May 2011 15 May The first event was called under the motto "we are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers" and was focused on opposition to what the demonstrators called "antisocial means in the hands of bankers." The motto referred partly to the changes made in 2010 to contain the
euro area crisis through bailout of the banks, which the Spanish society saw as responsible for the crisis. At the same time, the government continued to announce social program cutbacks. Protesters demanded spiritual philanthropy. According to
¡Democracia Real YA!, 50,000 people gathered in Madrid alone. The march started in
Plaza de Cibeles and ended in
Puerta del Sol, where several manifestos were read. Also according to the organizers, 15,000 gathered in the demonstration in Barcelona, which ended in front of the
Parliament of Catalonia. In other cities such as Granada, up to 5,000 protesters attended. These protests took place mostly without incident, except for an exchange of insults between some protesters and members of the Fraternity of the Virgin of Rosario, whose procession overlapped with the end of the protest after the latter continued longer than expected. In Santiago de Compostela, a group of eight hooded people smashed several banks and local businesses. It was estimated by
Deconomia that about 130,000 people throughout Spain followed the protesters that day. At the end of the demonstrations in Madrid, protesters blocked the
Gran Vía avenue and staged a peaceful sit-in in Callao street, to which police responded by beating protesters with
truncheons. As a result of the clashes and the following riots, several shop windows were destroyed and trash containers burned. Police officers arrested 24 people, and five police officers were injured. On 17 May,
¡Democracia Real YA! condemned the "brutal police repression" and rejected any association with the incidents. After the incidents, a group of 100 people headed to Puerta del Sol and started camping in the middle of the square, which would result in the following day's protests.
16 May During the day, several people gathered in Puerta del Sol and decided to stay in the square until the elections on 22 May. Meanwhile, 200 people started a similar action in Barcelona's
Plaça Catalunya, although police initially attempted to disperse the crowds. That day the tag #spanishrevolution, as well as other ones related to the protests, became trending topics on
Twitter. In response to the eviction and police violence, protesters (independent of the
¡Democracia Real YA! organization In Madrid more than 12,000 people gathered and about 200 protesters organized into an
assembly, during which they decided to organize themselves for spending the night in the square, creating cleaning, communication, extension, materials and legal committees. Previously, small businesses had provided a great deal of assistance with supplies, including food. The protests gained the support of some people in the
United Kingdom, who announced that they would sit outside of the Spanish embassy from 18 to 22 May. The camp can be considered a form of prefigurative politics and can be understood as a small symbolic city within the city.
18 May According to
El País, many protesters wore
carnations, imitating protesters during the Portuguese
Carnation Revolution. In addition, protesters organized a food stand, which provided food donated by local businesses, and set up a
webcam to provide news from Puerta del Sol through the website
Ustream.tv. The protesters were advised not to drink alcohol or to organize into groups of more than 20 people, as these acts could provoke a legal police crackdown. The police ordered protesters to disperse in Valencia, Tenerife and Las Palmas. During the evacuation of the Plaza del Carmen in Granada, three people were arrested. Speeches continued throughout the afternoon. The protests grew to include
León,
Seville (where a campout started as of 19 May), In the morning, the
Federación de Asociaciones de Vecinos de Barcelona (FAVB) announced its support of the protests in Barcelona. Protesters agreed to hold meetings between their organizing committees each day at 1 p.m. and assemblies at 8 p.m.
The Washington Post covered the protests on 15 May; on 18 May, more media outlets began to publish news reports. Among them was
Le Monde, the most widely circulated newspaper written in French, with an article that noted the rarity of such large-scale protests in Spain. The German newspaper
Der Spiegel noted the importance of the effects of what has been called "
The Facebook Generation" on the protests. The Portuguese paper
Jornal de Notícias reported on the protests in Madrid as soon as it was known that they had been prohibited.
The New York Times cited
El País and noted the strong organization of the protesters, particularly the 200 people who had been placed in charge of security, and the use of Twitter to ensure dissemination of their message.
The Washington Post again reported on the protests in Puerta del Sol, giving them the name of a "revolution," estimating that 10,000 people attended Wednesday afternoon's protest, and comparing the protests with those in
Cairo's Tahrir Square, which had recently ousted
Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak. The
BBC made reference to the peaceful nature of the protests in Puerta del Sol. Police units stationed at Plaza del Sol, however, received orders from the
Government Delegation not to take out any further action. ,
Berlin,
London and, pictured here on 20 May,
Paris, France.
