SPAIN, Madrid, March 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Thousands, mainly women, turned out for a huge International Women’s Day march in Madrid amid a festive atmosphere on Friday, but they also hit the streets to loudly and firmly demand true equality, denouncing criminal machismo and defending the validity of feminism.
Women of all ages began arriving downtown in non-stop streams from the city’s Metro stations early in the day, long before the demonstration was due to kick off with several key participants, including nine Cabinet ministers headed by Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo.
Begoña Gomez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accompanied the marchers in front of a large banner where people shouted slogans, danced and jumped to the rhythm of the demonstrators’ chants.
The Paseo del Prado, Recoletos boulevard, Cibeles Plaza, the Calle de Alcala, the Gran Via and the Plaza de España were all festooned and filled with purple balloons, flags, caps, handkerchiefs and all sorts of other garments worn by the marchers, who were accompanied by numerous men who also turned out to participate in the peaceful protest.
Amid the sounds of drums, dancing and great excitement, the demonstrators displayed signs with slogans such as “The opposite of being feminist is to be a pompous ass” and “We’re the sound of those who have no voice.”
“My grandmother fought, my mother fought, now I’m fighting,” read one sign carried by three generations of the same family.
The mother in the group said: “You have to keep educating the girls and boys in the values of feminism, and even moreso in these times where there are parties like Vox (a new far-right grouping) who want to revive machismo.”
Sandra, a 20-year-old student, pointed to the purple tide and said “It’s unstoppable. We’re not asking for anything else: just to be able to be women.”
As the marchers moved forward slowly to the constant rhythm of the slogans and chants through streets that were completely jammed, the facade of the Madrid City Hall and the Cibeles Fountain were illuminated with the color purple.
Among the political leaders who joined the throng were Irene Montero, with the leftist Podemos party, and Ines Arrimadas, with the center-right Ciudadanos.
The huge crowd had great trouble, it seemed, moving from Atocha station to the Plaza de España due to the tremendous crush of people.
Similar scenes were to be found on Friday in many other Spanish cities, where gigantic demonstrations were held amid the same festive, yet determined, atmosphere.