Spanish mothers strip for calendar to save school bus

A new measure introduced in July cut funding for the school bus running in the Monserrat district of Valencia in eastern Spain. A group of mums got together and posed for an erotic calendar to raise money for their children's transport.

The problem is that, according to Spanish law, the government only has to provide transport if students live more than 3km away from the school. However, this new austerity measure states that the distance has to be calculated in a straight line, and this meant that "Evaristo Calayatud" school in the Monserrat District of Valencia was no longer eligible for a school bus. 

 

However, as Silvia Lucas, one of the mothers, points out, “We have to scale a mountain and climb down a cliff to get to the school. On foot, using the most direct route it’s 4.5km, if you walk on the road it’s six." 

 

Some of the parents are unemployed and have problems paying for petrol to drive the children to school themselves. For this reason, and to try and raise 43,000 euros, the group of mothers got together, disrobed and posed for the erotic calendar. 

 

To make their point, the mothers struck various poses, including scaling cliffs and pushing prams along dirt tracks, which clearly illustrate the 6km walk their children were being forced to endure every morning. They figured that not only could their calendar raise the necessary money, it could at the same time “give the politicians a slap in the face.” 

 

It took just over a month after the launch of the calendar to raise enough money for the bus to run for three months for the 83 affected children. 

There were difficulties along the way, when police ejected them from the town center for illegally selling the calendar. However, Silvia Lucas pointed out, “We were not selling them, we were collecting donations.” 

 

She further said that while the calendar is not to everyone's taste in the neighborhood, there was little other choice. “A lot of people tell us that we could have organized a community meal and not the calendar, but that would not have made nearly enough money. Our husbands are happy with the result and proud of our achievement” added Lucas, saying that she had done it for her children.

Read more and view video: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/340157

Tens of thousands march in the streets of Madrid, Spain

Angered by the latest austerity measures and budget cuts, and calling for the Spanish government to resign, thousands thronged the streets of Madrid on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched on Spain's parliament in Madrid on Saturday evening, accompanied by a massive police escort, and closely guarded by officers with dog teams and in full riot gear and many police vans. The march, which was 2.3 kilometers long, was organized by the "Surround Parliament" protest group, as part of the ongoing anti-austerity protests in the country. On arrival at the parliament building, the protesters were met by an even bigger police presence, which pushed them back, using a chain of metal barricades.

As tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the third quarter of 2012, with a bank bailout a strong possibility, demonstrators have had enough. 

 

70-year-old Alan Pipo told the AP, “And now they are going to give banks a bailout, rescue them as if they were princesses." 

 

"They should be put out on the streets, just like all those families who are being evicted from their homes because they are unable to keep up with mortgage payments!" he added. 

 

Paloma Martinez, 62, said, We can't go on like this. We have a right to a public health system and quality schools for our kids. We are indignant and have no fear." 

 

At one stage, the protesters held a minute's silence, with their backs turned on parliament, showing their condemnation of the Spanish's government's policies which have caused a quarter of the Spanish people to become unemployed. They then shouted "resign" with their fists clenched. 

 

Part of the crowd also protested in front of Bankia bank, where a group has been camping out since Monday of this week, demanding a halt to the evictions that have so far affected 400,000 families in Spain

As reported on Digital Journal, earlier in the day, almost 3,000 off-duty police officers also took to the streets to protest austerity measures and the fact that their Christmas bonuses are to be take away and carrying banners stating "Police officers can no longer take it." 

 

With 25% of the country unemployed, with a staggering 52.34% of the young unable to find work, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has hiked taxes, introduced harsh labor reforms and cut spending, as he tries to persuade investors that his government can manage the crisis without a full bailout. 

 

Spain's troubled banks have been granted a 100 billion euro ($130 billion) loan facility by the 17 eurozone countries. 

 

However, some researchers say that instead of cutting spending, it might be wiser to increase it. 

 

Jerome Roos, a searcher on the EU debt crisis at the European University Institute in Florence, and founder of ROAR Mag, told RT, “The alternative is actually not to cut spending, but to invest in the economy, to invest in growth to make sure that there are jobs. And the only way to ultimately get out of this debt, is to grow out of debt and not to cut your way of debt.”

