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Spanish state

"If they don’t let us dream, we won’t let them sleep!"

Monday 23 May 2011, by Penelope Duggan

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Around Europe, students from the Spanish state are taking the lead in organising in solidarity with their compatriots.

Short-term solidarity camps and pickets have been organised in cities in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal, most often by young people from the Spanish state studying there. They have taken up the slogans of Madrid, Barcelona and elsewhere, both that of the youth movement "Sin casa, Sin curro, Sin pension, Sin Miedo" (No house, No job, No pension, no Fear!", and that of the May 15th movement as a whole "que no nos representan" (they don’t represent us).

One of the most active countries is the Spanish state’s nearest neighbour, Portugal. Our correspondent writes, "In Portugal, camps have been set in Porto, Coimbra, Faro, Azores(!) and Lisbon with Spanish students and workers in solidarity! The most impressive is undoubtedly Lisbon, with daily assemblies of 500+ people in the main plaza, Rossio and everyday more activities and debates. Of course it’s nothing compared to what’s happening in Madrid and Barcelona, but it has been a very interesting experience, and we have set our "little village" in the center of Lisbon, with the help of everyone! Slowly, we’re growing and organizing."

Following the local elections that took place yesterday, that showed a big drop in support for the Sociailist party (and a high level of support for the independentist movement in the Basque country) the camps in Madrid and Barcelona have decide to stay in place until Sunday May 28th. They have also issued a call for solidarity demonstrations on June 19th.