Demonstrators vow to stay during Spain local elections

Protesters seething over mass unemployment defied a ban on their swelling movement yesterday even as Spaniards voted in local elections expected to crush the ruling Socialists.

Blasting big politics for the bleak economy and a jobless rate of more than 21 per cent, they packed city centres around the country from Barcelona to the holiday island of Majorca.

In a blue and clear plastic-covered protest camp in central Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square, spearhead of the nationwide action, hundreds of activists agreed in a show of hands to stay at least until May 29.

The protests, organised since May 15 via Twitter and Facebook, have grown unimpeded despite an election commission ruling that they are illegal because they clash with the municipal and regional voting.

An estimated 60,000 people descended into the streets around the country on the eve of the election but it was difficult to gauge the likely electoral impact.

Voting numbers appeared robust: 35.79 per cent of voters had cast a ballot by 2 p.m. (1200 GMT), up slightly from same time in the last local elections four years ago, government figures showed.

Surveys have forecast devastating losses for the Socialists as people take revenge for the destruction of millions of jobs and painful spending cuts, including reductions to state salaries.

Protesters describe themselves as the “indignant”, and are known variously as “M-15” in reference to the birth date, “Spanish Revolution” and “Real Democracy Now”.