A Pitched Battle in Madrid Over Approaching IMF/EU Intervention:
Tuesday’s protest kicked off with thousands of protesters concentrated in Plaza de las Cortes. Ahead of the protest, a fortress had been set up by Spanish riot police to prevent crowds from even approaching the Spanish Congress. On streets approaching parliament, a series of barricades were set up with lines of riot police on guard:
Imagen aérea en las vallas del congreso. #Watch25S #hoyes25S http://t.co/XUgniKAj
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Cafe Wan Kenöbi (@Cafeinomania) September 25, 2012video showing protesters stopped at police barricades on small side streets near congress:
Later on in the protest, the barricade to congress was breached by a group of protesters, followed by a violent and generalized police charge directed at the huge crowds around Plaza de las Cortes:
aerial footage of the skirmish:
By nightfall, the crowds in Madrid had swelled in Plaza de las Cortes:
FOTO aérea. Cae la noche. Miles de personas siguen concentradas en Neptuno, absolutamente lleno. #25S http://t.co/ycAQg18r
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eldiario.es (@eldiarioes) September 25, 2012After several hours of protests, tensions exploded in a very violent episode between police and the many thousands gathered near Congress:
Attention was quickly turned to the individuals who provoked the violent clash shown above. The following video shows similarly dressed individuals helping riot police make an arrest:
Whether the violence was orchestrated or not, the result was indiscriminate violence by police in Madrid. The sound of rubber bullets pierced the night. There were possibly dozens of individual baton charges directed at overwhelmingly peaceful protesters:
Tremenda imagen de un manifestante herido en Neptuno, y la cara de terror de su amigo. vía @StarmanCB http://t.co/wfwebmFq
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Eduardo Muriel (@eduardomuriel) September 25, 2012With the bulk of the protesters dispersed from around congress, police continued to pursue people, firing volleys of rubber bullets and swinging their batons at anyone in reach:
The attack even continued at a train station:
Across social media platforms, calls have gone out for protesters to return tomorrow at 7pm local time to continue this protest so forcefully put down.
Update:
Additional clips have surfaced, this of an undercover officer being arrested by police. He pleads that he is a colleague before the police eventually confirm he is indeed a police officer:
This clip gives you the chronology of the violence that unfolded through the night:
Finally, clip showing two police officers dragging an elderly man down the sidewalk before arresting him:
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