Climate change talks met with dance protests in Madrid
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Hundreds of people blocked one of Madrid’s most emblematic streets on Saturday by dancing to demand action against climate change in what protesters dubbed civil disco-bedience.
The rally was joined by speakers including actor Javier Bardem and activist Greta Thunberg. A concert was also held near to Nuevos Ministerios, a government complex in the city centre.
BBC reports that organisers say around 500,000 people are taking part in the demonstrations. Officials have not given a figure.
On Friday, Greta Thunberg, the teenage environmental activist, arrived in Madrid on Friday morning to participate in a march in the Spanish capital, which is currently hosting the United Nations climate summit known as COP25, according to ElPais.
Speaking at a press conference at the cultural center La Casa Encendida on Friday afternoon, Thunberg praised the growing global social movement for climate action, but noted that politicians are still dragging their feet.
Saturday’s protests called by grassroots green movement Extinction Rebellion, blocked the central shopping street Gran Via. Activists waved flags and danced to songs including the Bee Gees 1977 classic Stayin’ Alive. “We’ve tried all the normal safe ways – petitions, marches, writing letters to the politicians, so now all we can do is civil disobedience,” Joan, an Australian who has been living in Madrid for 18 months, told Reuters. “We’re here on Gran Via in Madrid doing civil disco-bedience,” she added as protesters danced around her.
