- MADRID: Large crowds continue to defy a pre-election ban on demonstrations in Spain, gathering in central squares across the nation to protest high unemployment and what they call inept politicians.
Protesters at the capital’s Puerta del Sol square thinned enough to allow cleaners in and traffic to flow as the sun rose on Saturday.
Regional and municipal elections are to be held across most of Spain on Sunday and the day before such a vote is normally called “a day for reflection” when campaigning and political acts are banned.
Many people, especially the young, feel indignation at the country’s political class, which they say has failed to deal adequately with an economic crisis that has saddled Spain with a 21.3 percent jobless rate, the highest in the eurozone.