[10] The movement was also compared to Stéphane Hessel's political manifesto Time for Outrage!,[11] which was seen to empower Spanish youth who were not in education, employment, or training (NEET).

[21][22] Large trade unions such as CCOO and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), among other minor ones, rejected the plan because it made it easier and cheaper for employers to hire and fire workers.

[44] After the incidents, a group of 100 people headed to Puerta del Sol and started camping in the middle of the square, which would result in the following day's protests.

[62] The New York Times cited El País and noted the strong organization of the protesters, particularly the 200 people who had been placed in charge of security, and the use of Twitter to ensure dissemination of their message.

[6] In the evening, the President of the Regional Electoral Committee of Madrid issued a statement declaring the protests illegal because "calls for a responsible vote can change the results of the elections.

Other cities also gathered large numbers of people: 15,000 in Malaga, 10,000 in Valencia, 8,000 in Barcelona, 6,000 in Zaragoza, 4,000 in Seville, 3,000 in Bilbao, 3,000 in Palma, 2,000 in Gijón, 2,000 in Oviedo, 1,500 in Granada, 1,000 in Vigo, 800 in Almeria, around 800 in Avilés, 600 in Cadiz, 200 in Huelva, and around 100 in Jaen.

[80] Early analysis of the local and regional elections, won by the People's Party, suggested the protest movement could have contributed to losses for the ruling PSOE,[81] and to increased numbers of spoilt or blank votes, which reached record levels.

[83] Approximately 30 people gained unobstructed entry to the Tarragona office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and shouted slogans against the political and economic systems, before moving to several financial sites in the city centre to do the same.

[84] In Málaga, the Ministry of Defence decided to relocate various activities for Armed Forces Day, including the King's visit, planned for Friday 27.

[90] The clearing of the Barcelona camp was broadcast live by two Spanish television channels, including Antena 3, and was also widely dispersed through social networks such as Twitter.

[94] In Madrid, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Congreso de los Diputados, with a police barrier preventing them from entering the building.

[102] Thousands of people assembled in front of Barcelona's Parc de la Ciutadella and organized themselves to spend the night, in order to start a blockade of the Catalan Parliament (which is inside the park) on the following day and prevent deputies from entering the building, where the debate on the 2011 budget, which would result in cuts in education and health, was to take place.

Some deputies, such as former Minister of Labour Celestino Corbacho, were jostled, heckled and sprayed on their way in, while others used police helicopters to get to the parliament, including the president of Catalonia, Artur Mas.

The march culminated in a wrap up and after-action review assembly, at which participants shared the social, political and economic problems of the towns visited along the way, as well as the proposals made by the townspeople.

At 6:30 a.m. on 2 August, the national and municipal police evicted the remaining protesters at the information booth, and cleaning crews dismantled PuntoSol[120] and the organic garden.

[4] A half million people took part in the demonstration that filled the street and marched from Alcala and Cibeles toward Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, home of the "Indignants" movement.

As part of a global day of action, similar protests occurred simultaneously in other cities including London, Lisbon, Frankfurt and Tel Aviv.

[137] Marinaleda Mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo led protests started by labor union SAT (Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores, "Andalusian Union of Workers") to get the federal government, led by Mariano Rajoy, to end austerity measures that involved budget cuts and layoffs of public sector workers.

[138] The labor unions stole food from several supermarkets to feed jobless people and to ignite controversy, earning Gordillo the nickname of "Robin Hood."

In Spain, nearly 25% of people were unemployed and evictions had reached a rate of as high as 500 per day among a wide variety of other economic issues, leading to a number of generally peaceful protests seeking change in the way the government handles them.

[145] The measures the law takes to silence the voices of the Spanish people are devastating, including steep fines or jail time for disrespecting police officers (€600),[146] taking and sharing images of state security forces that might endanger them or their operations" (€30,000),[146] protesting in front of government buildings, protesting at a time or location not approved by the police (€600,000),[147] or even using a hashtag in a tweet publicizing an event that breaks the rules in any way.

[149] The law also extends to even more restrictive and vague measures, such as "playing games or sports in public spaces that are not designed for such activity" (€1,000),[150] "projecting 'luminous devices' (e.g. lasers) in the vicinity of public transport in a way that 'might cause accidents'" (€600,000),[151] insulting the state or "participating in the disruption of citizens' security while using hoods, helmets, or any other article of clothing or object that covers the face, rendering identification difficult or impossible" (€30,000),[151] and "failure to cooperate with law enforcement during crime investigations or in the prevention of acts that might put citizens' security at risk" (€30,000).

[152] What is allegedly an act against terrorism "to guarantee a freer and more peaceful coexistence for all Spaniards...eradicating violence",[150] ironically quite seriously threatens this ideal by making police and federal security personnel (who are often responsible for committing this type of violence) significantly less accountable, while expanding the role of private security forces "lacking both proper training and the proper level of public accountability" (assuming that normal police forces do indeed possess these qualities).

[151] Another problem with this policy is that it is fundamentally anti-immigrant in nature, crippling the group targeted most severely by austerity measures even more by forcing everyone to present identity documents at internet cafés, prohibitively complicating undocumented migrants' communications outside the country.

[151] The law also contains a provision validating and formalizing the process of expulsion for Moroccans who jump the border fence into Spain's African outposts of Ceuta and Melilla, which according to the International Federation for Human Rights "restrict[s] the right to seek asylum and violate[s] the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of collective expulsions" as well as "[exposing] migrants to a serious risk of torture and ill-treatment by denying them the possibility of filing a claim against law enforcement personnel in case of abuse".

In response, the Spanish people subverted these measures by protesting via holograms instead, avoiding arrest and setting an incredibly unique precedent across the world.

[157] Jaime Mayor Oreja, Member of the European Parliament representing the Partido Popular, was critical of the alleged intention of activists to not cast ballots in the coming election.

The United Left's political coordinator Cayo Lara defended the refusal of the activists to become a "lost generation" and criticized their removal from the Puerta del Sol on 16 May.

"[161] On 25 July 2011, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz participated at the "I Foro Social del 15M" organized in Madrid expressing his support for the movement.

[163] During an informal speech, he made a brief review of some of the problems in the United States and Europe, including the high unemployment rate and the situation in Greece.