TOWN HALL GANDIA
The demonstrations in Spain continue with many town hall squares still full of Indignados (the Indignant) surrounded by banners expressing their wrath and dismay at the current situation in Spain. Indeed, it would seem that the current protests in Spain are set to run for some time to come.
But what are the Indignados actually saying and how extensive is their support?
Well, on Saturday I went down to the main square of Gandia (my local town) to see if the Indignados were present. I thought that this would be interesting, given that Gandia is a medium sized, provincial and somewhat, ‘conservative’ town, situated some 70 kms south of Valencia city – on the mid-eastern sideboard of Spain. About five kilometres from the coast, Gandia has some 80,000 people and could be very roughly compared to a smaller version of Brighton in the UK i.e. it is (or at least was) prosperous with a mixed commerce of beach tourism and local industry.
Generation NI – NI. No home no work.
In other words, if the demonstrations in Spain had reached Gandia then this was probably indicative of the spread of the ‘Spanish Revolution’ across the rest of Spain – along with the type of complaints being voiced by the protesters.
Needless to say, the Plaza Major (main square) of Gandia does have its Indignados who I found rather neatly encamped on one side of the centre of the square. When I arrived on Saturday night, they were listening to a small band with a gathering crowd of supporters and the curious (of all ages). Everything was peaceful and appeared well organised.
However, the centre of Gandia square had lost some of its beauty as the banners of the Indignados were hanging from every possible area. These were striking for the complaints being voiced – which you can see from the pictures here.
The years have passed and I only want to say that the dogs are the same – only their collars are different.
The trouble is that, from what I have been able to see, the demonstrations in Spain seem to lack any real clarity. Sure, the Indignados are clearly furious about not having work, the appalling state of the Spanish economy and the (undoubted!) corruption of politicians in Spain and the accompanying (in effect) two party political system. That is obvious – but I see no viable answers or suggestions from them for constructive change.
Indeed, the overall message that comes over would be familiar to anyone who remembers the ‘voice’ of the hard ‘left’ years ago. This always urged a massive redistribution of wealth and blamed all the problems of society on greedy ‘capitalists’ who had somehow taken the bread out of the very mouths of the oppressed poor. Whilst this may have been true in the past (long ago) – the reality is that the (understandable) distress of the Indignados has largely been caused by the appalling mis-management of the Spanish economy, ironically, by the current ruling socialist party.
They eat canapes and I cannot get to the end of the month.
Meanwhile, as I have said before, during the boom years when there was ‘easy’ money around and no shortage of jobs there were no demonstrations about corrupt politicians in Spain – nor were there bitter complaints about the operation of the Spanish political system.
So, you have to conclude that the current demonstrations in Spain (nothing suddenly having changed regarding corrupt politicians or the political system) are not driven by any political philosophy. Far from it. In reality, the ‘Spanish Revolution’ and the fury of the Indignados is ‘simply’ about having no work and no opportunities to earn a reasonable living – neither being possible due to the devastated economy.
They piss on us and say that it is raining.
That is not to say, for one moment, that there is not a real sense of anger at the failure of the ‘establishment’ in Spain to provide the long term, First World quality of life glimpsed during the recent boom years.
Indeed, there is a genuine feeling in Spain that ‘paradise’ has been lost and that, for the foreseeable future, there is no hope of it being recovered. This is well expressed by the popular expression ‘NI NI ‘ to describe the young (18 – 30s), in particular. The latter are all too aware, regardless of their qualifications, that their future is an empty one and devoid of the possibility of getting a decent job or home of their own.
The origin of fortunes is in the misery of the poor. Desperate.
So, regardless of the ‘triteness’ of the overt messages you may see and hear from the Indignados, you should not dismiss the potential danger of the current demonstrations in Spain. Revolutions happen because of a perception of unfairness and from straight economic ‘hunger’. That is certainly the case in Spain at the moment and why the protests in Spain could explode in the future backed, as they are, by widespread support throughout the country.
But will the demonstrations in Spain really change – from peaceful to forceful and violent?
Information on television. Do not manipulate. Television manipulates.
Obviously, I do not know. However, I was struck by a comment from a mature and thoughtful Spanish friend of mine. He said that nothing will happen just now. After all, he stated: “the tourist season is starting and will provide some work, the students need to take their end of year exams, the beaches are too tempting during the summer and soon the town squares will be too hot to protest in all day”.
But, my friend said: “watch out for November!”
Welcome to a real democracy. The only risk you take is freedom.
In his view, if the economy has not improved and more jobs been created towards late autumn – then the nature of the protests in Spain may become very different indeed…
Nick Snelling – Culture Spain
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Politics and democracy in Spain
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¿Qué estamos haciendo? en realidad pensais que hacemos algún daño a los bancos, a los gobiernos, que son los que se llevan nuestro dinero quejandonos en la calle??? se rien de todo eso, se rien de nosotros, quereis hacer daño de verdad??? quereis que esto cambie de verdad?? vereis yo soy enfermo de cancer hace unos dias me hicieron una biopsia y no pinta bien, en 10 dias me dan los resultados de la misma y a la espera de tratamiento, Quimio supongo y ya sabemos la mayoria de las veces a donde nos lleva eso, pero tengo fé, como tengo fé de que esto tiene que cambiar, hace poco salió broker de estados unidos regocijandose de que cuanto mas crisis mas dinero ganan ellos, se frotaba las manos, decia que en 2012 miles de millones de familias se quedaran sin sus ahorros, que nos van a robar a todos, eso creará una ecatombe, pues a ver si en lugar de esperar a que nos roben y unos pocos se lleven todos esos ahorros que tanto os ha costado ahorrar, la ecatonbe vá a ser la misma,TODO EL MUNDO LO COMENTA PERO NADIE LO HACE, INDIGNADOS IGUAL QUE OS PONEIS DE ACUERDO PARA SALIR A LA CALLE PACIFICAMENTE PARA QUEJAROS, SACAD TODOS VUESTROS ACTIVOS DE LOS BANCOS, TENEIS DONDE GUARDARLOS Y LO SABEIS, ASI SE NEGOCIA CON LOS LADRONES DE LOS BANCOS, NO MAS DESAUCIOS, NO MAS QUEDARSE CON EL DINERO DE LA GENTE QUE TANTOS AÑOS HAN ESTADO AHORRANDO PARA SU FAMILIA, NO PARA IRSE DE CENA A UN GRAN RESTAURANTE, QUEREIS NEGOCIAR CON LOS BANCOS Y GOBIERNOS, NO SEAIS TONTOS, HAGAMOSLE DAÑO A ELLOS ANTES QUE ELLOS A NOSOTROS QUE YA LO ESTAN HACIENDO Y SEGUIRAN HACIENDO, vosotros mismos, es la unica manera en la que estos señores por llamarlos de alguna manera entienden las cosas, cuando se les toca el bolsillo, cuando se les quita nuestro dinero del bolsillo, porque es nuestro es de todos nosotros, ya lo han anunciado, EN 2012 MUCHAS FAMILIAS PERDERAN SUS AHORROS, VAMOS A ESPERAR A QUE ESO OCURRA, MOVILIZAOS DE VERDAD!!!!!!! SACAD VUESTROS ACTIVOS, RECUPERAD LAS LETRAS DEL TESORO QUE TENGAIS, VAMOS A HACERLES DAÑO DE VERDAD, ESPERO SEGUIR AQUI PARA VER COMO ESO OCURRE, COMO LLORAN ESTOS LADRONES IGUAL QUE LAS MILES DE FAMILIAS QUE SE QUEDAN EN LA CALLE, MUCHAS GRACIAS.