Spanish Revolution is Written with a Hashtag
Categories: Social Media
Posted by Xurxo Martinez.
This is the visual tale of two incredibly intense weeks in Spain, when people took over the public spaces—streets and squares—and tried to imagine a healthier way to do politics. It all started on May the 15th with a set of demonstrations in different cities against the effects of the Spanish economic crisis, it’s root causes, and in general against way politics work.
Most of the gatherings were organized or coordinated through Twitter and Facebook. Both social media services helped the unstructured protesters and supporters stay organized throughout the two weeks.
The roots for the outrage in Spain—a country the size of California—are the high unemployment (20%, rising to 42% among young people) how big banks and companies are firing people while still earning lots of money, and the fact that several politicians accused in court were candidates again in the upcoming regional elections.
Two weeks later the movement, labeled with the hashtag #spanishrevolution, has started to put their ideas in motion. In the main cities the neighborhood assemblies have been created, giving birth to a more practical way to change society and seeding a new future.
Here’s a look at these two weeks in photos. Some mine, some from different Flickr users who posted them under CC licenses or have agreed to have them published for this article.
- On May the 15th demonstrations were organized under the Slogan “Real Democracy Now” all over Spain.



(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Get email updates