Austerity in Europe: Spain
Protests have rocked much of Europe. Spain is one of many countries facing tough austerity cuts.
This is the first of our series looking at the "wants" of these protestors.
Marina Calderelli shares the view from one such group, Los Indignados.
Editors note: Protestors no longer occupy Spain's main plazas. But dozens of "los indignados" are known to camp outside parliament every so often, in protest of Spain's economic situation.
Read on
Many of these people had never taken to the street before. So why did they do it now?
"We are people who have come here freely; after the rallies of May 15th we have decided to stick together and fight for our dignity.
"We do not represent any party or association. And nobody represents us", said Juan, one of the protesters.
"It's a response to the inequalities in our lives, but also it's a fight for a desire for change", expressed Irene, another of Los Indignados, the indignant protesters of Spain.
Los Indignados are unhappy with their politicians, who they suspect of stealing money, and with their political parties that they feel do not represent them.
This includes the social democratic ruling party, Partido Social Obrero Español (PSOE), which keeps making cuts in the educational & health system in order obey the EU instructions.
The government is also planning to extend the amount of years that people have to work before they can retire.
In general, many of Los Indignados feel that the system has forgotten them.
Now they want to fight back, so they have decided to protest against the establishment and the way money is spent on saving banks and bankers, instead of saving the deteriorating health system.
Youngsters are rallying for their future, one with dignity.
They demand more possibilities for personal growth, the chance to have a good job, to rely on the welfare state, to have good, public health care and the opportunity to buy a house and have a good retirement.
Every day, camping protesters got together in groups: Media and Communication, Immigration, Health Care, Education and so on.
There they discussed proposals, voting before all decisions and trying to agree on all terms before putting their proposals forward to the general assembly.
The general assembly is held every evening after the cacerolada, where everybody makes noise with their metal pans and spoons.
The noise has a purpose. "If you do not let us dream, we won´t let you sleep", says one of the signs hanging in Plaza Catalunya.
The square is divided into "subsquares" named after other places where "revolutions" have already taken place, such as Tahrir and Palestine.
The landscape of the central Plaza in Barcelona is transformed by the tents of the groups.
The main tent is in the centre of the square, and there are workshops underneath trees, a huerto or vegetable garden by the square fountains, a public library, and many posters.
The signs recall the riots of the mayo francés in 1968, the first general strike in history that was not authorised by trade unions. But now the signs have new meanings:
"Imagination to the power", "It is not the crisis, its the system", "Where are my constitutional rights: house, job, health insurance and retirement?", "We are the news, but we won´t stop till we make history"
"Power to the people", "Error 404-Democracy Not found" and "On sale. A life to pay a mortgage".
And the most famous one : "No hay pan pa tanto chorizo", which is always sung in every cacerolada at night. Chorizo is a typical Spanish sausage, but it has a different meaning: it also stands for a corrupt politician. So the most chanted phrase of Los Indignados means: "There is not enough bread for all this chorizo". Read on
For a couple of weeks now, many neighbourhoods and cities suchs as Gracia, Poble Sec, Gotic and Castelldefels have organized local assemblies and commissions in their own squares. The idea is to widen the debate so everyone can be part of the movement.
As one of the people in the Commission of Communication said: "We fight for a deep transformation in society, made by the citizens. They thought we were asleep, that they could keep fooling us, but they were wrong: we are fighting, peacefully but with determination, for the life we all deserve".