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The first protest was called under the motto "we are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers" and was focused on opposition to what the protesters called "antisocial means in the hands of bankers", partly referring to the changes made in 2010 to contain the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis through bailout of the banks, which the Spanish society saw as responsible for the crisis, while at the same time the government kept announcing social program cutbacks. Protesters also demanded more democracy, a new electoral law and end to political corruption as well as other claims, such as banks nationalisation.
Protests took place in all the planned cities. According to Democracia real YA, 50,000 people gathered in Madrid alone. The National Police, however, placed the number at 20,000.[25] The march started in Plaza de Cibeles and ended in Puerta del Sol, where several manifestos were read.At the end of Madrid's demonstration, protesters blocked the Gran Vía avenue and staged a peaceful sit-in in Callao street, to which police responded beating protesters with truncheons. As a result of the clashes and the following riots, several shop windows were destroyed and trash containers burnt. 24 people were arrested and five police officers injured.