Leftist activists from the Indignados (Outraged) protest movement that grew out of Spain's economic crisis have taken power in Madrid and Barcelona after ruling conservatives suffered major losses in local elections.
Supporters in both cities shouted the Indignados rallying cry "Yes, it's possible!" as former judge Manuela Carmena, 71, a communist in her youth, was sworn in as mayor of Madrid, and 41-year-old anti-eviction activist Ada Colau became Barcelona's first female mayor.
In the Spanish capital, Carmena ended 24 years of conservative Popular Party rule.
"I promise to loyally respect the duties involved in being mayor of Madrid," she said after the city council officially voted her in as leader of the city of three million.
Carmena became mayor after her leftist platform, Ahora Madrid, forged an alliance with the main opposition Socialists after the governing Popular Party suffered heavy setbacks in local and regional elections on May 24.
"We are at the service of the citizens of Madrid. We want to govern by listening. We want them to call us by our first names," Carmena said.
Highlighting her concern with poverty in Spain, where many live precariously even though the worst of the economic crisis is over, Carmena pledged to help people like a 63-year-old woman named Julia she met on the capital's main square, Puerta del Sol, who lives on €300 a month.
Madrid suffers a 16 percent unemployment rate, while many who have jobs do not earn enough to get through the month.
AFP
source: newshub archive
