page_title: ¡Democracia Real YA!
section_title: Chronology of events
hierarchical_section_title: ¡Democracia Real YA! / Chronology of events
caption_attribution_description: Español: Asistentes a la manifestación del 15 de octubre de 2011 en una de las bocas de metro de la estación de Sol, en Madrid, España. English: 15th October 2011 demonstrators on one of the entrances to Sol subway station, Madrid, Spain.
context_page_description: ¡Democracia Real YA!, also known as Plataforma Democracia Real Ya!, is a Spanish grassroots organization that started in March 2011 in Madrid, Spain. It sparked the political movement of May 15, 2011 whose protests gained worldwide attention. The protests been compared to the May 1968 social movement in France.
  ¡Democracia Real YA! is associated with approximately 200 smaller organizations. ¡Democracia Real YA! states in its manifesto that it is a broad social movement, dedicated to nonviolent protest, and that maintains no affiliation with any political party or labor union. It has not appointed any single leader and is unwilling to join any of the existing political bodies. It is, however, not an entirely apolitical movement. ¡Democracia Real YA! considers the current political and economic system incapable of listening to and representing its citizens and therefore demands changes to the current social and economic policies, which have led many people into unemployment, loss of their homes, and poverty.
context_section_description: September 29, 2010 - Spain's unions led a General Strike throughout the country to protest new labor reforms. The government had passed the reforms to improve the economy, but in reality they made worsened conditions for the workers. The General Strike was one of the first events in Spain where the common people voiced their concerns against the capitalist government.
  January 27, 2011 - Unions in Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country held a smaller strike. They were protesting more labor reforms of the Socialist government, in particular the raising of the retirement age to 67.
  April 7, 2011 - 5,000 people gathered in Madrid to support the group Youth without a Future (Juventud sin Futuro) and their goals to change the capitalist economic structure.
  May 1, 2011 - May Day traditionally has been a day to celebrate workers around the world. In Barcelona, the unions led this protest that turned into a violent rebellion. Workers destroyed many businesses in the richest neighborhood until the police stopped them.
  May 13, 2011 - DRY occupied the central office of Santander Bank in Murcia to symbolize their rebellion against the richest percentages of society and the power of the bankers.
  May 15, 2011 – The first protest. ¡Democracia real YA! counted 50,000 participants in Madrid alone. Protesters blocked Gran Via Avenue and held a peaceful sit-in on Callao St. Police used physical force to move the protesters, causing riots to erupt.
  May 16, 2011 – A group of protesters gathered in Puerta del Sol and vowed to stay there through the elections on May 22. #spanishrevolution became a trending topic on Twitter.
  May 17, 2011 – In the morning, police removed the 150 overnight protesters from Puerta del Sol. Overnight protests took place in 30 cities throughout Spain. In the evening, 4000 protesters re-occupied Puerta del Sol, and 300 of them stayed until dawn of the next day.
  May 18, 2011 – ¡Democracia real YA! set up a large tarp canopy and food stand in Puerta del Sol. Police evacuated protesters from plazas in Valencia, Tenerife, Granada and Las Palmas. The Federation of Neighbor Associations of Barcelona (FAVB) announced their support of the protests. Several key newspapers from around the world published articles about the protests. In the evening, the President of the Regional Electoral Committee of Madrid issued a statement declaring the protests illegal.
  May 20, 2011 – United Left appealed the ban on the protests before the Spanish Supreme Court, which upheld the decision. United Left announced it would appeal the decision before the Constitutional Tribunal.
  May 21, 2011 – 28,000 protesters occupied Puerta del Sol and surrounding areas. Thousands of people attended protests in other Spanish cities, and smaller protests were held in several cities across Europe.
  May 22, 2011 – The protesters in Puerta del Sol who had vowed to stay until this day decided to occupy the plaza for at least another week.
  May 24, 2011 – Representatives from ¡Democracia real YA! read a manifesto on live television. About 30 protesters entered various financial sites in the city center, vocally protesting the political and economic systems.
  May 25, 2011 – The Spanish Ministry of Defense relocated various activities for Armed Forces Day due to the ongoing occupation of Plaza de la Constitución.
  May 27, 2011 – 350 police officers used physical force to evacuate protesters from Plaça de Catalunya, resulting in 121 light injuries from baton blows. A few hours later, the protesters re-occupied the square. Similar incidents occurred in other Barcelona squares.
  June 4, 2011 – Representatives of the regional assemblies of 15M gathered in Madrid for another manifestation in Puerta del Sol.
  June 8, 2011 – Manifestations continued outside Madrid's Congreso de los Diputados. Manifestations in Valencia and Barcelona gained momentum.
  June 9, 2011 – 18 people were injured during clashes between the police and the protesters in Valencia. These clashes triggered another protest that united over 2000 people. Protests in support shook Madrid and Barcelona.
  June 15, 
caption: October 15 Protests in Madrid
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