Spain, in a nutshell

Madrid

I arrived in Madrid, 27th May, the final flight being from Frankfurt with Iberia.  Their concept of leg-room is a little different from other  airlines.

I have to confess that my expectations were that there would be a city of a  million honking horns ( of cars, that is, not bulls) with people yelling at each other - sort of a madder Italy.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.  It was all very friendly and polite.

In the main plaze of Sol, students had gathered to protest the corruption of spanish politics (not so polite?), general fallout from the GFC and the fact that, even though they were being, or had been, educated at university, finding a job was proving to be a problem. 

There were many causes being thrown into the mix.  There was lots of stuff about animal liberation, with some gory photos of bulls being slaughtered in the ring.  There was stuff about sexuality, environment, and probably much that I did not understand.

The intention of a prolonged stay in the square was indicated by the number of tents pitched in the square.  My favourite tent was one having a sign "Yes we camp". 

During the evening, thousands turned up to sit and listen to speeches and applaud.  Sometimes, everyone would raise their arms and wiggle their fingers.  I think that it might have been menat to represent flowers.

The next day, I saw on a news screen in the Metro, that a similar event in Placa Catalunya in Barcelona had turned a bit nasty.  There were scenes of police clubbing demonstators, apparently without restraint, and dragging them away.  At Mayor, Sol, Madrid, there was none of that.  Just a large crowd, with occassional announcements over the PA, reminding me of Woodstock, but without the music.  ( I wasn't at Woodstock, only saw the film of it.)