Protest In Sol II

Just got back from Sol again, the camp is still very busy and full of people with a massive public meetings going on with many speakers mostly young but of all ages. There's a friendly and fun atmosphere and still no police entering the camp itself. However, there's at least one newspaper headline saying that the authorities are unable to enforce the law. The day before an election, that's a dangerous thing, but they probably won't want to look like they are preventing free speech either which makes the situation interestingly poised, so we'll see how it plays out. It's difficult to see how they would even go about trying to move people though, the camp is very entrenched and if there are as many people tonight as on the previous few, it'll be near impossible.

It's all very organised, with a PA system announcing (to cheers) that paella would be available from the shop in 15 minutes and reminding people to drink water because it's such a hot day. It feels like a kind of political souk under the tarpaulin in the centre of the square, with people wandering through, lounging on camp beds, signing petitions and seeing whats happening. I wish my Spanish were better so I could understand what was being said in all the speeches being made, but I can more or less get the drift. A sign that seemed to some up the mood of the camp read "No estamos contra el sistema, el sistema esta contra nosotros" - We are not against the system, the system is against us. There are plenty of other signs along the lines of "Revolucion no es botellon!" - Revolution is not street drinking! - trying to discourage it turning from something serious into a street party at night. I'll be going back later to see what happens tonight.