almostfearless.com

Posted: 31 May 2011 04:11 AM PDT

(by Drew, the husband)

On Sunday, I took the train out of Calella down to Barcelona for a second day of documentary shooting. The night before, Barcelona had soundly beaten Manchester United in the Champions League final. While there was still very much an air of pride happening in the city, there was also something else going on.

spanish youth protest, spain, unemployment, barcelona, europe, economy

Unemployment in Spain is at 20%. Among youth, that number is somewhere around 45%. Figuring (probably likely) that their government has failed them, these young people have staged protests all over cities across the country.

When I was finished shooting for the day, rather than head to the metro, I decided to walk around Plaza Catalunya and see what the vibe was here. There were hundreds, maybe a couple thousand people from what looked like all walks of life, mostly grouped together discussing their situations in a perfectly civil way. I did not hear a raised voice in my time there, there was no drunken revelry or outward debauchery that I could find. Just a sober, reasoned, if a little scruffy group of kids camping, talking and even growing vegetables in one of the more peaceful mobs I have ever witnessed.

spanish youth protest, spain, unemployment, barcelona, europe, economy

Below: Young people reading under tents. With such high unemployment, there is simply little else for these restless minds to do.

spanish youth protest, spain, unemployment, barcelona, europe, economy

One Spaniard I talked with asked if I had been here a week earlier when 30,000 people had made their way to the Plaza. I had not, and I’m not sure how I would have handled such an unbelievably large group. Police eventually came in to break up the group, with some unfortunate results.

spanish youth protest, spain, unemployment, barcelona, europe, economy

I have much love for Spain, and Barcelona as well. It was the first place we visited outside North America, where we spent much our honeymoon, so it has been a somewhat bittersweet return here, though I am thankful I got to witness a part of this firsthand, however brief and superficial this glance has been. We leave Spain at an interesting time in it’s history, one that I hope it can see it’s way through without losing an entire generation. These are people who seem hopeful though, rather than hopeless, so I will hope alongside them that Spain can turn their economy around before it is too late.

This is Drew, by the way. These were shot with my iPhone4 and processed with the Camera+ app.