Spain

jueves 6 de mayo a las 19:00
con

• Chloé Meulewaeter , investigadora del Centro Delás de Estudios por la Paz
• Carmen Calzado, activista de Ecologistas en Acción Andalucía

canal youtube: http://bit.ly/cordobaporlapaz

Find out more about them here: https://twitter.com/DesarmaMadrid

More info here

More info here

More information here

Del 21 al 24 y el 26 de Abril
Program here

The aim of the campaign is to denounce the growing presence of the army and weapons in public and educational spaces.
more info here (in Catalan).

May 5th: 18:30
Grenada, Andalucía

Centre Delàs of Peace Studies, as a decentralised office of the IPB and leading organization of GCOMS, will organise a press conference on April 26 to discuss the newly released data on military spending.

The Catalan political party CUP, Sant Andreu’s branch, shared on their social media the infographic of Spanish military spending created by GCOMS and Centre Delàs, together with the message “Let’s invest in healthcare military spending!” and this image:

The regional party ‘Més per Mallorca’ submitted a motion in the Spanish Senate through its Senator Vicenç Vidal Matas to demand the reallocation of military spending towards health care. The group denounced how military spending in Spain is 4 times higher that the total budget of the Balearic region. The group also created 3 infographics based on the reference provided by GCOMS and Centre Delàs.

Senator Carles Mulet, from the Valencian political party ‘Compromís’ presented several questions to the Spanish Government at the Senate regarding military spending prospects after the COVID-19 health emergency. The spokesperson of Compromís demanded more transparency to the government in relation with military spending hidden in departments other than Defense and demanded a reallocation of budget given to new weapon’s programmes. He used the comparison between health equipment and weapons elaborated by GCOMS and Centre Delàs and claimed that citizens are entitled to decide what their money is spent on.
Find out more in this news article.
See the registered questions at the Senate here.
Compromís also shared our infographic and message on their social media together with the message: “We need to rethink military spending and dedicate it to rescue people”.

Red Antimilitarista y Noviolenta de Andalucía joined GDAMS and shared the statement and infographic ‘Healthcare not Warfare’.

Ecologistas en acción (Ecologists in Action) joined the Spanish campaign for fiscal objection based on “the non-disposition to collaborate with the State in the war spending and maintaining the military structure, disobeying actively in the moment of the annual tax declaration.” For this purpose they used the comparison made by Centre Delàs d’Estudis per la Pau for GDAMS, where they analyze the 2019 Spanish military spending comparing the amount of money they could have invested in healthcare, something crucial in a pandemic context such as ours. Find more here.

The Galician group shared the GDAMs infographic prepared by Centre Delàs at their website and used it as a way to encourage people to do tax resistance

The Catalan peace organization joined GDAMS by sharing the infographic and the IPB petition on its social media

This platform of health personnel and users in defence of public health care shared on their social media our infographic and the petition by Centre Delàs to reorientate military spending and new arms programmes’ money to healthcare and social services.

On the 83th anniversary of Guernica’s bombing, Bake Ekintza, a Basque antimilitarist group, shared a compilation video of actions carried out on the occasion with references to GDAMS and to Spanish military expenditure. Watch it here.

This basque organization joined the manifest on support of GDAMS and shared it on their social media.

The Spanish artist Mario Gargon created these 2 images in support of GDAMS and its Healthcare Not Warfare message.

The Member of the European Parliament Miguel Urbán Crespo publicly supported GDAMS and shared the infographic adapted to the Spanish case and the petition formulated by Centre Delàs and IPB.
“¿Cuánto gastamos en armamento y cuánto gastamos (o recortamos) en sanidad? Los datos del @CentreDelas y @IntlPeaceBureau son alarmantes: -Recortes en sanidad en 2008 y 2009: entre 15.000 y 21.000 millones de € -Gasto militar español en 2019: 20.050 millones de € #GDAMS2020”

The Andalusian Association for Human Rights (APDHA), a non-profit working for the promotion and defense of Human Rights, joined GDAMS for the first time to demand a reorientation of military spending towards social spending, in particular to health care. APDHA shared the GDAMS materials on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, wrote an op-ed and joined the Move The Money selfie campaign with dozens of pictures.

The antimilitarist group of Bilbao (Basque country) joined GDAMS by sharing a pictures and the motto “military spending to social services” #GastosMilitaresParaServiciosSociales #GastuMilitarrakZerbitzuSozialetarako

The Madrid-based movement joined GDAMS for the second time by sharing materials and articles via online. Find out more about them here: https://twitter.com/DesarmaMadrid

The secretary of social movements of the Catalan teachers union USTEC-STES shared information on GDAMS, including its 2020 infographic on the organization’s blog. This post also compiled all educational tools and possible actions to be carried out by students and teachers.

