Here's what happened (form my view) Sunday June 24th in Barcelona, Madrid
by brian s.

(tired and my arm hurts, and no english spell check...so bear with me)

- Day started off with people gathering for the big march. 10's of thousdands. Maybe 30,000? Never could see the whole march. Sintel workers, immigrants, anarcho-syndicalists, ecologogists, and more proceeded down the main street towards Plaza Catalunya. Big earth balls bouncing through crowd, Pink samba music, drumming bands of all sorts, anti- plan colombia folks painting the streets with the real story,and all the puppets, stilts and banners you would expect to see. Very sunny, good day, everyone loving it and telling the world bank and the capitalist system to go to hell.

- Before arriving at the plaza we very few cops except the glimpse of riot cops poking around corners and driving down side streets (dont want us questioning 'democracy'). It turns out there are hundreds of cops surrounding two main building along the route. The stock exchange, and el Corte Inglés (the biggest, wealthiest department store in spain). There are rows of barricades surrounding these buildings, with cops, vans, and tanks.

- of course people are pissed and chants of Policia Assesina! ring trhoughout the air as everyonne slowly makes there way pass. A few folks showing to cops what they're worth by bearing their asses at them...

- then as we pass, the cobblestones come up and a bit further down, a stretch of high class fashion stores, swatch, burger king, and a dunkin donut, get there windows busted up. a few pacifist types try to block it but generally the crowd is pleased to see the stores get there payback. On one fashion store is painted... Stop sizism! Women liberate yourselves!

- the smashing continues down the block leaving all the smaller independant stores untouched. untill everyone gets to el cote ingles which is heavily guarded. the rock throwing stops. some folks go taunt the cops a bit by kissing shields and things while everyone elses gathers in the plaza for the big rally.

- while this is all going on for about half an hour ( the rally permit runs out around this time) a punk beside me is thrown to the street and put in a headlock by another slightly cleaner dressed punk. people surge forward seemingly trying to help the guy but then it turns out about 20 of them are undercover cops and a few more people start getting grabbed. this part was crazy and was the first time i've ever seen real live 'agents provocateurs'. I'm not sure if they had any 'reason' for grabbing this guy other than that they wanted to start something and as a fully decked out punk, they wouldn't look so bad.

- so then everyone comes running out to help the guy and denoucne the cops. the police use this as a reason to charge. full out. vans flying around the corners they all run forward waving batons but end up stopping short of the plaza. not sure how many folks got busted here.

- another 10 minutes of confusion passes by and then there is another charge. this time they enter the plaza. most people run. others put their arms in the air to protest passively...they are beaten with rubber clubs. i see a little girl crying huddling under her mom against a wall. another man with his dog are bothe getting the beats. more confusion. no one knows whats going on or what they are trying to do. but you really can see the smiles on the riot cops faces. fascists....(sorry ...bit traumatized)

- they charge again and this time people go running full fledge over bushes onto the streets and split in different directions with hundred of riot cops waving batons behind. my friend and i run towards the university with another thousand or two people. we think this is crazy, and everyone should stay and stand up to it, but no one is, and the cops have given everyone good reason to be spooked.

- about 50 of us pile into a cafeteria and watch as people run by. after 10 minutes the streets have cleared and we venture out to regrou. but no one is in large groups. we are between the major tourist areas and the rambla (an area with tiny streets)

-eventually we meet up with friends for food and discuss different way that peopel escaped.

- then an hour and a half later (around 4pm) people gather for an anarchist march at the university plaza. it is immediately dispersed by riotcops. and folks scatter into the streets blocking roadways with garbage bins.

- as i arrive at indymedia, the doors are being slammed shut to prepare for defence. the police are approaching our area and are converging on a meeting taking place at the art museum. my friends and i, seeing the cop vans head into the museum, circle around to get to our other group from a back way.

- walking up this side street we see a hundred folks go running through the museum plaza and up another street. then from out of nowhere 5 riot cop vans pull up behind us (there are about 20 of us) and get out and walk quickly towards us. we try to walk slowly and calmly but are jumped and attacked with clubs. I now have red welches and marks all over my arm and back. everyone starts to run, and as they hit me they tell me to leave the area. that's the way it is here. you don't get asked even once to leave. they just swing their clubs...and

- so we run, and end up gettting chased by a number of diffferent vans and cops untill 3 of us duck into a cafe. the manager quietly askes us not to break anything. we tell her what happens and she brings us all water.

- later we regroup at the museum. about a thousand of us. la agencias is preparing their disco bus. after an hour or two of constant police helicopter surveilanc, the bus is ready, we are rested and we head back to plaza catalunya to meet up with another thousand or two who are waiting for us their and doing a trial agisnt the world bank.

- we march through the rambla (a major toursit street) and join our comrades and a big fiesta starts with the bus driving into the middle of the plaza. rappers on top of the bus are leading making ryhmes with techno beats all about police brutality and repression.

- we learn that 19 people have been arrested...4 of which have been released. the people on the bus decide that everyone should stay at the plaza until the prisoners are released. there is a demo out at the prison.

- as of last i heard, plans to take over the stock exhange have been cancelled due to police repression. we'll see what happens tonight and tomorrow.

that's all for now...