Huelga General

After finishing my weekend update ... I still have the blogging bug. So, as I sit here in a meditative mood (smelling the lovely incense that Elena has just lit) I'm going to blog a bit more. Hopefully you're not tired of listening to me by now ...

So, you might be wondering why I've had so much time to write today (when I would normally be in class) - Today all over Spain was was a Huelga General (general strike). Here's the website organizing the strike. This strike encompassed workers across all lines of work and (as far as I've gathered) was basically a way to communicate the people's displeasure at the government's financial/economic decisions over the past few years. Specifically, the government was planning to instate some kind of new tax or fee that was going to impact working class jobs. So today, people all over the country stopped working and protested. UC3M didn't cancel classes but Stetson cancelled ours and asked us not to use public transportation today (many of the transport workers were striking and delays were anticipated). So I've had the day free to explore what I could in my neighborhood. Lindsay and I tried a little geocaching (unsuccessful) and had a nice walk along the river. It was weird walking around ... I didn't see any signs of protest of violence. Actually, the streets felt kind of empty. Lindsay's senora had told her than many businesses would remain closed today because business would be light or non-existent. Daily shopping (for bread and produce) is very big in Spain but many people shopped yesterday to avoid having to go out during the strike. Out on the streets, it felt like a lazy Sunday (not the usual hump day Wednesday) and it was strange ... but that is the only signs I saw of any strike.

I have since heard that there were protests and even some confrontations between picketers and police in other parts of Madrid and Spain. Elena went to work today anticipating problems - but said that the day was actually very normal. She left early (cause she takes the metro to work) and arrive to work with time to spare. I found this quote that seems to sum up what I sensed today:

"The strike's impact has depended on particular sectors. While Spanish industry has been significantly affected, commercial operations have continued to operate, largely without incident. Although there were tense moments during the earlier half of the day, most of the country's transportation have remained active, although offering limited service; it was of particular note that the capital's Metro system continued to function, given the massive impact of its full scale shut down during a company-wide strike this past summer." (Read the full article)

Essentially the day was pretty relaxing for me. In all honesty, I probably could have gotten to school and back without problems. But hindsight's 20/20 and all that ... It was probably a good call for Stetson to let us stay home, cause in the tense environment of a strike you never know what might break out. In general, a lazy day for me ... but a definite sign of general unrest in Spain. Today's strike might make the history books some day - who knows. It will be interesting to see what Spain's future holds.