Nine Basque organizations support GCOMS in their demand to invest in social spending instead of militarization and denounce the militaristic management of the COVID-19 health crisis. These organization include: AA-KEM-MOC Nafarroa, Bake-Ekintza Antimilitarista, Centre Delàs (Delegación Vasca), Emakumeok Gerraren Aurka, Gerrarik Ez Eibar, Gerra Hemen Hasten da/La Guerra Empieza Aquí, Gernika Gogoratuz, Kakitzat koordinakunde Antimilitarista and KEM-MOC Bilboko Talde Antimilitarista.

“We shouldn’t and can’t go back to “normal”, as “normal” was already a state of crisis. We are aware it is not going to be an easy task, as nowadays econocmic interests prevail over the rights and needs of people, but, at the same time, the global health crisis we are enduring can help us reconsider the sinister direction which we had taken as societies”

Read the full statement (in Spanish or Euskera) here.

Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos, Ecologistas en Acción and USTEA Cádiz joined to demand a reallocation of military spending to tackle the crisis provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out more here.

This campaign against poverty shared the Healthcare not Warfare infographic on its social media: “Department of Defence spends on a tank what 440 ventilators cost. Each shot of a Leopard vehicle equals 90 covid-19 tests. Let’s invest in healthcare what we spend on the military. Let’s invest in saving lives”

Greenpeace España shared the article of Greenpeace International by Jen Maman ‘Redefining safety’ (page 84) and supported its call to reduce military spending and rethink our security paradigm. 

“Los nuevos datos de SIPRI elevan a 1,9 billones de dólares el gasto militar mundial de 2019. La crisis del COVID-19 nos ha enseñado que la seguridad y potencial militar no son lo mismo. ¡Redefinamos la seguridad!”

The platform shared the Healthcare not Warfare infographic and a reflexion on our priorities as a society.

In this online seminar (May 5), experts of Centre Delàs analysed and reflected on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of security, militarization and rights. They also reflected on the loss of liberties and on the social control mechanisms that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about. Are measures taken necessary and proportional? How do we avoid their normalization? Which of these measures will become permanent? What’s the impact of this situation on vulnerable communities? 

You can watch it on Youtube (in Spanish)

A representative of GCOMS (Quique Sánchez) and a military spending expert from Centre Delàs (Pere Ortega) participated in the first session of this series of webinars (in Spanish) organised by Acción Directa Noviolenta (ADNV). This first session took place on April 29 and hosted a discussion on  military spending and tax resistance to war as a form of civil disobedience. The webinar also included a representative of Mujeres de Negro (Women in Black) and was organised with the collaboration of Ben Magec – Ecologistas en Acción, Radio Guiniguada and Radio pimienta.

You can watch this webinar here.

Centre Delàs of Peace Studies prepared and shared infographics and reflections on military spending within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, bringing attention to the vast opportunity costs of military outlays and to human security-based  alternatives.

Centre Delàs adapted the GDAMS infographic to the Spanish case, comparing its military spending (more than 20 billion €) and its major arms programmes (such as Eurofighter jets, submarines, tanks or frigates), with the costs of health care equipment and personnel, much needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This infographic follows the same logic as the general one from GDAMS, but bringing attention to the imbalance between expenditure in health services and what has been spent in weapons systems in Spain for the last two decades and what’s been approved for new weapons programmes.
This infographic was launched at the same time as the April 27 press conference was held. Together with a press release (here) and messages on social media, Centre Delàs and IPB Barcelona demanded the cancellation of all new arms programmes approved by the current government (over 13 billion €) and a major reduction of Spanish Military Spending. This infographic was widely shared on social media, reaching also political parties as Compromís (València), Més Mallorca or CUP (Catalonia)

You can download this infographic here with translations available in Catalan and Euskera.

This toolkit (in Spanish) has been prepared by a Spanish teachers union to help teachers start a conversation with students on militarism & military spending.

Please, find the toolkit here.

Coordinadora d’ONG de Lleida.

Please, visit the website here.

16h in the “Francisco A. Muñoz” conference room, Centro de Documentación Científica C/ Rector López Argüeta s/n, University of Granada. Organised by Centro Delàs de Estudios por la Paz and Instituto Universitario de la Paz y los Conflictos. With José Ángel Ruiz, Chloé Meulewaeter (Centre Delàs) and Stellan Vinthagen (War Resister’s International).