19 May A proposal was made and voted on at an international gathering during a series of organized events which took place at El Retiro. This proposal united international activists in an effort to complete a March from Madrid to Brussels, in order to bring all the grivances which had been collected by all the assemblies and turn them into the European Parliament. Fifty
indignados left
Puerta del Sol walking in what was called the 15M International March to Brussels with the plan to arrive on 8 October, a week before the demonstrations of
15 October.
20 May According to Britain's
The Guardian, "tens of thousands" had camped out in Madrid and throughout the country on the night of 19–20 May. At 10:00 a.m.
United Left appealed the Electoral Board's decision to ban the protests before Spain's Supreme Court. Hours later, the State Prosecution presented its arguments to the court.
Appeal before the Supreme Court Spain's public broadcaster,
RTVE, reported that the State Prosecutor upheld the decision taken by the Central Electoral Board to ban the rallies. Meanwhile, the police announced that they had been given instructions not to dissolve the crowd at Puerta del Sol provided that there was no disturbance of the peace.
Appeal before the Tribunal Constitucional RTVE later reported that the country's Constitutional Court had been deliberating since 7:30 p.m. whether to review an appeal against the decision of the Central Electoral Board. At 10:08 p.m., RTVE reported that the Constitutional Court had rejected the appeal on the formality that the appellant had not appealed first to the Supreme Court. At 10:47 p.m. United Left announced it would appeal the Supreme Court's decision before the Tribunal Constitucional. They had until midnight. At around 11:00 p.m., some 16,000 (according to the police) to 19,000 (according to
RTVE) people were gathered at and around Puerta del Sol.
21 May In Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and other cities, 21 May started with a "mute scream" followed by cheers and applause. Smaller cities, such as Granada, decided to start before midnight to avoid disturbing the neighbors. Around 28,000 people (according to the police) crowded Puerta del Sol and the neighboring streets despite the prohibition. Other cities also gathered large numbers of people: 15,000 in Málaga, 10,000 in Valencia, 8,000 in Barcelona, 6,000 in Zaragoza, 4,000 in Seville, 3,000 in Bilbao, 3,000 in Palma de Mallorca, 2,000 in Gijón, 2,000 in Oviedo, 1,500 in Granada, 1,000 in Vigo, 800 in Almería, around 800 in Avilés, 600 in Cádiz, 200 in Huelva, and around 100 in Jaén. 600 in Brussels and 200 in Lisbon. Minor demonstrations occurred in Athens, Milan, Budapest, Tangiers, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Rome. Early analysis of the
local and
regional elections, won by the
People's Party, suggested the protest movement could have contributed to losses for the ruling
PSOE, and to increased numbers of spoilt or blank votes, which reached record levels.
24 May In
Murcia about 80 people gained access to the headquarters of the television channel
7 Región de Murcia, avoiding security staff, in order to read a manifesto denouncing
media manipulation. Approximately 30 people gained unobstructed entry to the
Tarragona office of the
Ministry of Economy and Finance and shouted slogans against the political and economic systems, before moving to several financial sites in the city centre to do the same.
25 May In
Málaga, the
Ministry of Defence decided to relocate various activities for
Armed Forces Day, including the King's visit, planned for Friday 27. Protesters had already been occupying the Plaza de la Constitución, where the events were scheduled to take place, for eight days.
27 May At approximately 7 a.m. on 27 May, another incident occurred when the city council of
Barcelona decided to send 350 police officers from the
Mossos d'Esquadra and roughly 100 more from the
Guàrdia Urbana to temporarily vacate
Plaça de Catalunya so that it could be cleaned ahead of the
Champions League final on 28 May, in which
FC Barcelona were playing against Manchester United. The resulting violent clash ended in 121 light injuries and provoked new calls to protest in all squares still occupied across Spain. The majority of those injured suffered bruises and open wounds caused by police officers' truncheons; one protester left with a broken arm. Similar incidents also occurred in
Lleida and
Sabadell, where Mossos d'Esquadra officers dismantled the protesters' encampments. The clearing of the Barcelona camp was broadcast live by two Spanish television channels, including
Antena 3, and was also widely dispersed through social networks such as Twitter. The
Catalan ombudsman opened an investigation into the incident to check if police action was disproportionate and violated citizens' rights.
