Demonstraties in Europa: Aanzwellend protest in Spaanse steden

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Tienduizenden Spanjaarden betogen tegen bezuinigingen

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Duizenden Spanjaarden zijn vandaag in Madrid en 55 andere steden de straat opgegaan om te protesteren tegen bezuinigingen van de regering.

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Spanish banks to restrict evictions after suicides

Two-year freeze in cases of extreme hardship as union backs police who refuse to enforce orders

Spain's banking association announced on Monday it would freeze eviction orders for the next two years in cases of "extreme hardship", following widespread alarm and protests after a woman killed herself on Friday moments before she was due to be evicted, the second such death in less than a month.

"This cannot be allowed to go on," said Juan Carlos Mediavilla, a judge who attended the scene after Amaia Egaña, 53, leapt from her fourth-floor flat in the northern city of Bilbao.

"It's a problem which has been talked about for some time. The time for talk is over and steps must be taken for something to happen."

Within hours of Egaña's death noisy protesters had gathered on the streets of Bilbao. Stickers saying "murderers" were fixed to cash machines, while the governing People's party and opposition Socialists pledged to hold an emergency meeting on Monday to agree on reforming mortgage laws.

Maria Cumbicus, who has fallen behind on her mortgage payments since she lost her job as a cleaner three months ago, is in danger of joining the list of 400,000 who have been evicted in Spain since a property boom ended in 2008 and the country sank into economic crisis.

"It is just terrible never knowing if you'll be able to get back into your home every time you go out," said Cumbicus, 50, who is originally from Ecuador, one of many who moved to Spain when its economy boomed but have since fallen on hard times in a country where one in four are on the dole. Her husband was forced to return to Ecuador because he was self-employed and not entitled to unemployment benefit after losing his job.

Cumbicus's flat on the outskirts of Pamplona, a city famous for its annual bull-running festival, was put up for auction in court on Mondaymorning, but no bids were accepted, so she now has 20 days in which to negotiate with the bank and see if she can transfer the property in lieu of payment. Under Spanish law, mortgage holders are still liable for outstanding debts even if they are evicted.

"All these years I've been paying and now I'm going to be on the street," she said. "Halting evictions is all very well after these suicides, but there is very little you can do on your own unless someone comes to your aid."

Spain's banks have come under fire from protesters and opposition politicians for continuing to carry out evictions even after some received part of a European bailout negotiated by Madrid which could amount to ¤100bn (£80bn).

Details of the cross-party deal to reform the mortgage law by decree remain under discussion, but the minister for the economy, Luis de Guindos, said: "No family of good faith should become homeless because of the crisis."

The Platform of those Affected by Mortgages (PAH) grassroots group, which has been campaigning to change the law for nearly three years, says a moratorium on evictions would not be enough.

"This measure would not affect foreclosures under way and so leave out hundreds of thousands of families still swamped by proceedings. We demand an immediate halt to all foreclosures, as long as they affect first homes and debtors in good faith," a PAH statement said.

The United Police Union said it would back any of its members who conscientiously objected to enforcing eviction orders.

"We're not robots, we're human beings and this is like the soldier in a firing squad who refuses to shoot, even knowing he will take the place of the one to be shot," said Jose Manuel Sanchez, the union's secretary general.

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Op woensdag 18 mei 2011 00:04 schreef Strani het volgende:
Spanje ligt dan wel niet in het Midden-Oosten, maar het zou wel het eerste Europese land kunnen worden dat het voorbeeld van landen als Egypte volgt.

Afgelopen weekend ontstonden kleinschalige protesten, welke op dit moment zijn uitgemond in veel grotere demonstraties of 'camp-outs'. De Puerta Del Sol (plein) in Madrid is momenteel het centrum van deze protesten, en via sociale media wordt men opgeroepen ook zo snel mogelijk te komen.

Men protesteert voornamelijk tegen de enorm hoge werkeloosheid in Spanje, en het algemeen gebrek aan toekomstmogelijkheden voor jongeren. De protesten komen slechts enkele dagen voor gemeenteraadsverkiezingen.

Iets om de komende dagen in elk geval goed in de gaten te houden.

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Op maandag 4 februari 2013 10:06 schreef TweeGrolsch het volgende:
Ik snap protesteren tegen werkloosheid nooit zo... Hoe helpt dat werkloosheid op te lossen? Kun je niet beter demonstreren vóór bepaalde voorstellen.

Er zijn ook bijna nooit demonstraties voor iets, altijd tegen. Dat typeert het soort mens dat demonstreert nogal.

