As I was writing this, I found that the Puerta del Sol camp, after four weeks of protesting Spain´s sky-high unemployment rate, has been dismantled. I am glad that we had the chance to see it while we could. The order and timing of some of my posts will be off due to limited internet access.
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I did not get the chance to sit down properly and write about Los Indignados in Puerta del Sol. It has been a while since I was last in Madrid, and I still haven’t written a thing.
I guess I will just have to show you.
The people living here were inspiring to say the least. Ignited by the Arab Spring, Los Indignados across the nation started camps and marches to demand radical change in Spanish politics as an angry response to the nation's debt crisis--youth unemployment is over 43%: the highest in the UN.
While in Puerta del Sol, I spent the day walking around the camp and speaking to activists who volunteered various services available to the community. Los Indignados organized their own manifestos and they developed decision-making processes for political action and deciding communal priorities. They have communal libraries and information booths, living quarters, kitchens, and art collectives. The people of Madrid have donated lots of supplies and money to support the individuals who have pledged to occupy the Puerta since the protests initiated at the end of May. It’s not just young people either: it was people of all ages exercising their rights to be idealists, to be pissed-off, dissatisfied and fed up with the status-quo, and pressure the rest of Spain ask themselves why they weren’t doing the same.
While in Puerta del Sol, I spent the day walking around the camp and speaking to activists who volunteered various services available to the community. Los Indignados organized their own manifestos and they developed decision-making processes for political action and deciding communal priorities. They have communal libraries and information booths, living quarters, kitchens, and art collectives. The people of Madrid have donated lots of supplies and money to support the individuals who have pledged to occupy the Puerta since the protests initiated at the end of May. It’s not just young people either: it was people of all ages exercising their rights to be idealists, to be pissed-off, dissatisfied and fed up with the status-quo, and pressure the rest of Spain ask themselves why they weren’t doing the same.
Here are a couple of sites they gave me, I haven’t checked them out yet as I’ve had pretty limited internet access—fifteen minutes a day, every other day, has been the pattern.
bibliosol.wordpress.com
These are more writing collectives and public forums, attempting to channel the voices of discontent into prose and poetry.
I have a lot to learn about everything: this is all I know for now. I am thinking of a lot of people who should have seen this with me. Luis, Barry, Sadie, and countless others.
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