Spain: Hundreds Protest Against the Syrian Regime · Global Voices
Leila Nachawati Rego

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Hundreds of people in Madrid, Spain demonstrated in support of the Syrian people last Sunday. Buses were hired to bring people from other Spanish cities such as Valencia and Granada. They demanded the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador in Spain, and that the Spanish government sanction the Syrian government, amidst the biggest crackdown against Syrian activists in decades.
The demonstration started at Madrid's main square Puerta del Sol, then moved later in the morning towards the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ended at the Syrian embassy.
Protest in Madrid, Spain, in support of the Syrian people. Photo by and courtesy of Sara Díaz Gómez.
Demonstrators  chanted in Spanish, with messages such as “Siria is bleeding and the  world is watching”, “Where are you, Trinidad (Minister of Foreign  Affairs) when Syrians are killed without mercy?” and also in Arabic, by members of the Syrian community: “The people want to overthrow the  regime” and “One and only one. The Syrian people is one”.
The  demonstration received much media attention and was widely shared  online. Democracia Real Ya, the group that organized the big  demonstration on May 15, which later transformed into camps out all over the  country, shared information on its Facebook page [es]. The post has more than a thousand comments and reactions.
Protest in Madrid, Spain, in support of the Syrian people. Photo by and courtesy of Sara Díaz Gómez.
Protest in Madrid, Spain, in support of the Syrian people. Photo by and courtesy of Sara Díaz Gómez.
Protest in Madrid, Spain, in support of the Syrian people. Photo by and courtesy of Sara Díaz Gómez.
The  buzz created on Twitter was mainly associated to the #spainwithsyria  tag, which was a trending topic in Madrid, in Barelona, and in Spain as a whole at different  moments between June 25 and 26:
@TrendsMadrid: ‘campeooooneeeesss’, ‘venezuela’ y #spainwithsyria es ahora una tendencia en #Madrid http://trendsmap.com/es/madrid
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.