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Spaanse Volkspartij in actie tegen beschuldigingen

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De in Spanje regerende Volkspartij (PP) van premier Mariano Rajoy heeft maandag juridische stappen aangekondigd tegen de bewering dat de partij illegale praktijken benut in zijn financiën.

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Op maandag 4 februari 2013 10:06 schreef TweeGrolsch het volgende:
Ik snap protesteren tegen werkloosheid nooit zo... Hoe helpt dat werkloosheid op te lossen? Kun je niet beter demonstreren vóór bepaalde voorstellen.

Er zijn ook bijna nooit demonstraties voor iets, altijd tegen. Dat typeert het soort mens dat demonstreert nogal.

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Vrouw steekt zichzelf in brand in Spaanse bank

Dat de Spaanse bankencrisis ook leidt tot persoonlijke drama's hebben we de afgelopen jaren al veel gezien. Maar zelden ging het protest zo ver, als bij een vrouw in het oosten van Spanje.

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1,5 miljoen Portugezen de straat op tegen bezuinigingen
Naar schatting 1,5 miljoen Portugezen hebben zaterdag in meer dan 30 steden gedemonstreerd tegen bezuinigingen en lastenverhogingen.

De betogingen volgen op de grootste belastingverhoging in de geschiedenis van het Zuid-Europese land.

De demonstranten riepen de regering op te vertrekken. Ze droegen spandoeken met leuzen als 'Verkiezingen nu!' en 'Trojka naar de hel'. De bezuinigingen en belastingverhogingen zijn doorgevoerd onder druk van de zogeheten trojka in ruil voor financiële steun. De trojka bestaat uit de Europese Unie, de Europese Centrale Bank (ECB) en het Internationaal Monetair Fonds (IMF).

Een groep die zich 'naar de duivel met de trojka' noemt had opgeroepen tot de protesten.
Inspecteurs van de trojka brengen zondag een bezoek aan Griekenland. Ze gaan bekijken hoe Griekenland zich houdt aan de bezuinigingen en hervormingen die het moet doorvoeren in ruil voor steun.

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How the corrala movement is occupying Spain

The financial crash and plummeting property market struck Spain with a high eviction rate and a rash of empty houses. Now victims of the crisis are fighting back by setting up home in a network of vacant buildings

"Life changes when you lose everything," says Manoli Cortés. "There was a time when I was happy just to work and look after my home. Now, at the age of 65, I have suddenly become an activist." She is sitting in a typical Spanish living room: immaculately clean, filled with family photographs and dark wood furniture. Meanwhile, with its crisp, geometric lines, sliding French doors and private balconies, the exterior of her building looks much like any other newly built urban apartment block.

Look a little closer, though, and a different story is told. The afternoon sun shines down on concrete walls adorned with spraypainted banners and stencilled slogans, the most revealing of which reads: "Ni gente sin casa, ni casas sin gente" (No people without houses, no houses without people). This is Corrala Utopía, the first in a growing network of previously vacant properties in the Andalusian capital of Seville now occupied by victims of Spain's ongoing economic crisis.

Like much of the rest of the country, Andalusia experienced a building boom at the turn of the millennium. Locals took jobs as bricklayers, painters, carpenters, contract cleaners, and property values rose. But in 2008 the global financial crash brought this cycle to an abrupt end, leaving huge numbers unemployed and, after punishing cuts to social welfare, struggling to keep roofs over their heads.

In 2010 Spanish banks foreclosed on more than 100,000 households. Macarena, the district of Seville in which Corrala Utopía stands, now has the highest eviction-rate in the city. Yet in Seville's greater metropolitan area alone an estimated 130,000 unsellable, unrentable homes are lying empty.

Toñi Rodriguez, 44, left her home voluntarily last year. "I was unable to pay my rent and was being taken to court. I didn't want to build up any more debt. I was living on the street, sleeping in my car. Back then the people from 15-M [the grassroots community activist group that rose to international prominence during the 2011 Indignados protests] were holding public assemblies in a square every day. A friend said that they might be able to help me," she explains.

Together they came up with a simple solution. "We began to talk about the possibility of taking over vacant buildings," she says. "We spent four months planning before we did anything and I was very afraid of what might happen to us. I didn't know whether we would be allowed to stay or if we would be arrested."

Eventually, a block of flats owned by the troubled construction company Maexpa was selected. With a group of women in similar situations, Rodriguez entered the building on 14 May 2012. Now a total of 36 families have made it their home, among them 40 children and several elderly people.