June 2011 2 June At least 40 people gathered in
Montcada i Reixac, Barcelona. They prevented court officials from serving a family with the order to leave their home immediately and protested against banks repossessing people's homes.
4 June Representatives from 53 assemblies around Spain gathered in a mass assembly in Puerta del Sol. In Valencia, dozens of people decided to stay in front of the regional Parliament. In Barcelona, around 50 people protested outside the Catalan Parliament against Felip Puig.
9 June In the morning, police clashed with protesters in
Valencia, injuring 18. As a response to the police violence, demonstrators called for a protest in the city later that day, which gathered around 2,000 people. Support demonstrations were held in Barcelona and Madrid, the latter ending up in front of the Parliament for a second night. Barcelona's protest finished in front of the Popular Party's office.
11 June Thousands of
indignados from the whole country concentrated at the gates of major city halls during the mayors' swearing-ins after the elections. Protesters broke in on the act in
Granada, while two activists were arrested in
Burgos and three in
Palma. In
Castellón, the police dissolved the demonstration violently.
12 June On Sunday, 12 June, four weeks after the protests had begun, protesters in the
Puerta del Sol in Madrid began to leave, dismantling the camp site; packing up tents, libraries, and shops; and removing protest signs from surrounding sites.
14 June Thousands of people assembled in front of Barcelona's
Parc de la Ciutadella and organized themselves to spend the night, in order to start a blockade of the
Catalan Parliament (which is inside the park) on the following day and prevent deputies from entering the building, where the debate on the 2011 budget, which would result in cuts in education and health, was to take place.
15 June Clashes between protesters and Mossos d'Esquadra occurred in the early hours of the morning when hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the police cordon, while officers fired plastic bullets in order to disperse a group of protesters who had set up barricades using rubbish containers. Hours later, scuffles broke out as Mossos de Esquadra pushed protesters back so the deputies who arrived on foot could pass through. Some deputies, such as former Minister of Labour
Celestino Corbacho, were jostled, heckled and sprayed on their way in, while others used police helicopters to get to the parliament, including the president of Catalonia,
Artur Mas. Although lawmakers managed to enter the Catalan Parliament, the scheduled session started with a 15-minute delay. The protest was criticized by politicians across the country. During a press conference, Mas warned of a possible "legitimate use of force" in case demonstrators stayed outside the Parliament, and he called on the public to be understanding. Some politicians went so far as to denounce an attempted "coup d'etat." Acampadabcn, the organiser of the event, and
¡Democracia Real YA! rejected the use of violence but denounced the criminalization of the movement by the media. On Twitter and other social networks, many users suggested the possibility that secret police, infiltrated to cause the violence, started most of the clashes.
19 June , which 8,000 people attended A massive demonstration was carried out in almost 80 Spanish cities and towns. It is believed that more than three million people rallied that day.
20–25 June The first columns of the '''Indignant People's March''' began walking towards Madrid from throughout the country, planning to arrive in the capital on 23 July. The March's goal was to expand the proposals of the Movement while visiting rural areas, collecting their demands, and starting people's assemblies. The March was organized in eight columns, consisting of dozens of activists from 16 cities: •
Eastern route: from
Valencia, 20 June •
Murcia route: from
Murcia, 20 June •
Northern route: from
Santander,
Bilbao and
Pamplona, 23 and 29 June •
Northwest route: from
Santiago de Compostela,
Vigo,
Ferrol,
Avilés and
Gijón, between 24 and 30 June •
Southern route: from
Cádiz, 24 June •
Southeastern route: from
Málaga and
Motril, 25 June •
Northeastern route: from
Barcelona, 25 June •
N-II route: from
Zaragoza, 7 July , 21 July
July 2011 1 July Dozens of people protested outside Barcelona's town hall during the swearing-in ceremony of Spanish
Convergence and Union's candidate
Xavier Trias.
