Marchers in Spain protest the monarchy

Tens of thousands of people marched down a main Madrid avenue from Cibeles Plaza to Puerta del Sol on April 22 to recognize the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Second Republic in Spain in 1931.

April 22 protest. WW photo: John Catalinotto

The demonstration was directed against the current king, Juan Carlos I, and also closely tied to the struggle against fascism and the remaining wounds of the 1936-1939 civil war in Spain. In that war, over 2 million people in Spain died, another 1.5 million were driven into exile and tens of thousands spent long terms in prison following the victory of General isimo Francisco Franco’s Fascists. Franco ruled as head of state from 1939 until his death in 1975.

An upsurge of popular struggle had ended the monarchy in 1931. While Franco did not immediately restore the monarchy in 1939, he named Juan Carlos his successor and brought the future king into consultations with the fascist regime. Juan Carlos is himself a billionaire and close to Spain’s big capitalists.

While the demonstration harkened back to events of the 1930s and 1940s, most of the people attending were far too young to have any personal memories of the civil war. But their connection to Spain’s Republican past appeared in chants like, “Tomorrow Spain will be republican,” opposing the monarchy. People also held placards reading, “A democracy with kings is like a Porsche with oxen.”

Most of the Spanish left parties and organizations took part in the demonstration, including the United Left, the Young Communists and the Red Current.