 

“Clearly things can’t continue the way they are now. Spain would do very well to heed the lessons that were learned in the past decade from three other countries - Argentina, Ecuador and Iceland - each of which defaulted on part of its external debt.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335665#ixzz2AaQRGtiO

Op-Ed: Spain to ban photos or videos of police in action

Allegedly to protect the lives of law enforcement officers, but more likely a crack-down on freedom of expression, Spain's government is drafting a law to ban citizens from photographing or filming police officers at their work.

The drafting of this legislation comes amidst waves of protests throughout Spain over the austerity cuts to public healthcare and education. With the Interior Minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, stating that they are not cracking down on freedom of expression, the new "Citizen Safety Law" will prohibit “the capture, reproduction and editing of images, sounds or information of members of the security or armed forces in the line of duty,” according to Ignacio Cosidó, the Director General of the police. 

Cosidó added that the new legislation seeks to “find a balance between the protection of citizens’ rights and those of security forces.” Under this new legislation, it will also be punishable by law to disseminate photos and videos over social networks, like Facebook.

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Police brutality - 29 March 2012 - Madrid, Spain

The new law will cover all images that could pose a risk to the physical safety of police officers, or could impede them from executing their duty.

However, the Interior Ministry stresses that it will not encroach on freedom of expression. Cosido stressed, “We are trying to avoid images of police being uploaded onto social networks with threats to them and their families.” 

According to the United Police Syndicate in Spain, implementation of this new legislation would be “very complicated”, as it does not establish any guidelines over the types of image that would violate the rights of a police officer. The syndicate says that the ministry will encounter "legal problems" should it not specify clearly the "ins and outs of the law." 

Despite this Cosidó argued that the measures are necessary, given the “elevated levels of violence against officers” in the economic crisis that is “undermining the basis of a democratic society.”

There have been many anti-austerity protests in Spain over the past year, with many reports and much footage of police brutality against protesters. It is clear from this footage that many Spanish police officers do not wear their identification badges during the protests, despite the fact that the law requires this. 

 

Legislation that prevents citizens, and for that matter, journalists from taking photos or videos of the police in action during the protests is a clear breach of freedom of expression. 

 

In the US, there have been several incidences where video taken by citizen journalists, has cleared defendants in Occupy-related arrests. A good example of this was reported on Digital Journal in the NYPD case against Alexander Arbuckle, arrested for disorderly conduct in the OWS protest early on New Year's Day, but cleared due to the video footage of a citizen journalist, Tim Pool. Ironically, Arbuckle was not even part of the protest, and up until that time actually supported the police. Obviously he changed his tune once arrested by the NYPD.

 

With more and more stories of police brutality doing the rounds in the media, it is a worrying precedent when the right to take photos or videos of police officers is taken away from concerned citizens and citizen journalists. 

 

It pretty much gives the police the edge to do whatever they want, and leaves you unable to prove a thing. With recent violence between police and protesters, especially near Parliament in Madrid on September 25, many Spaniards have been shocked by images of protesters, bloodied and in need of medical attention, appearing on the television. Of course it is essential that people know about this kind of violence and what is happening in the streets around them. 

 

The video above shows the events in Madrid on September 25, including the brutal attack by the police. Presumably, this type of video would not be allowed under the new legislation?  (Apologies unable to embed video here, please click to view.)

 

Fernandez Diaz did, however, tell the media, "We do not intend to stop the press from doing its job of taking pictures of police charges and other proceedings. But we understand that in anti-terrorist operations or against mafias you have to have a more careful approach when it comes to disseminating images."

This leaves things a little unclear. Does that mean that the media are allowed to take images of police action, but a simple citizen journalist, such as the writer of this article, is not? Lead writer for the Spanish national newspaper, El Mundo, Angel Casaña, published an online editorial saying that photography has changed the course of history. 

 

He states that the government's proposed measure could have a negative impact on journalism in Spain. "If this proposal goes ahead, it is going to be impossible to know about events as they occur on the streets just at a time when streets are at boiling point due to the dire economic situation of many families," said Casaña.

Read more and view video of police brutality in Madrid: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335133

 

 

Spanish students take to the streets in protests throughout Spain

Amidst ongoing protests throughout Spain, thousands of students took to the streets in Madrid on Wednesday, angry at proposed education cuts which they say leaves them with "no future." 

While thousands marched in Madrid as part of a three day action, according to local police, a further 3,000 rallied in the streets of Barcelona and thousands more protested in Valencia and other major Spanish cities.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335033