Protests and elections

Yesterday were the local elections in Spain. The governing party, Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (PSOE) is the socialist party. The main opposition party is the Partido Popular, the center-right party. The president, Zapatero, is of the PSOE, and was elected in the aftermath of the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings. Since the crisis started, most people have turned against him and the PSOE, claiming he does little to create jobs, stimulate the economy, or to relieve massive unemployment, which stands at 21 percent for the general population and a staggering 40 percent or more among the youth.

A little over a week ago, a group of young people started a protest in Puerta del Sol, Madrid's main plaza. The nonviolent protest was intended to lead up to the election, but with a swelling group of people camping in the plaza and gaining enthusiasm, the protest has grown momentum.

The protesters, who come from a variety of backgrounds and ages, share in common an outrage over the status quo. They call for a variety of things, but mainly an overhaul of the established political parties, a method for selecting parties' candidades, which is currently done internally, elimination of corruption, the reversal of an anti-piracy law recently passed, and as an undercurrent, jobs. The protest hit a nerve in Spain, and the camps spread nationwide. Calling themselves los indignantes, the indignant, the protests drew intense media coverage and international attention. It seems that after years of austerity measures by Zapatero, including across-the-board paycuts to civil workers, sometimes up to 7 percent, has finally gotten the average Spaniard into the street. Although they were declared illegal manifestations as of midnight Friday, the police did nothing to remove them as they are peaceful protests and the majority of participants (from what I saw) aren't drinking or taking drugs.

José and I went briefly to the protest in Málaga, in the Plaza de la Constitución. The plaza was filled mainly with young people, talking about their ideas, listening to speakers talk about their demands, and it seemed they were coming up with a coherent set of demands, which they handed out on a printed manifesto at a media tent that seemed to be hastily put together.

Plaza de la Constitución protest. Friday, May 20, 2011.

The elections on Sunday resulted in an an absolute sweep for the Partido Popular, the center right party, over the PSOE. This is unprecedented, as villages that have been PSOE faithful since the return of democracy in the late 1970's swung to the right.

Plaza de la Constitución protest. Friday, May 20, 2011.

It has been interesting to listen to the discussions in the newspapers, on the TV, and among friends of the elections. The main undercurrent I have noted has been a rejection of continuing the way things are. As an outsider, I clearly do not fully understand the process in it's entirety, but I do offer a few humble observations.

1. It's about time that the youth got angry.
Young people in Europe in general seem more politically active. When I asked Jose if many young people voted, José seemed surprised by the question. "Of course young people vote. My friends and I always vote, even if it's en blanco," he responded.  

Sidenote: Voting en blanco is turning in your vote without any selection. It's a way of saying that you are going to exercise your right to vote, something important when the country in very recent memory (late 1970's) was a dictatorship, but also indicates that none of the political parties represent you. When you cast a blank ballot, it usually benefits the party that leads in the election, based on proportions of votes and other such things.

However, the inability even for college-educated, multilingual people to get jobs is a situation on the verge of exploding. The time has come for them to get angry, to get organized, and get things done. I wholly support what they are doing.


2. The youth are more politically involved.
This, I think, is awesome. The political apathy among young Americans is pretty bad. The difference, I think, is that young Americans have given up on the government. I don't expect them to do anything good for me; not higher education, not healthcare, not jobs, and consider them to be doing a good job if we don't start any new wars, there are public schools that relatively work, police and firefighters, and my roads are paved. Spaniards seem to have a belief that the government will provide for them. The government is responsible for most of the population's healthcare, educational grants, economic stimulus, job retraining, etc. Also, Spain's recent past as a dictatorship means that people understand that you might not always have the right to vote, and it's a shame to waste it.

3. Socialism is not a dirty word here
Americans think of socialists as ruthless Russian spies eating cabbage bent on destroying freedom or Cuban people without televisions or cell phones, but the reality that social democratic parties function fairly well and are a mainstream option here.

4. There is also basically two parties here
The main parties, PSOE and PP, are the main options here. There are lots of other options, particularly in local elections, but they are negligable.

5. Basque Independent party wins
On that note, a Basque independence party won in large areas of Basque country. Their participation was allowed only after a court ruling, as they were suspected of ties to ETA, the Basque terrorist group.

6. National elections in 2012
The Spanish political system has the option of calling early elections, which means that when things are not going well for the governing party or they're stuck with overwhelming opposition on the local level, they call early elections. Zapatero, in what has been deemed on all media platforms as a "dick move," will not call early elections. National elections will be celebrated the spring of 2012. Let's see how the indignados affect that.

Disclaimer: This entry is a collection of observations and information gathered from news reports and people, and is not up to the journalistic standards of anybody. Any factual errors or opinions are welcome in the comments section. I am interested to hear other's opinions on the subject. I also apologize for horrific photo quality, they were shot on my ballin´ new blackberry.