Country ... Spain
Social Activism ... the S25 protest

Spain's 'Indignados' surround parliament ... Madrid's #25S protesters continue to struggle after violent clashes

Burgess COMMENTARY

There is a corporate elite, a banking elite, a political elite, an academic elite ... yet none of these elites have done anything to address the underlying key problem of the global economy. The money profit capitalist market economy has been good to elites for the past 40 years, but has systematically gutted the underlying economy so that most people now have no buying ability, and GDP cannot grow. Central banks create State money ... banks create bank money ... now it is time there is an institution to create jobs money so that available people can go to work doing things that we really need ... food for the hungry, homes for the homeless, medical care for the sick, education for children, infrastructure, environmental remediation, and so on. A value seeking market economy would deliver a very different global society than one where the only metric is money profit and growth of wasteful excessive consumption.

Spain's 'Indignados' surround parliament ... Madrid's #25S protesters continue to struggle after violent clashes

A demonstrator puts his hands behind his head as he faces Spanish riot police outside the Spanish parliament in Madrid, September 25, 2012. REUTERS/Susana Vera

Late Tuesday, thousands of protesters surrounded the Spanish Parliament in Madrid's Neptuno Square to challenge Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's imposition of austerity measures.

As of Wednesday, Reuters reported 64 people, including police and demonstrators, injured and 28 protesters arrested. Reuters collected several clips of footage from the demonstration.

Shocking PROTEST IN MADRID: Thousands Clash with Police over Government Policy (austerity measures)

The protested austerity measures will be announced Thursday as part of the 2013 budget. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rajoy said that he was uncertain if Spain would pursue a Eurozone bailout, but that under certain conditions it would be entirely possible.

Protesters who call themselves Indignados or Indignants claim that the austerity measures are a symptom of larger problems in Spain's democracy. Activist group Occupy Congress called for the protesters to surround the Parliament building in Madrid on Tuesday.

The Sept. 25 will surround the Congress of Deputies to rescue a kidnapping that has made ​​this institution a superfluous organ. A kidnapping of popular sovereignty held by the Troika and financial markets and executed with the consent and cooperation of most political parties

Democracy is kidnapped. The 25S going to rescue her. | Coordinator # 25s 13 hours ago

Ocupa el congreso 25 septiembre

Netizens used Twitter to share images of insipiration and solidarity for the austerity protests, which have spread across the Eurozone.
#volvemos26s: expression of solidarity with protests in Spain in Portuguese, Greek & Italian: #25s pic.twitter.com/ctk9sJfp

Twitter user @kurioso calls the image below 'the best snapshot of #25s'.
La mejor instantánea del #25S pic.twitter.com/gUNzAErH vía @nopacsnofame Pepo Jiménez

Others drew comparisons between Spanish debt and debt faced in other European countries, like Italy. The tweet below asks, 'Does this remind you of anything? Madrid, Spain vs. Italy'.

#intervistiamoli : vi ricorda qualcosa? #25S #Madrid #Spagna Vs. #Italia pic.twitter.com/OBQl7Cki stefano dossi

Brutalidad policial el #25S Basta ya!!! pic.twitter.com/Xx7vspQ0 DefensaDeMadrid

Twitter user Paloma Barrios claimed that 'discrete secret police infiltrated the demonstration on # 25S carrying red flags', labeling the tweet with #PoliceViolence.

Los DISCRETOS policías secretas infiltrados en la manifestación del #25S portaban banderas rojas. #ViolenciaPolicial pic.twitter.com/hWuQgcdX Paloma Barrios

Twitter user Dani Roy, who labels himself as an #Indignado tweeted the picture below, saying 'Of all the slaves, the most cowardly protects the master. I could not sleep at night'.

De todos los esclavos, el más cobarde es el que defiende al amo. Yo no podría dormir por las noches. #volvemos26s pic.twitter.com/4NlCn726 Dani Røy ® - #25S

Citizen journalist Tim Pool shared the following footage. Police surround two demonstrators 34 seconds into the clip.

Other footage outside the building focused on the same two protesters shows them bloodied and on the ground.

Man is severely injured by Spanish Police in #Madrid protest, face covered in blood #25S #S25 #MadridNoEstáSola youtu.be/qP0pgijL3tI Tim Pool

Man is severely injured by Spanish Police in Madrid protest #S25 #25S

Twitter user Luis Jaqui shared: 'Here is a picture that is already circulating, Spanish brother brutally beaten by Spanish cops'.

Aquí una foto que ya circula sobre el hermano español brutalmente golpeado por los pacos españoles #25S pic.twitter.com/61UN5Df8 Luis Jaqui

Given the bloody confrontations, some netizens questioned the nature of the Occupy Congress protests. One account asks, 'Is this the pacifism that the 25S supporters boast?? This method never solved a problem.'

¿Este pacifismo del que hacen gala los que apoyan el 25S?? de ese modo jamás se solucionó un problema. pic.twitter.com/Z0xmXl5o GONZALO #Esoll

Video captured protesters moving police barriers as security forces fired what demonstrators say were rubber bullets.

In the video above, a restaurant owner pleads with the clashing forces outside his establishment. CNN captioned a photo of the owner as 'a restaurant owner...shouts at demonstrators to stop throwing stones at his business'. Here's a screenshot of the caption:

Netizens tweeted a different picture saying: 'The bar owner protects protesters from UIP [anti-riot police unit] pigs'.

Del #25S me quedo con esta imagen: El propietario de un bar protege a los manifestantes de los cerdos de las UIP pic.twitter.com/RIGU3kKE Pablo

Some activists responded to the allegations of violence, asking Indignados to keep strong and #volvemos26s, or 'come back September 26'. The coordination account for the #25s protests tweeted 'We regret that the focus on violent scenes means that the reasons that took us to the streets are being overshadowed.'

'Lamentamos que el foco en escenas violentas deje de lado la cuestión de fondo que nos sacó a la calle'. bit.ly/NQM8nK #volvemos26s Coordinadora25S

'We made it clear that mobilization # 25S was not violent and that's what we propose: nonviolent civil disobedience # volvemos26s'.

RP:'Dejamos claro que movilización #25S era no violenta y eso es lo que seguimos proponiendo:desobediencia civil no violenta'#volvemos26s Coordinadora25S

Protesters pledged to remain in Neptuno square until the Spanish government responds to their greivances. Supporters have been using aerial images of the #25S crowd to rally support for #volvemos26s.

Spanish protest continues today in Madrid at 19:00 #volvemos26s #25s twitpic.com/ayd4hd Occupy Wall Street

Twitter user Victor Arrogante summed up his thoughts with the following tweet: 'And the people stand'.

Y el pueblo se puso en pie. #25S pic.twitter.com/sbZvcKPi Victor Arrogante