None should be faulted for giving up on trying to understand the factions and intricacies of civil war Spain to explain all of what is happening
here. Many demonstrations and disruptions and police mobilizations were occurring all over Madrid in the weeks leading up to the 2008 general election. The local Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo (CNT-AIT), based in Plaza Tirso de Molina, had draped anti-fascist banners outside several of their buildings in preparation for a right-wing rally sanctioned by authorities. To what can best be understood, a group of nationalist neo-Nazis crowded the plaza to protest incumbent PSOE immigration policy. In response, a counter-protest group emerged from the immigrant-populated Lavapiés, digging cobblestones from the street to use as projectiles and fortifying their position with flaming trash bins against both the fascists and police.
Photo credit goes to BK, who kept shelter on a balcony three floors above the embattled scene.
