15-M: Ten years after

After a quick look at some current news we jump back in time by exactly a decade. On May 15, 2011 a massive demonstration in Madrid, organized by Democracia Real, Ya! and Juventud Sin Futuro (Youth Without a Future), quickly evolved into a movement, the 15-M. The slogans of the march, "You don't represent us" and "They call it democracy, but it's not", express a disillusionment with the political class which helped to break the two-party stronghold in Spain. The emergence of Podemos brought the hope of "Yes we can!". The weeks' long occupation of the Puerta del Sol and other major squares in towns and cities throughout the country emulated the Eygptian example and inspired "Occupy Wall Street." Horizontal and transveral political structures developed in defiance of the institutional heirarchies, and the decision making process became consensual through the numerous assemblies. Ten years later, while distrust in the political class and in the governing system remains high, the experience of 15-M has trained a new generation in political activism and dissent.