So far their future appears safe. Maexpa is now mired in bankruptcy proceedings. The current owner of the building, the Zaragoza-based bank Ibercaja, has entered into a series of negotiations with the corrala's inhabitants and local support is strong. However, life there remains challenging. Just two weeks after the community was established, its electricity was cut off and shortly after, despite an application for collective billing, its water supply disconnected. Now residents have to use a public standpipe.

In recent weeks four more corralas have been established in smaller towns in Andalusia and another in the city of Málaga, where the unemployment statistics and the number of empty houses are even higher than in Seville. These come in addition to the five communities that now exist in the city, ranging in size from five to 18 families. In late January Corrala Libertad, a community of seven apartments in the district of Triana, was granted legal rights to operate as a housing cooperative.

For the occupants of Corrala Utopía, who received an award from the Asociación Pro-Derechos Humana De Andalucia (Human Rights Association of Andalucia) in December last year, these developments are encouraging. Ana Lopez, 67, is one of the community's oldest members. She lives with her 71-year-old husband Pancho, a former flamenco dancer, who has in the last few years had three heart attacks, undergone a bypass operation and suffered complications related to asthma and diabetes. Despite his ill health, the couple were evicted from their home last year after falling into mortgage arrears. Before moving into the corrala they spent several weeks sleeping in the lobby of their former building.

"I have grandchildren," she says. "When I die I would like to be able to say to myself that they will have jobs, homes and a happy life. The corralas are important. They set an example to people who are struggling. They show that we can help ourselves and each other. I don't know what the future will hold for any of us, but one way or another I believe that this will be a successful fight. I have to, otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep at night."

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a 16 mrt 2013, 23:02
Spanjaarden betogen tegen 'EU van de markten'

MADRID - In Madrid, Bilbao en Murcia zijn zaterdag tienduizenden Spanjaarden de straat op gegaan. Zij betoogden voor „een Europa van de mensen en tegen de EU van de markten”.

Tot de organisatoren behoorden tientallen organisaties, zoals vakbonden. Sprekers eisten „een nieuw sociaal en economisch model” en hekelden „het terrorisme” van de financiële markten, aldus Spaanse media. Een krant repte over een „oceaan van verontwaardiging”

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Spanish anarchists send Catholics explosive packages containing vibrators

Anticlerical Pro Sex Toys Group targets prominent Roman Catholics including archbishop of Pamplona

An anarchist group in Spain has been sending bombs to prominent Roman Catholics, hiding the explosives inside packages containing vibrators.

At least two such mini-bombs have been sent by a group that calls itself the Anticlerical Pro Sex Toys Group, according to Spain's state-owned EFE news agency. One device exploded at a postal sorting office, slightly injuring the woman who was handling the package.

"Please accept our apologies," the group said in an email apparently sent to an anarchist website at the beginning of last month. "Next time we won't fail."

The group targeted the Roman Catholic archbishop of Pamplona, Francisco Pérez, and the headteacher of a private school belonging to the ultra-conservative Legionnaires of Christ movement in Madrid.

The archbishop told EFE that he vaguely recalled police taking away a suspicious package containing powder. "We didn't give it much importance, but later it was said to be a bomb," he said.

Police reportedly believe the same group is behind a bomb packed inside a pressure cooker that was left near the public prosecutor's office in Madrid, but failed to explode.

Another rudimentary bomb found in Madrid's Almudena Cathedral, combining shrapnel, explosive powder and a camping gas canister, is also thought to have come from the same source.

The anarchists, who use other names such as the Artisans Club for New Uses for Coffee, claimed to have made a bomb out of an espresso coffee machine packed with gunpowder and shrapnel that was planted at a bank branch.

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Gewonden bij protest Madrid

Zeker 18 mensen zijn gisteren gewond geraakt bij protesten voor het Spaanse parlement in Madrid. Duizenden mensen voerden daar actie tegen een wetsvoorstel die demonstreren strafbaar maakt.

Actievoerders hielden spandoeken vast met leuzen als 'Vrijheid om te demonstreren' en 'Volkspartij, schande van Spanje'. Elf van de gewonden waren politieagenten.

Door de nieuwe wet, voorgesteld door de regerende Volkspartij, kunnen activisten worden beboet die deelnemen aan ongeoorloofde protesten, foto's publiceren van de politie of actievoeren bij publieke evenementen. Demonstranten die een politieagent beledigen, kunnen bijvoorbeeld een boete tot 30.000 euro krijgen.