Spaniards end 3-week demo

YOUNG demonstrators who camped out in one of Madrid’s busiest squares to protest bleak economic prospects began leaving the plaza to squads of cleaners yesterday after voting to end more than three weeks of vociferous protest.

The protests began on May 15 and spread to cities across Spain and elsewhere in Europe, striking a chord with hundreds of thousands of sympathisers.

Some participants voted to continue the protest against high unemployment and political corruption but a majority raised their hands at a meeting last Wednesday giving their approval to a proposal to take down the camp at Puerta del Sol, opposite the town hall.

“We all feel a bit sad but the future of this movement is progress,” said protester Raul Rincon.

Cleaners, most of them demonstrators, began to move in to scrub the square clean as fellow activists, angry over Spain’s jobless rate dismantled camp, moved on to other urban locations bearing placards stating: “We’re not leaving, we’re expanding.”