Before we left for Spain, we had heard
that on our first Wednesday here
we were going to experience a country wide strike.
Having had the opportunity of seeing some "strikes" up close in France, we made plans to stay close to home, no venturing out since the subways would surely be closed (they were not). Perhaps write a few postcards, getting them ready to mail on Thursday since surely the post office would be closed on Wednesday as well. (it wasn't).
Much to our surprise it was a non event here in Madrid.
Other that the planned demonstrations and the usual vandalism that these sort of events breed, all was normal.
(have we become de-sensitized after certain events this summer?)
Add to this the fact that in this part of the country siesta is still very much in practice so one didn't know if the shops were indeed closed for siesta or if they had sympathized with the workers unions.
In general though we came to the conclusion, after reading a bit and listening a bit, that most people in the capital realize the need for austerity in these difficult economic times. Most sympathized, but when push came to shove, they were not about to lose a day's pay to go and attend a demo.
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