On Sunday the 17th, a dozen rallies will take place across the country at the call of the Climate Alliance to demand “urgent climate justice” in the face of the scale of the disaster caused by DANA in our country.
The organizers explain that at first it was planned to organize a demonstration to attract attention taking advantage of the celebration of COP29, the Climate Summit in Baku (Azerbaijan), but, because of what passed to Valencia or Malaga, they decided that the concentration, which will have the tone of a vigil, will take place mainly in solidarity with those affected by the tragedy, that is why the participants will be dressed in black and holding candles. The various acts, they explain, will be carried out with “the greatest solemnity and respect” for the victims.
“We are looking for solidarity, but also for justice to be done. Let this not happen again,” explains Xuan Cadenas, spokesperson for the group. “Thousands of lives, thousands of stories, thousands of families are lost around the world because politicians fail to deliver on their commitments. There are people who are victims of this inaction and this global climate policy failure,” he underlines, referring to the climate summits.
Precisely since COP29, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, declared during his inaugural speech and in reference to the series of climate disasters occurring this year around the world, that 2024 was “a master class in destruction”. “Families run for their lives before the next hurricane, workers and pilgrims collapse in unbearable heat, floods devastate communities. » and the demolition of infrastructure, children go to bed hungry while droughts devastate crops… All these disasters, and others, are amplified by man-made climate change.
It’s not about environmentalists, but rather about fighting for everyone’s rights.
Xuan Padlock
— Climate Alliance spokesperson
“We can say that DANAS and cold drops have been happening all our lives, but the frequency and intensity are increasing because the water in the Mediterranean has never been so warm. The climate emergency, we have already seen, does not only affect countries that do not have the resources to deal with it, no: in Spain, which is supposed to be a developed and welfare state, we see people die due to floods. We refuse to relive the horrors of DANA,” denounces the alliance, which insists that it is not necessary to be a pure environmentalist to attend this vigil: “We encourage all types of people to participate. . It’s not about environmentalists, but rather about fighting for everyone’s rights. The climate crisis concerns us all. This is a cross-cutting question. I hope many people will come and the gatherings will be massive.
Organizations such as Greenpeace, WWF, Youth for Climate, SEO/BirdLife, Cáritas, Oxfam Intermon, Save The Children, as well as workers’ commissions or UGTs are expected. The confirmed cities are Malaga (Marqués de Larios Street, at 4:30 p.m.), Madrid (King’s Bridge, at 5:30 p.m.), Barcelona, Zaragoza (Plaza d’Espagne, at 6:30 p.m.), Arnedo (at Puerta Munillo at 12:00 p.m.), Segovia (in Plaza de Azoguejo, at 6:00 p.m.), Gijon (Place du NAUTIQUE, 12:00 p.m.), Vigo (Av. Samil, 30, at 5:30 p.m.), Bilbao (Indautxu Square, 12:30 p.m.), Pamplona (Pablo Sarasate Walk, in front of the Parliament of Navarre, at 6:00 p.m.), and Palm (Parc des Gares, at 6:00 p.m.).
