Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square, the centre of nationwide protests against mass unemployment, boiled with political passion, gawkers and families on Sunday while Spaniards voted in local elections. Tens of thousands of protesters have packed plazas in cities throughout Spain all week in the run-up to election day, demonstrating against austerity measures and urging people not to vote for the ruling Socialists or centre-right Popular Party.
The Puerta del Sol has been a gathering place for Madrilenos for centuries and is all distances in Spain are measured from the 0 km plaque at its heart. At night the crowds there swell to up to 30,000 people. Hundreds of protesters camp out overnight and occupy the plaza during the day. On Sunday morning thousands of protesters were in the square, cleaning up, handing out donated water and sunscreen to passers by, rearranging tarps, and maintaining a “guerrilla garden” where they dug out flowers to plant vegetables.
