Barcelona: Spain's "indignant" activists
began their last and longest protest march today, leaving from
the northeastern city of Barcelona to cover 650 kilometres on
their way to a major Madrid rally on July 24.
Two other marches set off earlier this week, from
Valencia in the east on Monday and Cadiz in the south on
Thursday, spreading the message of their anger at
unemployment, welfare cuts and corruption.
Some 50 marchers left Barcelona early in the morning
to applause from passers-by and sympathisers, expecting to
pick up more en route.
They carried sleeping bags, groundsheets and
prophylactics against insect bites, sunburn and muscle cramps.
The party also included a doctor and a nurse.
Some walking and others cycling, they planned to pass
through 29 towns and villages, holding a meeting at each stop
on the 652-kilometre route.
"It's a further step for the indignant," said Rafael
de la Rubia, international coordinator of the movement World
without War, who is well used to marching for a cause.
"First we took to the streets, then the squares, and
now the highways," he added.
"After that, we will take Europe."
The protest movement started in Madrid on May 15 and
fanned out nationwide as word spread by Twitter and Facebook,
bringing tens of thousands of people into city squares around
Spain ahead of May 22 local elections.
On Sunday, about 200,000 protesters packed the streets
of Madrid, Barcelona and other major cities to vent their
anger, according to estimates by the Spanish media and some
regional authorities.
On Wednesday some 200 rallied near the Spanish
parliament after camping out overnight to protest plans to
overhaul workers' collective bargaining rights.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, June 26, 2011, 00:33