A few Saturday’s ago I was in Sol, Puerta de Sol as it is officially called, the heart of Madrid’s historical center. I often think of Sol similar to New York’s Times Square as they’re both a hub for activities like shopping, tourists taking photos and the nationally televised New Year’s Eve celebration. This large pedestrian-only plaza is always full of people of all walks of life. During the day it is full of merchants and shoppers and also tourists. At night the plaza comes alive with lights on the picturesque buildings and people who are out for a stroll, dinner, bachelorette parties or drinks with friends.
Often this plaza is used for protests, the most famous being the “15-M” 15th of May 2011 occupation of this square that peacefully demanded a radical change in Spanish politics. Here is a picture of the protest and occupation of this square that lasted until August 4th: http://especiales.lainformacion.com/panoramicas/manifestacion-acampada-sol/.
On the particular Saturday morning I was crossing the square I found a group of older Spanish people walking in a circle protesting about wanting their money back from a bank called Bankia, a formerly private bank that was partially nationalized by the government in 2012. Dressed in green, the Bankia color, they walked slowly in a circle carrying signs, wearing sandwich boards, blowing whistles and chanting rhymes about being scammed and wanting their retirement money back. What I was told by one protester is that she was convinced by the bank office manager that she had known for 40 years that she should invest her savings in a fund that would help her earn in the long run. This bank tricked older retired people into buying these risky bonds and the investors thought they were buying low-risk savings products. Then, their money disappeared. These older people’s life savings vanished and the bank won’t help them so they took to the streets to demand justice.
Often this plaza is used for protests, the most famous being the “15-M” 15th of May 2011 occupation of this square that peacefully demanded a radical change in Spanish politics. Here is a picture of the protest and occupation of this square that lasted until August 4th: http://especiales.lainformacion.com/panoramicas/manifestacion-acampada-sol/.
On the particular Saturday morning I was crossing the square I found a group of older Spanish people walking in a circle protesting about wanting their money back from a bank called Bankia, a formerly private bank that was partially nationalized by the government in 2012. Dressed in green, the Bankia color, they walked slowly in a circle carrying signs, wearing sandwich boards, blowing whistles and chanting rhymes about being scammed and wanting their retirement money back. What I was told by one protester is that she was convinced by the bank office manager that she had known for 40 years that she should invest her savings in a fund that would help her earn in the long run. This bank tricked older retired people into buying these risky bonds and the investors thought they were buying low-risk savings products. Then, their money disappeared. These older people’s life savings vanished and the bank won’t help them so they took to the streets to demand justice.