Thousands protest 'anti-protest' law in Spain

[BelgianMadCow]

Source: CNN

Thousands took to the streets of Madrid Saturday to protest against a proposed law that would, among other things, impose stiff fines on illegal demonstrations, according to state-run broadcaster TVE.

Much of the protest was peaceful, but a small group clashed with riot police and seven people were arrested. Officials said at least 23 people were injured, including 14 police officers.

"The voice of the people is not illegal," protesters shouted as they were met by 1,250 riot police, TVE reported.

Under the proposed law, unauthorized demonstrations in front of the Parliament building carry a fine of up to 30,000 euros (about $41,000), but the measure is likely to pass as conservatives hold the majority in the government.




Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/14/world/europe/madrid-protest/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

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It's noteworthy that:

- in the same weekend, there was another protest in Spain numbering in the thousands, namely the 14th (!) "White Sea" march against hospital privatisations and cuts to education. See here.
:large

- just like with the pitchfork protests in Italy, this one is totally undereported in EU MSM - which has the Ukraine protest front and center every day. The belgian supposedly left-leaning De Morgen had nada on the spanish protest - except one picture without article. You can guess which one when you check out the video at RT. I'm sure it got a lot of clicks, yet gave nobody any insight. RT's coverage on the other hand highlights the "riot" aspect, whilst the protest was largely peaceful.

The protest in Spain was started by the "Rodea el congreso"-platform. It means "encircle congress". Looks like the MSM doesn't want us to get the idea to encircle congresses with pitchforks.

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. That's ironic.

[BelgianMadCow]

2. The entire crackdown on protest in Spain is downright surreal

so an ironic headline is only the beginning.

In Spain, you get people from a party (the PP) with totalitarian roots saying things like 'these protesters are behaving like nazis'.

Here's an EL Pais article with considerable background on the protests in Spain (and how it all started with the 15-M or Indignados-movement).

"The spark is going off sector by sector," says José Félix Tezanos, a sociology professor at distance-learning university Uned who back in April 2011 gave this newspaper an accurate prediction of things to come: there was a breeding ground of unemployment, a lack of future expectations and a series of spending cuts (which began in 2010 with the previous Socialist administration), all of which constituted a time bomb that could go off at any minute. And so it has.

On edit: Spain, like Iceland, is in a revolutionary process, and we are NOT supposed to hear of it. There have been demos in the hundreds of thousands spanning 60 cities on a monthly basis. Good luck in trying to find coverage of them.

Unlike many other nations with unrest, it's the only place where there doesn't seem to be a chance for an extreme right wing uprising.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. And yet, the Too Big To Fail go scot free by these same Governments.

[BelgianMadCow]

4. Here's an excellent review of the criminalising of dissent in Spain

Act 1: Criminalising Dissent

The first of the two laws, the rather Orwellian sounding Protection of Public Safety law – redubbed by its opponents the “Gag Law” – contains 55 articles, many of which are geared at gaining greater control over street protests.

As El País recently reported (in English), the aim of the draft legislation is to “put a stop to practices that, despite the best efforts of the government, have not been deemed worthy of penal censure in the courts.” They include the act of gathering outside the seat of parliament or many other public buildings without the express permission of the authorities.

Those caught transgressing the new law could face an administrative fine of up to 30,000 euros. Shouting insults at police officers or taking photos of them as they go about their duty will incur similar such penalties.

The law will also enable the police to establish “security zones” to prevent congregations of people. Although the draft makes no specific reference, the measure is designed to stop escraches — the practice of protesting on the doorstep of politicians or business leaders — as well as spontaneous gatherings to prevent evictions, both of which have become popular forms of political protest and which the country’s supreme court has already deemed legal.

More in Naked Capitalism's "Law and disorder in Spain".