Flowers in Sol

Protestors in Sol, May 27th, 2011

     I spent a good part of my morning yesterday looking at the news clips, photos and amateur videos showing the police brutality in Barcelona.  Police were ordered to break up the protests and occupation taking place in the Plaça de Catalunya.  The videos and photos show the brutality in graphic detail.  Protestors were beaten, clubbed with batons, and dragged through the streets.  With this in mind, I was curious to see the reaction in the Puerta del Sol here in Madrid.  When I arrived in Sol, I had already heard the news that protestors in Barcelona had taken over the square once again.  The most obvious visual that I saw upon entering Sol was the flowers that each of the protestors carried.  Following the facebook posts of Democracia Real Ya and Juvetud Sin Futuro throughout the day, I had noticed their earlier appeals.  They encouraged the masses to take to the streets at 7pm and to bring flowers as a sign of peace.  Aside from this display of flowers, the crowd often chanted "Barcelona, no estás sola" and "Esta es la Plaza Cataluña" in support of the demonstrators in Barcelona. According to one report in the Spanish newspaper "20 Minutos," the brutality in Barcelona has actually had the opposite of its desired effect and  has managed to fortify the movement further.

One of the many protestors holding flowers

Flower and hands raised into the air

Hands raised into the air and some of my fellow photographers at work