Ghosts of the Madrid Protest

Madrid's plazas are quieter than they used to be. The shouts of protestors and the threat of police barricades are now replaced by the songs of traveling performers or the laughter of amused tourists. But there are still remnants of the protests that rocked the nation to be found in grafitteed messages and forgotten sit-down sites. Grafitti outside of the Palacio Real expresses the frustration of protestors right to "no votes". In Puerto del Sol, a remaining sign promises the end of the citizens' silence.

The protests in Madrid have long since ended but one might ask - as they look at Mickey andMinnie Mouse taking a water break in 90 degree weather - if anything has changed. Have the protests succeeded? Has the 21 percent unemployment rate decreased?

Indeed, little remains of the May protests except the working conditions that they protested. But the historical precedent that was begun in the Tahrir Square of Egypt has entered Spain's history as well. No matter the outcome, the protests in Madrid will shape the history and culture of the Spanish people.

Protests in London follow those in Spain

These past two days, I have been exploring the roots of my own language and culture in one of the foundations of the English speaking world - London, England. Now perhaps you are wondering what parallels could be drawn between London and Spain that would make a blog post worthwhile. I was also stumped until I walked into the middle of a bustling protest at Convent Gardens in London.

Like protests in the "Tahrir Square" of Madrid, the London protest included record numbers - more than to 20,000 people according to numbers from the Wall Street Journal. The large group of protesters included a number of teachers and school administrators protesting the deletion of their pensions and, in some cases, their jobs.

The protest, which began in Convent Garden and ended at Westminster Abbey, was mostly amiable.

For London students, it was ideal. Young students flooded the sidewalks of London and watched their teachers with glee, overjoyed at their temporary respite from classes.