Charlie Smith
CLIMATE change activists in Spain have joined those in the UK and around the world in acts of civil disobedience.
Around 50 protesters from Extinction Rebellion (ER) blocked the main entrance of the Repsol headquarters in Madrid.
Those involved spilled fake blood on the ground and pinned up a huge yellow banner reading, ‘no planet B’, blocking vehicles from entering the site.
They also claimed that the energy company, ‘continues to burn fossil fuels for the benefit of capital and the ruin of the planet’.
The capital also saw Greenpeace activists unfurl a 300-square-metre banner on the Torres de Colon, listing the impact of politics on the climate and human rights.
Speaking during a week of coordinated action with protestors in London, a spokesperson for ER said the group creates, ‘acts of direct peaceful action’, that provide ‘a wake-up call’.
In the UK capital, around 400 activists were arrested, following acts of civil disobedience in Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch and Canary Wharf.
In Oxford Circus police surrounded a pink boat, emblazoned with the slogan, ‘tell the truth’, and from which actress Dame Emma Thompson gave a speech.
The Hollywood star told crowds: “Our planet is in serious trouble.”
Protestors even glued themself to the fence of Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as a DLR train in business hub Canary Wharf.
Extinction Rebellion’s three main demands are: For governments to ‘tell the truth’ about how deadly climate change is, for carbon emissions to be cut to net zero by 2025, and for a ‘citizen’s assembly’ to be set up to involve the public in climate change negotiations.
