Protests - request info from Spain residents

Currently, there are no major issues with protesters and if any, they are very peaceful. Some regions are having protests from the sanitary staff (no riots whatsoever) and there´s a transport (goods, not mass transport) strike in Spain but it´s thought to be of a low impact. In any case, our protests tend to be peaceful and in the form of marches or demonstrations, but no violence. I´d think that last relevant mass protests (and yes, with violence) took place in Catalonia in 2017 and the reason was their aim for independence, not economical. But again, violent protests are very rare...

I was there when there was a national strike with "protests". What you see in the media portrayal is not reality. I was in Granada and Madrid and while there may have been some late night flair-ups(which the US has had as well-usually when a hometown team wins a championship), the majority were peaceful and one of the protestors even stopped to talk about what the protests were about. There are children and young people marching as well.

Strikes/protests are natural parts of Europe. American media always seems to play up the fear factor but IMHO, if you aren't in the area affected, you wouldn't know it was going on. Go and have fun, and perhaps learn about what is really going on in Spain.

Buen viaje!

OP would you be more specific re: "As we cannot see above noted concerns diminishing by May"?
My husband, adult son and I will be in Spain in December. I have seen nothing of concern to us. My only concern, at this point, is the Vueling Airlines strike. Thank you.

Don’t postpone your trip. When you go, and if you happen to come across a protest while walking around, just avoid that area and take a different route to wherever it is you’re going.

Street demonstrations are a very regular occurrence in many Spanish cities—I see multiple per weekend when I'm in Madrid. But except for very, very rare exceptions, they are smallish, peaceful demonstrations and marches.

We're not talking about gangs flipping cars or throwing molitov cocktails. There are bus drivers calling for pay raises, nurses for better working conditions, immigrants calling attention to a crisis in their home country, etc... They rarely even disrupt traffic.

October 2019 we are in Barcelona when protests across Catalunya occurred and a strong Spanish National police presence came to the area. The airport was closed and our fight canceled so we stayed four additional days and are so grateful for the experience.
We NEVER felt threatened and I have wonderful photos taken while walking alongside the protestors.
At night we still went out, but stayed away from Plaza Catalunya due to the protests (burn a car, torch a dumpster and throw a bottle at the state police; sort of gets more radical at night).
Point is protests are a common method of political activism (in 2005 we watched our first street protest in Barcelona) and not something to be feared.
Go enjoy your journey!
TIP: starting reading English versions of local newspapers to gain a better sense of current events and learn of markets, fairs and concerts you may desire to partake. Wonderful experiences.

We were in Granada in Nov. 2019 and happened upon a protest parade by employees protesting a foreign company coming in and taking over local jobs. My teenage son is very civic-minded and was THRILLED to see a protest. He thought it was such a great example of European activism. It consisted of a few people banging a drum, and a bunch of people marching down the street carrying signs and chanting. Completely peaceful.

I would not reschedule your trip. You can NEVER guarantee a time when your trip will not have a CHANCE of some kind of disruption (labor strike, weather, etc). You just need to think of it as an adventure, be flexible if plans get interrupted, and like someone else said, be ready to turn and walk the other way if there appears to be a parade/gathering going on that you wish to avoid.

If you live in the US, your risk of violence is greater by going to the grocery store, quite honestly.

While Steven has some nice photos, it’s advisable not to get involved in protests while overseas and it isn’t understood exactly why the protests are taking place. Peaceful protests have been known to get ugly quickly and nobody wants to spend their vacation in a foreign jail if they get caught up in the mayhem. Your vacation, your choice.

You may be thinking about the Catalan separatist manifestations in Barcelona that unfortunately devolved into street violence back in 2017 and 2019?

You'll be happy to hear that since then cooler heads have prevailed on both sides of the issue, so for the foreseeable future I don't think you have to worry about violent protests in Barcelona.

jaimeelsabio is right, these protests are not a tourist attraction, best to give them a wide breadth, if you ever do encounter them.

Ah, my wording may not have accurately conveyed the situation. I agree, seeking to become actively involved in a protest may not be wise. In this case we were walking past city hall where the protest formed and they walked past us. Great photos and a interesting experience.

Thanks for the clarification Steven!

Thanks to all who replied. We will proceed with trip plans and will try to keep informed about evolving situations. Toasts with lovely Spanish wine to you all.

