Spaniards protest before elections despite ban

Spaniards protest before elections despite ban | Reuters

MADRID | Sat May 21, 2011 8:37pm EDT

(Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people filled Madrid's Puerta del Sol on Saturday evening to protest high unemployment and austerity measures, defying a ban on demonstrations on the eve of local elections.

Protesters of all ages including families with small children and pensioners joined hundreds of young Spaniards, who have been camping out in Madrid for a week, in peaceful protest against the government's handling of the economic crisis.

The number of demonstrators, dubbed "los indignados" (the indignant), swelled to around 30,000 people on Saturday night, cramming into Madrid's main square and surrounding streets.

"I'm protesting because I've got no job future in Spain even though I've finished my degree in tourism," said 25-year-old Inma Moreno in Madrid. "This should make the political classes aware that something is not right."

Protesters also gathered in Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and other cities urging people not to vote for either of Spain's two main parties, the ruling Socialists or the center-right opposition Popular Party.

The Socialists are expected to suffer major losses in the elections for 8,116 city councils and 13 of 17 regional governments.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has failed to contain the highest unemployment in the European Union at 21.3 percent, has said he understands the protesters.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Until now, Spaniards have been patient with austerity measures and a youth unemployment rate of 45 percent, but the protests show the frustration over the prolonged economic malaise.

"I'm happy that they're finally protesting. It was about time," said Maria, an elderly woman with a cane, sitting next to a sleeping, dreadlocked young man on a sofa that had been moved into the Puerta del Sol plaza.

The woman, who declined to give her family name, said she was at the protest on Saturday to visit her grandson.

"We knew something like this would eventually happen. Spain's politics has not been very convincing and with all the effects of the crisis. Something had to happen," said sociologist Fermin Bouza of the Complutense University.

Fearing violent clashes, the government has not yet sent in police to enforce the ban, which went into effect at midnight and prohibits political events on the eve of the election.