Opinion polls indicate that the majority of Spaniards share the movement's call for fundamental changes in Spain's political and economic system. Unemployment here is worse than in any other EU country, at 21 percent. And for Spain's under 25's, increasingly being dubbed the 'lost generation', it's reached a staggering 44 percent.
Spain, like Italy, Greece and other Eurozone countries, is in the midst of a deepening debt crisis. And the government is dealing with it by implementing a series of public spending cuts, increasing the retirement age, and reducing workers rights to make it easier for business. But the protestors say the system itself needs to change.
For several days police had blocked protestors from entering Sol Square, where they've been meeting since May 15th. Things came to a head outside the interior ministry on Thursday, as riot police charged into the protestors.
But on Saturday, following widespread outrage in Spain at the violence, the police backed down, and thousands of activists flooded back into Puerta del Sol. Discussions were held in the square late into Sunday night on the way forward. And the activists now continue to hold the square, which they consider a symbol of their fight, and their equivalent of Tahrir Square in Cairo.
“The police still maintain a heavy presence in central Madrid. But the protestors say they have every right to be here, and that the square belongs to the people. And so the people have won back their square, and perhaps their momentum, for the moment at least. But whether they can affect the revolution they seek in Spain's economic system is a far more difficult question.
Spain, like Italy, Greece and other Eurozone countries, is in the midst of a deepening debt crisis. And the government is dealing with it by implementing a series of public spending cuts, increasing the retirement age, and reducing workers rights to make it easier for business. But the protestors say the system itself needs to change.
For several days police had blocked protestors from entering Sol Square, where they've been meeting since May 15th. Things came to a head outside the interior ministry on Thursday, as riot police charged into the protestors.
But on Saturday, following widespread outrage in Spain at the violence, the police backed down, and thousands of activists flooded back into Puerta del Sol. Discussions were held in the square late into Sunday night on the way forward. And the activists now continue to hold the square, which they consider a symbol of their fight, and their equivalent of Tahrir Square in Cairo.
“The police still maintain a heavy presence in central Madrid. But the protestors say they have every right to be here, and that the square belongs to the people. And so the people have won back their square, and perhaps their momentum, for the moment at least. But whether they can affect the revolution they seek in Spain's economic system is a far more difficult question.
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