Spain’s security law awakes painful memories

Up to €600,000 fines for unauthorised demonstrations.

Crisis and protests go hand in hand, as Spain knows full well. During these recession years, rainbow-clad demonstrators have loudly shouted their demands from the streets. The most best known are the indignados, with their Guy Fawkes’ masks, tent city in Madrid’s Plaza del Sol and occasional clashes with the police. But there have been other, less publicised demonstrations against conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s austerity reforms: by trade unions, teachers in green t-shirts protesting cuts to public education, scientists sporting pink t-shirts, the Marea Blanca (‘White Tide’) of health workers against healthcare privatisation, and even orange-topped protestors in defence of social services.