Thousands of people have demonstrated this Friday afternoon in Spain, coinciding with November 25, to call for an end to sexist violencein protests that have followed one another with shouts demanding the resignation of the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, and others supporting him for the attacks he recently suffered in Congress.
The most massive march was the one called by the Feminist Movement of Madrid, with 12,000 peopleaccording to the Government Delegation, and no less than 20,000, according to the organizers, which started after 6:30 p.m. at the confluence of Gran VÃa and Alcalá streets and in which shouts of ‘Here we are the feminists’ and ‘Irene Montero, resignation’ in the presence of several PSOE ministers, including the economic vice president, Nadia Calviño, or the government spokesperson, Isabel RodrÃguez.
However, the protagonist of the day has been the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, who has not been present at this march but has decided to attend the concentration called by the 8M Commission in the Vallecas neighborhood. In addition to the cries heard from the organizing associations asking for her resignation, the Alliance against the Erasure of Women, an entity in which some socialist personalities are active, have displayed a banner that read ‘Irene Montero resignation. Enough of the misogynistic and botched laws!’
In Barcelona, ​​some 3,000 peopleaccording to the Urban Police, and between 40,000 and 50,000, according to the organization, have participated in the demonstration against sexist violence under the motto ‘Against sexist violence: we accuse and act’.
Several hundred people have begun to gather on Paseo de Grà cia with Avenida Diagonal since 6:00 p.m. and after half an hour they have started to go down in the direction of Gran Via, where they have read the manifesto in which they have advocated for a "feminist justice".
In Andalusia they have also gathered for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The National Police has estimated that some 1,200 people have participated in the demonstration called by the Feminist Movement of Seville from Plaza Nueva to Alameda de Hércules under the slogan ‘Feminism in the fight against patriarchal violence’. At the beginning of the march, a group that shouted “Radical feminism is here” and that carried, among other things, a banner that read “Irene Montero, resign” was responded by other participants with the gesture of “no ‘.
In Granada, the demonstration, called by the Platform 8M and 25N from the Plaza del Triunfo to the Paseo del Salón under the slogan ‘No reason justifies an aggression, neither here nor in the rest of the world"has gathered, according to local police sources, some 3,500 people at the exit, while the National Police estimates that there have been about 1,500 participants in the protest. And in Malaga there are around 1,000 participants in the demonstration called by the Zero Violence Platform, according to police sources, and which has taken place without incident.
"Tall and strong"
On the other hand, the feminist movement of Valencia has toured the center of the city to claim "preserve life" and raise awareness "tall and strong" what for "all estates" listen that women are "united and warriors" in the fight to put an end to all sexist violence, which "they roam freely". Under the slogan ‘Dones, vives i unides contra el masclisme’ (‘Women, alive and united against machismo’), the protest started at around 7:30 p.m. at the Porta de la Mar, illuminated in purple for the occasion. It has been headed, in the first place, by women who have suffered sexist violence.
The Coordinator of Feminist Organizations of Zaragoza has taken to the streets this Friday, under the motto ‘Denying sexist violence makes you an accomplice’. The spokeswoman, Elisa Gracia, has pointed out, in statements to the media, that for many years they have dedicated themselves to vindicating the feminist struggle and achieving a better social knowledge of the problem, but this year they have gone back to return "almost to a starting point" to explain to young people and to a certain part of society that tries to deny with speeches that falsify the data or that deny official information that it is a reality that no longer exists.
“Machismo kills, rapes, exploits and erases women” has been one of the slogans on the banners in the Valladolid demonstration, in which some 1,500 people, to denounce that in Spain 38 people have died from this type of violence so far this year, three of them in Castilla y León.
In Salamanca, after 8:00 p.m., a march promoted by feminist groups started from the Plaza de la Concordia. According to police sources, some 2,500 people, a number that has increased along the route, have started the demonstration headed for the Plaza Mayor, where, at the same time, a manifesto against gender violence was read. promoted by the City Council, which was followed by the performance of the play ‘Lamé’.
In the two provinces of Extremadura, hundreds of people have also walked the streets and squares against sexist violence. In Mérida, the Malvaluna women’s association has called a silent demonstration, which has started from the Plaza de España, and has traveled several streets in the city center until ending at the Temple of Diana.
Thus, in Bilbao the march began at seven in the evening in the Plaza del Sagrado Corazón, behind a banner with the slogan ‘Beldurra eta kontrola zuentzat (Fear and control for you). We are organized and even our boobs’, signed by the Bilbo Feminista Saretzen collective. Throughout the tour, which ended at the Town Hall, columns of women who had left from the different neighborhoods of the Villa joined.
Demonstrations have also been held in Galician cities on the occasion of 25N. In A Coruña, it also started at 8:00 p.m. from the Obelisk, while in Lugo it took place in the Government Sub-delegation, and in Ourense, in A Castiñeira. The Provincial Court of Pontevedra was the place chosen in the city of Lérez, while in Santiago it started from Plaza 8 de marzo.