FROM TAHRIR SQUARE TO ( PLAZA ) DEL SOL SQUARE

FROM TAHRIR SQUARE TO ( PLAZA ) DEL SOL SQUARE

Spanish youth rally in Madrid echoes Egypt protests

About 2,000 young people angry over high unemployment have spent the night camping in a famous square in Madrid as a political protest there grows.

A big canvas roof was stretched across Puerta del Sol square, protesters brought mattresses and sleeping bags and volunteers distributed food.

The nature of the peaceful protest, including Twitter messages to alert supporters, echoed the pro-democracy rallies that revolutionised Egypt.

The Madrid protests began on Sunday.

On the first evening, police dispersed the protesters, but on Tuesday they let them stay overnight.

Spain's 21.3% unemployment rate is the highest in the EU - a record 4.9 million are jobless, many of them young people.

Spanish media say the protesters are attacking the country's political establishment with slogans such as "violence is earning 600 euros", "if you don't let us dream we won't let you sleep" and "the guilty ones should pay for the crisis".

The atmosphere in the square has been quite festive, with the crowd singing songs, playing games and debating.

They are demanding jobs, better living standards and a fairer system of democracy.

About 50 police officers are deployed in side-streets off the iconic square and outside the Madrid municipal government building.

The protesters are not identifying with any particular political party, Spanish media say, but they are getting more organised.

In another echo of the Cairo rallies that eventually forced President Hosni Mubarak from power in February, the Spanish protesters have set up citizens' committees to handle communications, food, cleaning, protest actions and legal matters.


Tens of thousands in austerity protest in Spain

MADRID (AP) — Tens of thousands of students, social groups and unemployed Spaniards rallied in more than 50 cities on Sunday to protest against government austerity measures and the role banks and political parties have played in the financial crisis.

The events were organized by two activist groups under the banner of "We aren't merchandise in the hands of politicians and bankers."

Protesters in Madrid marched from Cibeles square to city hall in Puerta del Sol, many wearing yellow T-shirts distributed by the Youth Without a Future group, which was founded in early April at the city's university and helped organize the rallies.

"We the unemployed, the badly paid, the subcontracted in precarious jobs, the youth of Spain, want change and a future with dignity," said Ines Bajo, 24, who is unemployed.

Other large marches took place in the cities of Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and Zaragoza.

"I have several degrees, speak many languages and still get paid a miserable salary," said Cristina Corbera, 25, in Madrid, adding she had finally got a job two months ago after looking for work for more than a year.

She declined to say where she worked because of fear her employer might react badly to her comments, she said.

"For those who say that Spaniards are passive, here's evidence that things are starting to change," Luis Morago, 44, who is unemployed.

Spain is saddled with the eurozone's highest jobless rate of 21.3 percent with a record 4.9 million people unemployed and a sluggish economy that grew by 0.3 percent in the first quarter of the year.

The government forecasts growth of 1.3 percent this year, but the central bank and others say that prediction is optimistic.

The 15 movement protest again at the Plaza del Sol

Thousands of people spent the night in the Puerta del Sol de Madrid and organised into groups, setting up large camps. The demonstration was part of the Real Democracy Now movement against the recession and promoting democracy. 17th May 2011


The goal, according to a spokesman, is to be in the Puerta del Sol to show his "indignation "over the political and social situation until Sunday, when it hosts the regional and municipal elections, and since then no one knows what will happen. "I do not want to cause problems because this is a peaceful event, "he assured the spokesman said, while expressed his dissatisfaction over the treatment they are receiving from the media.

The movement that began last Sunday with mass demonstrations in over 50 cities throughout Spain to protest the economic and political crisis does not stop and just five days of regional and municipal elections outraged, as they are known, have taken the leadership of the campaign. Real Democracy Platform Now!, convener of the march on Sunday, he split the movement now. "We just started it, now is the citizens who have organized, " said Carlos Paredes, a spokesman, who seized the cameras of the media to ask "those who want to start brawl to stay at home" .

Insist that it is a peaceful movement, which calls for "awakening the social conscience" and distance themselves from any political party or association. "We are citizens and have the right to be outraged, " shouted a young woman through a megaphone.