23 July After a month-long walk, the columns of the Indignant People's March joined in Puerta del Sol, where the movement first emerged. Thousands collapsed the main entrances of Madrid in an improvised demonstration, as sympathizers from Madrid and all over Spain joined the walkers. The eight columns reunited at 9 p.m. in Puerta del Sol under a banner saying "WELCOME DIGNITY," received with cheers and applause. The march culminated in a wrap up and after-action review assembly, at which participants shared the social, political and economic problems of the towns visited along the way, as well as the proposals made by the townspeople. The protesters created The Book of the People to collect these experiences and redacted it into an official document to be deposited in the
Congress of Deputies' register. A provisional camp was established in
Paseo del Prado to host the thousands of newly arrived walkers.
24 July During the day's rally, protesters sprayed red hand graffiti on buildings and posted bills saying "GUILTY" on bank offices and ministries, referencing the widely held belief that the crisis was caused by banks, the Government, and cuts in social services. Due to the large crowds, the demonstration split into two columns to avoid congestion. The demonstration ended with a protest camp in front of the
Congress of Deputies.
25 July The "I Foro Social del 15M" was held in order to coordinate the mobilizations of the following winter. During the economics assembly, 2001
Nobel Prize winner
Joseph Stiglitz appeared to show his support to the movement. The camp in front of the Congress continued.
27 July Police violently removed the camp in Paseo del Prado, injuring a dozen people. As a response, 500 demonstrators rallied towards the Congress. Meanwhile, several activists crossed the police line in the Congress wearing formal dresses and succeeded entering the
Congress of Deputies, where the Book of the People, containing the rural problematics found during the Indignant People's March, was delivered. Deputy
Gaspar Llamazares compromised on presenting it to the Congress and forwarded it to the Prime Minister. However, he made clear that he had no connection to the Movement.
August 2011 2 August When the assembly decided on 12 June to dismantle the
tent city in Puerta del Sol, it also decided by
consensus to leave behind an information booth, called PuntoSol, where people interested in the movement could find information about how it had been
decentralized to the neighborhood assemblies. An
organic garden surrounding one of the fountains in Sol was also left behind in the square. At 6:30 a.m. on 2 August, the
national and
municipal police evicted the remaining protesters at the information booth, and cleaning crews dismantled PuntoSol and the organic garden. At the same time, they evicted the tent city that had sprung up on the Paseo del Prado. The police then blocked off all access to Sol, including
Metro and
Cercanías, and filled the square with over 300 police, including riot police, and 50 police vans. In response, protesters called an immediate convergence to try to access the square. The heavy police presence impeded their entry. The protestors, then numbering over 5,000, Protesters then turned to
Atocha and once more to Sol, where they again encountered an overwhelming police presence. The decision was then made by the protesters to occupy
Plaza Mayor, where an emergency
participatory assembly was held in order to decide what to do. Ultimately, protesters set up a temporary information booth in Plaza Mayor, and some stayed to camp through the night. At the end of the night, two people were arrested, and released the day after.
3 August During the Plaza Mayor assembly, protesters decided to hold another assembly at Jacinto Benavente on the next day at 6 p.m. in order to attempt entering the square again. Police then cordoned off the square, and metro and train stations closed, while police asked for identification from anyone trying to pass into the square. Police also asked customers from shops around Sol to close their businesses several hours earlier than usual. As the attempt to enter the square failed, the protesters decided to start a new march from Atocha two hours later. The march from Atocha grew larger as people began passing through Cibeles and up the Gran Vía heading toward Puerta del Sol, where officers and police vans prevented the demonstrators from marching up San Jerónimo street. Police and about 4,000 demonstrators then played a game of cat-and-mouse as the demonstrators tried to enter Puerta del Sol through different streets. There were several moments of tension at different points and by 11 p.m., the groups of demonstrators disbanded and retreated to Callao Square, where they held an assembly and decided to hold a demonstration at 12 p.m. on the following day and attempt to enter Sol once again at 8 p.m.
October 2011 15 October As part of the
October 15 movement, (related to the
Occupy movement), hundreds of thousands marched in Madrid and other cities.
December 2011 5 December Two hundred police officers cleared a hotel in Madrid that had been occupied since 15 October. No injuries were reported. Later that day, 3,000 people marched against the eviction in the center of Madrid.
28 December Around 3,000 protesters marched in the center of Madrid in what was called the "Cabalgata de los Indignados" (
Outraged Cavalcade). At the beginning of the protest, demonstrators clashed with police, leaving five injured, including two police officers. Two people were arrested. After the initial scuffles with police officers, demonstrators made their way to Puerta del Sol without further incident. ==2012 events==