Dignity marches - Everyone to Madrid on March 22 On Saturday, 22 March, Madrid will witness one of the main social and political mobilisations of the year, the March for Dignity. The aim is to gather hundreds of thousands of people in Madrid, from around the country in order to show opposition to the anti-working class and anti-social policies of the past few years. The demonstration will march under the slogans "Do not pay the public debt", for a "Basic income to all those without resources", "No more cuts", "Bread, Housing and Jobs for all" and "Down with the Troika Governments."
Spain: The government fears the organised people on the streets In the State of the Nation debate, Spanish president Rajoy announced that 2014 will be "the year of recovery." Before this bombastic statement, the government had frozen the meagre minimum wage (€ 645.3 per month), raised the price of transportation by 1.9% and consolidated the huge rise in electricity prices of recent years.
Spain 2014: Social Protests and Class Consciousness Advance As we enter the second half of the ruling Popular Party term of office, we witness a change of mood in the working class and other layers of society: one which is more resolute, firm and militant. A certain element of fatalism and helplessness permeated the year 2013 thanks to the inability of the mass movement to defeat the reactionary policies of the PP. This is now being overcome.
Spain: Over a million on the streets in strike against cuts in education Hundreds of thousands of students, teachers and parents marched yesterday, October 24, in over 70 cities and towns in Spain against cuts and counter-reforms and in defence of high quality and free state education as part of a one day strike of the whole education system.
Spain: victory for the anti-eviction movement highlights housing scandal This morning, a last minute decision by the European Court of Human Rights stopped, temporarily, the eviction of 43 people who have been occupying an empty block of flats in Salt, Girona, known as #BlocSalt. Over 700 people, organised by the anti-eviction movement PAH, had gathered overnight to resist the court order, including a large contingent of firefighters in uniform. This case highlights one of the most scandalous features of the housing crisis in Spain.
Spain: Repudiate the debt, share the work and nationalize the Banks under workers' control Spanish capitalism is caught in a deep crisis. The bosses want the workers and the youth to pay. The only solution is to arm the masses with a revolutionary programme. This is the Editorial article of issue 10 of the Spanish Marxist publication "Lucha de Clases" (Class Struggle)
Spain: The rebellion of the youth On Sunday May 15 2011, 150,000 people marched in about 40 cities throughout Spain under the banner of Democracia Real Ya (Real Democracy Now). The main slogan of the demonstrations was “We are not commodities in the hands of bankers and politicians”. In this article, which was originally published in 2011, Alan Woods explains the significance of this movement and outlines the position of Marxists towards it.
Por un frente único para terminar con el gobierno del PP "España entera es un escrache". Así empezaba un artículo en la web de Público.El PP y los medios de comunicación de la burguesía han arremetido visceralmente contra la propuesta de la Plataforma de Afectados por las Hipotecas (PAH) de señalar a los cargos públicos que apoyan las medidas que favorecen los desahucios. Las demandas de la PAH, sin embargo, son apoyadas por la mayoría de la población. Ada Colau, portavoz estatal de la PAH, estigmatizada por los medios más reaccionarios, explicaba correctamente cómo "se envía la policía contra ciudadanos honrados..., pero no contra los corruptos ni bancos que acosan a los más...
Spain: a Pressure Cooker without a Safety Valve February 20th and 21st saw Spain’s Congress (Parliament) debating the “State of the Nation”. While the debate was going on an opinion poll showed that of 80% the people do not feel they are represented by the Congress. A growing wave of discontent is being translated into struggle. Spain is like a pressure cooker without a safety valve, facing a crisis of the regime which can only be solved through the eruption of the masses onto the scene.
Spain: Corruption, Capitalist Crisis and a regime in Crisis On 31 January the Spanish paper El País published several documents showing top leaders of the ruling Popular Party receiving regular payments in cash from the party. The money was illegal donations by top businesses, particularly in the construction and private security sectors.
Spanish general strike: massive following and huge demonstrations - what next? The general strike in Spain against austerity policies of the right-wing government of Mariano Rajoy (PP) had a massive turn-out and culminated in huge demonstrations in all major cities.
Spain: What Programme do we as Workers Need? Austerity isn’t working; in fact it is simply exacerbating the deep crisis that Spain finds itself in. None of the mainstream parties have come up with a programme that can put an end to this crisis. Here we publish the programme of the Spanish Marxists of Lucha de Clases.
Nobody Expects the Spanish Revolution We have received the following report from a Spanish comrade living in Edinburgh, Julia S. Vidania, on her recent visit to her home city of Madrid. She gives a vivid account of the almost revolutionary tension in the city as the European austerity programme and the crisis of capitalism erodes the veneer of stability in society, exposing the deep fault-lines of the class struggle. We strongly recommend this well written account which is full of detail and insights.
Revolution and counter-revolution in Spain: Book Review Darrall Cozens looks at the crisis unfolding in present day Spain and finds that there is much to learn from a look back at the mighty struggles of the past including the Spanish Civil War as outlined in Felix Morrow's book now republished by Wellred Books.
Hundreds of thousands march in Madrid against austerity – the beginning of a hot autumn Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday, September 15, to protest against the austerity cuts of the right-wing Spanish government of Mariano Rajoy in what is likely to be the beginning of a hot autumn of class struggle.