Speakers presented civil resistance and nonviolence as tools for peacebuilding and tackling militarization.

Two school rallies and a protest took place in Cádiz and Puerto de Santa María (IES Cornelio Balbo and La Arboleda) as part of the campaign ‘Demilitarize Schools: more social spending, less military spending’ with students representing Picasso’s Guernica, symbol of the horrors of war.

“Leave us in Peace: Less military spending and more social investment”. At noon in Conseyu de la Mocedá (Av. Manuel Llaneza 38). With Tica Font and Pere Ortega (Centre Delàs of Peace Studies) analysing military spending in Spain, the EU and globally. Prior to the conference, tax resistance strategies and examples were presented. Organised by ‘Campaña asturiana pola oxeción fiscal al gastu militar’ (Asturian campaign for tax objection).

The UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace of the Jaume I University (UJI) in Castellón prepared an online campaign to support the Global Days of Action on Military Spending, raising awareness on the issue at the university.

A representative of GCOMS was interviewed to introduce the campaign on military spending on the occasion of GDAMS and comment on the new data on military spending published that day by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

You can listen to the interview (after 17′, in Spanish) here.

Justicia y Paz – Comisión General (Justice and Peace) endorsed the campaign on military spending on the occasion of the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) by publishing a statement (in Spanish).

At 18:30 in Plaça Catalunya, ending in Plaça Sant Jaume, members of the GCOMS campaign marched along with young climate protesters and had the chance to talk about climate emergencies from the criticism to military spending. The GCOMS representative introduced the campaigned and remarked the connections between the climate emergency and militarism, which share many causes and consequences. More information on the event here. Here Extinction Rebellion’s web and manifest.

In Plaza Unamuno (downtown) an information point on military spending’s tax objection was displayed. Organised by Alternativa Antimilitarista.

The NGOs Coordination Platform of Lleida (Coordinadora de ONGD i de aMS de Lleida) endorsed GDAMS one more year with a statement and several posts on social media, creating their own dissemination materials. You can read the statement here (in Spanish) and see their posts here and here.

In support to GCOMS, the teachers’ union USTEA launches a campaign to claim for de demilitarization of schools in Andalusia, which includes a survey for teachers, in order to map militarism in schools of the region, which at the same time are suffering from intense budgetary cuts. It also includes a “Resistance” manual to confront militarization of schools. More information (in Spanish) here.

Press Conference at 11:30am at La Fede, presenting the GCOMS Statement on global military spending, with SIPRI data and GDAMS message at the center.

Alternativa Antimilitarista, MOC Tenerife,Canary Islands: Move military funds to health, education and human needs. Look at the photo here!

Action from Women in Black and Madrid Anti-Militarists Assembly. With a video on Tax Objection (in Spanish) “La tribu de la Objeción Fiscal”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffepvobxato – Look at the photo here!

Tax Objection talk in Donosti, Euskadi: Yayo Herrero will be talking on “Don’t follow the rules, and build a new world with your taxes money”. Emakumeen Etxea, Okendo 9 at 7pm. More information here (in Spanish).

GDAMS Meetings with Spanish Deputies at the Spanish Parliament (Madrid) regarding the 2018 discussion of the Spanish Annual Budget. Due to the increase in the Spanish military budget, the meeting was held to discuss about the Spanish Annual Budget between Jordi Calvo from GCOMS and Spanish parlamentarians, to suggest amendments and to advocate for a reduction in the national annual military spending. Look at the photo!

At 9:15pm CET, Peace News on the radio, Canary Islands: Discussion on Military Spending and on GDAMS during a “slow coffee” in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Listen to the audio (in Spanish)!

Tax Objection talk in Arrasate, Euskadi: Talk and information on Tax Objection. Arrasateko Gaztetxea. More information here (in Spanish).

Tax Objection Panel in Bilbao, Euskadi: Informative panel on Tax Objection at Unamuno Square. “Not even one euro for wars”. More information here (in Spanish).

Event on “Stop violences from the System”, XXVIII joint event with African and Latin-America peoples. Joint photo for GDAMS, organized by AAMOC Canarias. Watch the photo here!

Tax Objection talk in Durango, Euskadi: OEE, Ongi Etorri errefuxiatuak. Talk and information on Tax Objection. More information here (in Spanish).

Make Peace, not War: Action by the Lleida coordination group of NGOs and other solidarity movements. Look at the photo here!

Tax Objection in Bilbao, Euskadi: Action in favour of Tax Objection at the Bizkaia Foral Government (“Diputacion Foral”). “Don’t pay wars with your taxes”. More information here (in Spanish).

