I don't want to alarm any of the jittery readers on the board, and things will have died down tomorrow, but the police are baton charging us here in Madrid right now and shooting rubber bullets. All the way down the Castellana towards Colon to Neptuno and into Sol, protestors, who earlier demonstated outside the US embassy, are being dispersed by riot police. Fires have been set in the streets around Sol. More soon...

Hi barry. Sorry to hear about this. After reading your message I went to El-Mundo newspaper to get the story - interesting (or maybe not so surprising) that www.ABC.es didn't cover it. See photos of the article below and read the complete article HERE :









Nuevos incidentes entre policía y manifestantes en Madrid
MARIO GUTIERREZ

MADRID.- El jueves fue el centro de Madrid; ayer, la principal arteria de la capital, el Paseo de la Castellana. Miles de personas bloquearon el tráfico desde la embajada de EEUU, en la calle Serrano, hasta el Congreso de los Diputados. Allí, la Policía Nacional ha cargado contra algunos manifestantes.

El resto, unos 2.000, se dispersaron por el centro de la capital. Las cargas también tuvieron lugar ante la sede del PP y en la Puerta del Sol.

Los incidentes en el centro de Madrid continuaban pasada la medianoche. Unas 500 personas se reagruparon a esa hora en la Puerta del Sol. Los antidisturbios cortaron al tráfico la calle Carretas y cargaron contra los manifestantes hacia la calle Jacinto Benavente.

La protesta comenzó a las 20.00 horas ante la embajada de Estados Unidos, en la calle Serrano. Entre gritos de "Asesinos", "Guerra, no" y "Gobierno dimisión", los manifestantes, convocados por el Foro Social de Madrid, protagonizaron una "pitada" frente al fuerte cordón policial. (read more HERE )

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Saludos y Paz, MadridMan

Hmmmm...so any advice for two Americans who have a trip planned for May? Anyone have comments on the mood of the people...are protesters really mad at Bush, the American people, or both?

Ty 'n Ed, I'd just stay clear from the demonstrations although they don't seem to be angry at people walking by, "American-Looking" or not. These demonstrations are (almost) never violent - it's the police that are trying to disperse them that are creating the majority of the aggression. You'll be fine but as I say, it's probably best to avoid the demonstrations. But, I have a strong feeling there won't be any more anti-war demonstrations while you're there in May as there's an excellent chance it'll all be over within a week from now.

Saludos, MadridMan

I should be in Madrid sometime during the summer, so I hope that the anti-war protests don't grow into hatered toward all Americans.I am against war, but I don't want to spend all my time in Madrid talking about Iraq.

As for the newsreports, it is strange that ABC didn't report the protests. If I remember correctly, the ABC main building is near the protest area. ABC is considered a very traditional newspaper, but it is still odd that they failed to report the marchs. Even La Razón, which has come out in support of the war, published a small article about the protests. It is a good thing that I read more than one Spanish newspaper.

Hoping for peace in the Middle East,

Shawn

There is an article on ABC's web site now about the protests.

As far as I can tell, the police are basically doing their job. If the demonstrations are transforming from authorized rallies into campaigns of civil disobedience (blocking traffic, vandalism, etc.), the police have to enforce the law. Chances are, since almost 90 percent of the Spanish population is opposed to military intervention in Iraq, the cop on the street feels the same way as the protestors, but has his/her job to do.

From what I've seen, the anti-American sentiment is at an abstract, political level, and there have been no reports of personal animosity against individual Americans. Passions are high though, so it's smart to keep checking on what's happening.

Has anyone consider the fact that of the 4,000,000 citizens of Madrid 2,500 are violently rioting???

As I have said, I support this war to a point. People have the right to protest against it as long as they do it peacefully, no matter that some radicals use the situation to provoke policemen and destroy public and private property. What an irony that those radical "pacifists" are complaining about the war!

Fernando

Unfortunately, the best way to fight against this war will happen after the fact: in November 2004 in the U.S. (assuming an honest election next time!) and whenever the next elecciones happen in Spain. Hopefully, those who oppose this war will show the people behind it what regime change is all about.

What makes you think they're pacifists? They're opposing a war they consider unjust and illegal. What has that to do with radical pacifism?

When a small sector of a protest start to burn urban furniture, throw stones to the policemen and destroying whatever they find in their way, under my point of view they are radicals, and should be prosecuted by police.

When there is a group of people who is complaining in the streets against a war, I call them pacifists.

Perhaps you have another point of view...

Fernando

A pacifist, as I understand it, is someone who opposes all wars. Quakers, for example, are generally pacificists.

Someone who opposes a specific war but not all wars is not a pacifist: they're just a person of conscience speaking out against what they consider an injustice.