Spain

Spanish pro-choice march

Thousands of Spaniards protested on 1 February against a draft law to restrict access to abortion. The law would limit abortion to cases of rape and instances where the health of the mother was at serious risk. The current law, brought in the Socialist government in 2010, gives women the right to abort up to the 14th week of pregnancy.

The Anarchists in the Spanish Revolution

D. A. Santillan has written a tragic, very significant book* to tell the “real role” of the F.A.I. (Anarchist Federation of Iberia), the “only influential mass organization that remained incorruptible in the face of new loves” and to place the blame for the victory of Franco where he thinks it really falls – at the door of the “democracies,” Russia and the Popular Front government of Spain. Santillan, leader and chief of the Anarchist Federation of Iberia, was the organizer and active leader of the militias that crushed the fascists in Barcelona in July, 1936, and then marched on to Aragon. He...

The Anarchists in the Spanish Revolution

M. Wilson D. A. Santillan has written a tragic, very significant book* to tell the “real role” of the F.A.I. (Anarchist Federation of Iberia), the “only influential mass organization that remained incorruptible in the face of new loves” and to place the blame for the victory of Franco where he thinks it really falls – at the door of the “democracies,” Russia and the Popular Front government of Spain. Santillan, leader and chief of the Anarchist Federation of Iberia, was the organizer and active leader of the militias that crushed the fascists in Barcelona in July, 1936, and then marched on to...

Spanish health workers say: Basta ya de recortes! Enough of the cuts!

The Spanish government has been using the economic crisis as an excuse to make healthcare profitable. Against the cuts and privatisation, healthcare workers and communities have been fighting back. In December a two day strike in Madrid against the privatisation of healthcare saw most hospital services in the capital city closed. 3,000 protestors held hands and surrounded one of the main hospitals, La Princesa, opposing the proposals to turn 6 public hospitals, 27 public healthcare centres and 269 public health assistance centres into business companies. There have also been a four-day strike...

Learn from Spanish health workers

In summer 2011 I was on holiday in Barcelona with my partner when I got a stomach bug. Unable to access a doctor, I decided to go into the local hospital. The area we were staying, Nou Baris, is a working-class suburb of Barcelona with a high number of Latin American migrant workers and a traveller population. Walking up to the hospital we noticed that there were banners draped out of the local flats and shops, all opposing the closure of the hospital. On arrival at the hospital we saw that there were some tents outside and a stall with several people doing a petition, giving out leaflets...

Protests grow in Spain and Italy

Anti-austerity protests in Spain are continuing to grow, with many cities witnessing near-daily protests. There were marches in 56 different cities on Sunday 7 October, mobilising tens of thousands of people. Around 60,000 people marched in Madrid. Spain’s unions are now threatening a general strike unless Prime Minister Rajoy holds a referendum on his deeply unpopular austerity budget. The budget, which involves €13 billion of additional cuts, was passed on Tuesday 25 September despite enormous protests in Madrid on which 35 people were arrested and 64 people injured. A survey in the El Pais...

Protests say “Rajoy out”

Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets of Madrid on 25 September and marched on Spain’s parliament building as MPs discussed its 2013 budget. The demonstrations were called by a coordination originating in the “Indignados” movement, who set up protest camps in Spanish cities in 2011. Many demonstrators were demanding new elections. The manifesto said: “Winning an election does not give the government the right to act as it wants, betraying the voters who elected it. “The people, under these conditions, have the right to demand that the government quits. This is the essence of...

Spanish doctors defy government over migrants

So far 870 Spanish doctors have signed a manifesto which states: “My loyalty to patients does not allow me to ignore my ethical and professional duty and abandon them”. They are defying a government decree to refuse public health services to 150,000 migrants. Six of Spain’s 17 regional governments — all those not run by the ruling right-wing Popular Party, and one that is — have also announced they will ignore the law and continue to provide free healthcare to migrants. Madrid’s new law requires all non-EU citizens without residency cards to pay a charge for health services unless they are...

Spanish workers resist cuts

Despite the return to work by Spanish miners, resistance to the government’s austerity measures continues. The decision by the Spanish miners’ unions to call off their strike came as a surprise to many observers (including the writer of these lines). Nevertheless, in the coalfields and in much of the rest of Spain, the situation can hardly be described as “normal”. In announcing the end of the strike, Felipe López, the General Secretary of the Industrial Section of the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), stated: “We are going to do what will hurt them [the government] most, where it hurts them most and...

Spain: a storm is brewing

As the Spanish government teeters on the brink of a bailout, the Spanish working class has responded with a spectacular burst of militancy that sets the tone for a fightback against Europe-wide austerity. The right-wing government of Mariano Rajoy is imposing vicious cuts in welfare and social spending. This includes £50 billion of austerity measures: a VAT hike, cuts to unemployment benefit, a 7% cut in public sector wages and the privatisation of ports, airports and railways. But the militant Spanish workers’ movement is fighting back. They are led by the magnificent miners, the first major...

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