π° Excitement In Madrid Over The Idea Of A Third Republic After King of Spain Abdicates
(3/06/2014) King Juan Carlos will abdicate. A wave of excitement rushed through republicans in Spain after the Prime Minister made the announcement.
(Originally published on June 3, 2014)
The excitement was palpable amongst Spanish journalists an hour before the abdication announcement was made. They knew Mr. Rajoy was going to announce something big. A cabinet reshuffle? Finally a decision to act on the Catalan problem? The King?
It was the King, and Mr. Zarzalejos, the former editor of monarchist ABC, had obviously been told beforehand by the palace because he published his column with the news five minutes before Mr. Rajoy announced it in a brief statement from the Moncloa Palace, but even Mr. Zarzalejos was beaten to the scoop by online Spanish news sites tweeting it 10 minutes earlier than the early article.
On the train up to Madrid, people in the cafeteria were talking of nothing else. An old Spanish lady rushed over for confirmation of gossip she had heard in her carriage. The two waitresses giggled and told me of their excitement of the idea of the possibility of a Third Spanish Republic. Older Spaniards I spoke to were more cautious, more conservative.
The taxi driver in Madrid cut to the chase: βI hope it will be a big demonstration tonightβ, he told me, βIβve never understood the idea of a King. Theyβre bloodsuckers.β The receptionist at the hotel was smiling, with a twinkle in her eye as she Whatsapped her girlfriends about the pro-republic demo to be held in the Puerta Del Sol.
βItβs about timeβ, she said.
Under an almost cloudless blue sky, a throng of thousands and thousands of Spanish republicans, of all ages, descended on Madridβs central Puerta del Sol, squashed tight as sardines into every corner of the square. It was difficult to make any progress at all. Girls took refuge in doorways.
The riot police stood on the sidelines in the streets leading to Sol as hundreds of republican and communist flags were waved above the crowd as it chanted pro-republican slogans.
βSpain, tomorrow, will be republican!β
βReferendum, referendum!β
The Students Syndicate handed out flyers with photos of Franco and a younger King Juan Carlos on them, announcing they were selling raffle tickets for a trip to Cuba.
Their flyers were hopefully titled, in the present tense, βYouth and workersβ mobilisation gets rid of Juan Carlos I. We want a III Republic now!β.
The accompanying text explainedβand remember this is just a few hours after the announcementβthat the Kingβs abdication had been a βdirect consequence of the mobilisation and struggle in the streets, and is just the start of all the battles we have yet to winβ, adding that the governing Popular Party is terrorised by a wave of street-level mobilisations.
βEach and every one of the institutions that have been used historically to sustain the system and condemn us to unemployment, instability, evictions and all the scourges of capitalism, are seriously wounded and have lost their legitimacy.β
Other signs read: βA dead king is a kick in the ballsβ, or βNo King, No State, Hang Them Allβ. The young Spaniards holding that banner didnβt want their photo taken.
From above the square, on one of the balconies that overlook the Puerta Del Sol, where TV crews do their live shots from, it was very evident that there were very many thousands of protestors down below, peacefully demanding a new Spanish republic.
As the sun started to go down, and dozens of immigrants walked through the crowd trying to sell cans of beer, the riot police refused to say anything interesting about what was happening from their point of view: βYou must talk to the police HQ press office if you want to know anything. We donβt give out any details. About anythingβ.
The protestors, though, were quite happy to explain why they were there in colourful detail.
JosΓ© Manuel, a 50-year old Spaniard, told The Spain Report that: βMost of the young people in Spain support a referendum on the monarchy. The Bourbons in Spain have been a bunch of scoundrels, drunkards. The King had reached the point of falling asleep in all his official summits. And now we have to swallow Felipeβ.
He and his friends all agreed the King had abdicated because of the European election results.
Nadia, a 40-year old Moroccan, said a republic would be impossible in her country: βalthough Iβd like to see it one day. This has been a big surprise after the elections. Iβm hopeful but I donβt know if it will go much further.
Carmen, 48, added that after the European elections, right-wing politicians: βare very scared now: the reds are coming!β
JosΓ© Manuel concluded: βThis is like when rats run from a sinking ship, theyβve realised whatβs going on and theyβre scaredβ.
Nearby, Rafa, Ruz and MΓ³nica were standing chanting republican slogans and chatting amongst themselves.
βThis is another example of the unity of the Leftβ, Rafa said: βWe are on a path towards a new Popular Frontβ. He thought the king had abdicated now because the judge was about to put the kingβs daughter in the dock over the UrdangarΓn fraud scandal.
His friend Ruz, 34, who agreed that many of the girls didnβt look very much like radical left extremists with republican-coloured flowers in their hair, or wearing pretty republican-coloured clothing combinations, told me they wanted a new republic now: βThe time has come. They want to cover this up by calling us all the radical left. There is going to be a republic. Felipe is going to be left without a job!β
Towards the end of the evening, after the several thousand had become several hundred, a small group of older Spaniards grabbed a megaphone and began speaking.
A crowd of young people quickly gathered around them and cheered as they gave political advice and tips on life.
The star act was an old woman, who told the youngsters not to worry about burning a few rubbish skips when there are so many children hungry children in Spain.
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