2011 Portuguese protests

Protesters in Lisbon.

The 2011 March Portuguese protests, also referred to as the Geração à Rasca (Portuguese for desperate generation) protests or Movimento 12 de Março was a series of protests in over 10 cities of Portugal over the economic crisis in Portugal.

Background

The protest was inspired by Deolinda's song "Parva Que Sou", talking about precarious working conditions Portuguese youth, in particular qualified university graduates, endure.^[1] Other inspiration for the protests came from Homens da Luta, a comedian duo that won the Festival da Canção with a song about the "joy of the struggle," emulating social protests of the 1960s.^[which?][2]

Facebook and other social media networks were also used to organise protests.^[3]

The protests also occurred during an election that was called after the failure to pass austerity measures in parliament.

Protests

The Spring

Around 200,000 people gathered on 12 March in Porto and Lisbon alone.^[3] Protests also occurred in several other Portuguese cities, Funchal, Ponta Delgada, Viseu, Braga, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Faro, Guimarães and Leiria.^[4] Several Portuguese emigrants also gathered in front of the embassies of their country of residence to protest in Barcelona, London, Berlin, The Hague, Madrid, Lubliana, Luxemburg, Brussels, Maputo, New York, Copenhagen and Stuttgart.^[5]

As part of the 15 October Movement

Over 40,000 people marched in Lisbon as part of a 15 October global day of protest against the usual suspects. Hundreds broke through a police cordon around the parliament in Lisbon to occupy its broad marble staircase.^[6] About 20,000 people also rallied in Oporto, Portugal's second city.

Impact

Spain's May protests were influenced by the Portuguese protests,^[7] which in turn incited new protests in Portugal.^[8]

References

1. ^ "Deolinda, o grupo que dá voz à "geração à rasca", presente "em consciência"". http://sic.sapo.pt/online/noticias/pais/Deolinda+o+grupo+que+da+voz+a+geracao+a+rasca+presente+em+consciencia.htm?wbc_purpose=basi1542411010211. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
2. ^ "Homens da Luta aumentam adesões à 'Geração à Rasca' - Sol". http://sol.sapo.pt/inicio/Sociedade/Interior.aspx?content_id=13804. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Protesto Geração à Rasca juntou entre 160 e 280 mil pessoas só em Lisboa e Porto - Sociedade - PUBLICO.PT". http://www.publico.pt/Sociedade/protesto-geracao-a-rasca-juntou-entre-160-e-280-mil-pessoas-so-em-lisboa-e-porto_1484504. Retrieved 2011-03-13. 
4. ^ ""Geração à Rasca" convoca concentrações dentro da lei para dez cidades - Política - PUBLICO.PT". http://www.publico.pt/Pol%C3%ADtica/geracao-a-rasca-convoca-concentracoes-dentro-da-lei-para-dez-cidades_1483725. Retrieved 2011-06-09. 
5. ^ "IOL Diário - "Geração à rasca": luta também em Barcelona". http://diario.iol.pt/sociedade/geracao-a-rasca-manifestacao-fotos-manif-rasca-tvi24-manif-rasca-tvi/1239063-4071.html. Retrieved 2011-03-13. 
6. ^ "Protesters in Lisbon surround parliament". Reuters. 15 October 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/15/us-protests-portugal-idUSTRE79E2HR20111015. 
7. ^ ""Geração à rasca" é referência para Espanha - JN". http://www.jn.pt/PaginaInicial/Mundo/Interior.aspx?content_id=1857358. Retrieved 2011-05-22. 
8. ^ "Jovens do Rossio. Negociar a dívida, já!". http://www.ionline.pt/conteudo/125008-jovens-do-rossio-negociar-divida-ja. Retrieved 2011-05-23. 

• Schott, Ben (2011-05-05). "Geração à Rasca - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 May 2011. http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/geracao-a-rasca/. Retrieved 2011-05-23. 
• "Geração à rasca leva 300 mil manifestantes à Avenida da Liberdade- Economia - Jornal de negócios online" (in pt). http://www.jornaldenegocios.pt/home.php?template=SHOWNEWS_V2&id=472989. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
• ""Geração à Rasca" no Rossio de Lisboa - Portugal - DN" (in pt). http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1804607. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
• "Geração à rasca: protesto chegou ao Funchal > Sociedade > TVI24". http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/sociedade/geracao-a-rasca-manifestacao-tvi24-funchal/1239013-4071.html. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
• "IOL Diário - "Geração à rasca": luta também em Barcelona". http://diario.iol.pt/sociedade/geracao-a-rasca-manifestacao-fotos-manif-rasca-tvi24-manif-rasca-tvi/1239063-4071.html. Retrieved 2011-03-13. 
• "IOL Diário - Geração à rasca: protesto forte em Ponta Delgada". http://diario.iol.pt/sociedade/geracao-a-rasca-ponta-delgada-tvi24-manifestacao/1239031-4071.html. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
• "IOL Diário - Geração à Rasca: Viseu protestou no Rossio". http://diario.iol.pt/sociedade/geracao-a-rasca-manisfestacao-tvi24/1239022-4071.html. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
• "Protesto/crise: "Geração à rasca" enche a avenida da Liberdade até ao Rossio - dn - DN". http://www.dn.pt/Inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=1804735. Retrieved 2011-03-12.