Spanish police clears ‘indignants’ from Madrid’s square

Spanish police clears ‘indignants’ from Madrid’s square

Spanish police had made the arrests early Sunday as they cleared the Puerta del Sol square after issuing an official warning to disperse late Saturday.

The square has become a focal point for Madrid's Indignant demonstrators, and many had spent the night there as part of nationwide rallies to mark a year since the inception of the movement that helped inspire similar protests worldwide.

Tens of thousands of people have protested in a number of Spanish cities to mark the first anniversary of the "Indignants" movement.

The protesters had pledged to occupy Madrid's Puerta del Sol square.

But police moved in to disperse them after they ignored a midnight deadline to leave the square.

The movement was formed out of anger at the impact of Spain's deepest economic crisis in decades. Unemployment hit a record high in April.

The centre-right government has recently announced fresh austerity measures.

The turnout in Madrid was huge and would certainly have met organisers' expectations, says Guy Hedgecoe, reporting for the BBC from Madrid.

The police moved in on the Puerta del Sol square in the early hours and within minutes removed the several hundred activists who had defied an official warning to disperse after 10:00 pm (2200 GMT) on Saturday, an AFP photographer on the scene witnessed.

"There were 18 arrests made and two police officers were injured," a police spokeswoman told AFP, adding that "the night passed without any major incidents."

Activists called for a new gathering at Puerta del Sol from 1500 GMT, calling for supporters to turn out via Twitter using the #volvemosalas5 hashtag (#wewillreturnat5oclock).

On Sunday morning six vans of police officers remained at the square.

Police also cleared out without incident 100 demonstrators in Mallorca in the Balearic Islands and some 70 in Valencia, according to Spanish media.

Masses of chanting "indignants" poured into the streets across Spain on Saturday in a vast show of strength a year after sparking a global protest movement against economic injustice.

Madrid police estimated that 30,000 people had taken part in the protest during the day. In Barcelona, Spain’s second city, the turnout was 45,000 according to police, and 220,000 according to organisers.

The marches, held in 80 cities and towns across Spain, launched a four-day protest that will end on May 15, the anniversary of the movement’s birth — dubbed 15-M.

While Barcelona city hall seemed prepared to tolerate a camp for a limited period, the authorities in Madrid insisted that they would not allow a repeat of last year’s month-long sprawling encampment in Puerta del Sol that included everything from a canteen to a kindergarten and a library.

Spain’s conservative government, in power since December, has issued a permit for the “indignants” to use Puerta del Sol for a five-hour assembly Saturday and for 10 hours on each of the following three days.

Sources:
The Raw Story
BBC News
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News UK
Gulf Times
FRANCE24