I tend to avoid politics in my responses, but given the nature of the question and some of the earlier responses, for those that might be interested, I want to provide a bit of background to an otherwise incomplete information:

On the one hand, in line with others, I agree with the fact the vast majority of the demonstrations and protests tend to be noisy but peaceful. The meaning and purpose of a "protest" on these shores might be conceptually very different from that in other parts of the World. Whether nurses and doctors, public servants, taxi drivers or ordinary people defending their ideas, the protests tend to be conducted in a calm almost festive manner. This is not to say that, from time to time, there can't be more radical elements infiltrated among the protestors provoking violent episodes. This, as mentioned, tends to happen towards the "end" of some of these protests and more often than not are conducted by outsiders, whether politically-motivated extreme right/fascist or extreme left individuals, anti-system movements and even the police themselves (as seen in some 2017 demonstrations in Catalonia).

Indeed a protest or a demonstration is not a "tourist attraction" and visitors might be out of place in one. Nevertheless, given the way these are conducted on these shores -and now I am specifically focusing on my turf, Catalonia- I wouldn't necessarily advise "to give them a wide breath" as if it was a "run-for-your-life" situation... because that'd be far from the reality. Among locals, when one encounters a demonstration -in which one doesn't feel identified or sympathising-, one either crosses or circumvents the march and continues his/her journey to whatever place one had intended to go... as simple as that. Again, (1) I am referring to the way demonstrations tend to work HERE and (2) we're all grown-ups to evaluate and decide if/when something might turn ugly, be a protest, be a bar row, right?

On the other hand, the matter of the "separatists" in Catalonia: first to point out that if anyone unfamiliar with the issue wants to grasp reality it's best to get acquainted with different sources of information, both locally and internationally. Contrary to some ill-intended sources, which tend to disparage it as a "small band of fools", indy backers comprise a very large chunk of the population in Catalonia. I won't go into wars of numbers here as, for all purposes, everybody can have a good idea of what "very large chunk" means.

--part 1 of 2--

These protests and demonstrations have been going on since 1977, upon de death of the dictator Franco and the "return" of democracy to Spain. Initially, these were seeking more autonomy and devolvement of power to the region's government and Parliament. But not having accomplished these demands in a meaningful and practical way, in later years the protests have evolved towards seeking independence, most especially since 2006 -when the Spanish judiciary unilaterally modified the essence of a self-government Statute that had been approved in a referendum by voters and had been backed by both the elected Catalan AND the Spanish parliaments. Since then, the scores of people demonstrating had been growing into the largest demonstrations in Europe since WWII, peaking at nearly 2 million in 2017 when the Catalan Parliament declared independence.

The subsequent quash and repression by the Spanish government -which is still going on with over 4,000 pending indictees- has diminished the attendance yet, as anyone that was in Barcelona during Catalonia's National Day on Sept 11th can attest, the number of protestors is still topping Europe's largest demonstrations -again, even without entering into the petty wars between pro and against indy sides regarding on how many attendees there were. With the exception of the protests of Oct 2017, coinciding with the savage crush by the Spanish police upon the people attending electoral polls to vote during a referendum, and Nov 2019, when it took place the imprisonment of the elected government of Catalonia -both of which understandably provoked great anger among a lot of people- indy demonstrations have always been, and continue to be, very peaceful family-like events with demonstrators from all ages and walks of life and from across all the political spectrum, from left to right. Overlooking such a fact is really disregarding the truth. This is the latest National Day this past Sept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x3YusgYAt8

Other members of this forum might feel differently and might provide different points of view -which I respect-, but I will not turn this into a discussion (which has no place here) thus, this will be my only post in this thread.

Thank you.

-- part 2 of 2 --

I am grateful for Enric's posts finding the content to be enlightening. Our travel experiences are strengthen by learning of issues important to people living within the locales of our journeys. For several reasons we started reading English language versions of local newspapers and feel richly rewarded for the invested time. Beyond learning of "current events" we have found the knowledge enabled conversations with locals moving past a "brush" of dialogue. We spend time researching tour guides, travel forums, YouTube videos and advocate the additional step of local news is worthy of a travelers time.

Just came back from 2 weeks in Spain.

We saw GreenPeace protesters sitting on four piles of garbage and chained to some balconies in Plaza del Callao in Madrid. Police and fire truck showed up. News media showed up to videotape.

We also saw doctors protesting lack of health care spending in front of the Reina Sofia. One was dressed as Death in a skeleton outfit and taking photos with tourists.

In both cases, everything was peaceful and posrd no disruption.

Everytime I booked a rail ticket online, I would get the standard warning about possible delays from rail strike. Never experienced one.