27/06/2013 00:00
TW
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Palma.—A police cordon around the Parliament building in Palma yesterday, stopped 60 “indignados” handing over flowers and leaflets to MPs. The gesture had been planned as an invitation to Parliament to attend a public debate open to all, which the rebels had organised in Plaza Cort outside the town hall.

At around 10.30am, the indignados had tried to access the Parliament building down Calle Palau Reial, coinciding with the session marking the official opening of the new Parliament under a change of government.

However, National Police officers were ready for the rebels and barred the way, sparking some tension as the two sides pushed against one another. Although the indignados made attempts to approach Parliament by other side streets, the police managed to stop them.

Some of the rebels claimed they were being treated as second class citizens because the officers were apparently letting other people pass and not them. By way of retaliation, the indignados decided to have a “sit in” in Calle Colon, stopping traffic from passing prior to moving on to the public assembly and workshop in Plaza Cort at 12.30pm.

The rebels arrived just at a time when the City Council was holding a silent protest to mark last Saturday's death in Palma of an 8-year-old girl as a result of domestic violence. One of the rebel group used the silence to reproach the new Mayor, Mateu Isern for being a supporter of the very forces of law and order who were standing in the way of the action of the indignados. A plain clothes policeman challenged a member of the so-called 15M Movement who was making a video of the event.