Analysts up prediction of attendees at November 12 march in Spain to 2 million

Madrid, Spain, Nov 8, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Organizers of a November 12 march in protest of a new government policy on education are now saying they expect the number of those participating to swell to 2 million, resulting in a turn-out twice as large as that of the pro-family march of June 18.

The president of the civil rights watchdog website HazteOir.org (“Make yourself heard”), Ignacio Arsuaga, said, “There is no doubt the number of those attending the protest will easily exceed 1.5 million, and it would not be surprising for there to be more than 2 million.”

According to the latest data collected by the website, the number of buses that will be coming from the region of Catalonia will be five times greater than those that brought participants to the June 18 protest.  Similar turn-out from other regions is also expected.

“The number of assistants at these protests increases in an inversely proportionate manner to the amount of dialogue that the Zapatero government offers to those who disagree with its plans,” Arsuaga stated.

The president of the Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, called on party members to join in the protest against the new education policy “in order to defend constitutional principles and freedom of education in Spain.”

Likewise, the Platform for the Promotion of Family, Marriage and Children, expressed its support for the protest, in order to defend “freedom and the quality of education and the right of parents to decide what is best for their children.” 

Archbishop Antonio Cañizares of Toledo maintained that the new education policy violates the constitution because it respects neither fundamental rights nor the accords with the Holy See regarding the teaching of religion.