Demonstrations are a weekly occurence in Barcelona. Usually, they are organized well in advance, as permits must be issued by the authorities and bureaucracy in Spain is notoriously tedious and slow. But the other day, a large demonstration formed rather spontaneously upon news that the Global Sumud Flotilla had been intercepted by the Israeli navy and its hundreds of volunteers detained. According to Barcelona’s Guardia Urbana police force, about 15 thousand demonstrators gatherered and blocked traffic at one of Barcelona’s busiest intersections, a huge multi-lane roundabout that handles traffic flowing into the city from the port’s ferry terminals, a sunken expressway, and several busy avenues. Posters plastered all over town and social media accounts had already called in advance for people to gather whenever the moment came, and come it did, as was expected.
The transformation of this space from busy traffic infrastructure to protest zone was remarkable. It was a genuine “disruption,” to use a word all too often misused by tech bros to refer to an invention that generates obscene wealth for them. Roadways were occupied, and even the sunken expressway was momentarily blocked to traffic (riot police had to descend through the crowd down an exit ramp and into a tunnel to free up the expressway). The center of the roundabout, a circular piece of landart that is otherwise impossible to tread, was occupied by thousands. The gathering was peaceful: only two arrests were made.
It felt empowering to see how people, when united in sufficiently large numbers, can disrupt the status quo, even if only temporarily. This is precisely why our increasing division and polarization is so worrisome, and why peaceful displays of unity such as this one are so encouraging and inspiring.
Criticalista 