I’m a little late to the party, but I thought I should at least mention this.
For anyone who’s not aware, there’s been a lot of protests happening around Spain in the last 3 weeks. The 15-M (15th of May) spontaneous protests in Madrid’s Plaza del Sol spread quickly across the country leading up to, and then continuing after, nation-wide elections. The elections were either municipial, or for the president of the autonomous region – depending on the specific region.
The interesting thing about the protests from my point of view was the lack of a central complaint. The protesters were all against the current economic problems, and the current group of politicians, but has been a fair degree of disparity regarding what individuals are there for.
What they did have was a unifying theme, Spanish politicians are corrupt, and the economy in general is vastly biased against young (under 35) spaniards with respect to employment opportunities.
Spain’s youth unemployment rate is at 40%, up from 17.5% 3 years ago[1], but from all reports, even when the youth had work, it was generally poorly paid to the point that a spaniard in their late 20s or even early 30s living with their parents isn’t that strange.
So the spanish youth took to the streets, or in many cases the squares, of the country in protest, and while it may not have changed anything yet, the spanish attitude seems to reflect what I read in one of Lucía Etxebarria’s most recent columns, it’s better to not believe that change can be made and participate than to believe in change from your armchair.
If you want more in-depth information, there’s always Wikipedia.