduced 20,000 times, and his joining letter has more than 4.000 'likes' on Facebook.”
Sampedro, a major intellectual and moral referent in Spain, is trying to make up for the lack of leadership, pointing out what he says is the lack of real democracy in the country.
TRANSLATION: “Those in power manipulate and create opinion. The so-called public opinion is a media opinion, an opinion created by education and the media. Both are interested in what the power is interested in, because the power controls education, and the power controls the media.”
With the Sunday elections right around the corner - Bloomberg reports polls show the ruling Socialists are very likely to suffer losses in most of the regional elections- saying the party...
“...has angered traditional supporters by slashing public wages, freezing pensions and seeking to change wage- bargaining rules as part of his efforts to cut the euro-region’s third-largest budget deficit and shield the Spanish economy from the sovereign debt crisis.”
But with the protests entering their sixth day -- euronews suggests other European leaders take note -- asking -- will Europe go the way of the Middle East?
“Not exclusively for those in the prime of life, the movement is making a noise to denounce high unemployment and demand more social justice.
From a makeshift camp in Madrid to Barcelona and beyond, the movement has now crossed Spain’s borders, with rallies being held in other countries.”
Spain’s electoral board says the protests will be banned on Saturday. That’s supposed to be a “day of reflection” for voters--with no campaigning.
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