April 27th
Donosti, Spain
Conference of Pere Ortega on Military Spending and the Business of War
Organized by SETEM

April 26th
Vitoria, Spain
Conference of Pere Ortega on Military Spending and the Business of War
Organized by SETEM

April 26th

The statement claims for the right of World’s people to live in peace and for the necessary and immediate changes in immigration policies that now sentence to death millions of people who simply try to scape from war, persecution and hunger.

Read the statement (in Spanish) here

25th April, 2017
7 pm, La Fede, Tapies 1-3, 08001 Barcelona
Conference  with Colin Archer: Militarized States. What can we do from a Global Justice perspective?

Organized by LaFede.cat (Catalan Federation of Organizations for Global Justice). With the cooperation of Delàs Center for Peace Studies, Novact, Fundipau, Unipau, Justícia & Pau and Escola Cultura de Pau.

April 24th
9pm, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Peace News on the radio

Listen the podcast at this link!
Discussion on Military Spending during a “slow coffee”, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

April 22th
11am
Spain, Bilbao, Barakaldo, Getxo: Bizi Marxta against military industry
Bike March, starting at 11am from the Palacio Foral Bizkaia “Diputacion” to go to the Arms Factory Precicast PCB in Barakaldo. Ending at Getxo, at the entrance of Sener, a company involved in arms production.
This is the 10th Bike March against Military Spending and Military Industry.
The initiative is promoted and organized by several anti-militarist organizations together with ecologists and internationalist solidarity groups in Bizkaia.

Read more (in Spanish), here!

April 18 to April 25th

4th April, 2017
The Parliament of Navarra approved a Statement against Military Spending and Weapon Investements.

Read more (in Spanish)

Centro Delàs d’Estudi per la Pau came out with drawings and infographics  which compared military spending with social spending. It also published the article Global Day of Action on Military Spending in its website.

“En 2015, como viene ocurriendo cada año, el presupuesto militar español carece no solo de transparencia sino también de realismo. En un contexto permanente de crisis económica, en el que las necesidades sociales son una prioridad para la ciudadanía, se vuelve a aumentar el gasto militar, retrayendo recursos de las políticas que persiguen el bien social”.

Read the Red Antimilitarista y Noviolenta de Andalucìa (R.A.N.A) GDAMS media release (Spanish).

ACCIÓN EN LA BASE NAVAL DE LAS PALMAS

Activists pave international waters of the Army to report military spending and infrastructure, pointing that “War starts here: let’s stop it here!”

The Alternativa Antimilitarista MOC led 40 international activists enter the waters near the Las Palmas Navy Base to denounce military expenditure and infrastructure. The nonviolent direct action placed the “yellow dotted lines” in the water to symbolize the “cut” to military spending.

Click here to read the press release.

Read here the article on Global Day of Action that was published in El Pais newspaper.

RED ANTIMILITARISTA Y NOVIOLENTA DE ANDALUCÍA

ENTIDADES SOCIALES Y SINDICALES PROPONEN LA DESOBEDIENCIA CIVIL AL GASTO MILITAR DEL IRPF 2013 A TRAVÉS DE LA OBJECIÓN FISCAL

La Red Antimilitarista y Noviolenta de Andalucía (R.A.N.A.), con motivo de los actos internacionales del Gdams 2014 en los que participa (ver: http://www.gdams.org) propone a los contribuyentes de Andalucía que hagan la objeción fiscal a los gastos militares para que en estos momentos de dura crisis social y desempleo, de recortes sociales en sanidad y educación se desvíe la parte del presupuesto de lo militar a necesidades sociales.

Click here to read the complete report.

The Red Antimilitarista y nonviolencia de Andalucía (R.A.N.A.) organised several presentations in universities and educational centres about military intervention. Read their report (in Spanish) and read the magazine article.

Mundo Sin Guerras

We set up a stand at the Fira de la Terra (Earth Fair) on 21 and 22 April, and collected signatures on a petition to the European Parliament for reducing investment in arms, and military spending on the continent.

Mundo Sin Guerras/Asamblea Antimilitarista/Derecho a Rebelión

We collectively organized an event in the Puerta del Sol entitled, “Cutbacks, yes! To the Military!” There was a performance, as well as a number of discussion sessions on topics such as military spending in Spain, fiscal objections to military spending, paramilitarization in Colombia, military aid to the occupation of the Western Sahara, and the experience of “take the base” direct actions. See more info here.

Mundo Sin Guerras, or World Without Wars, organized a number of events throughout Spain. Their report and informative press release can be seen here en Español.

Mundo Sin Guerras

We set up a public display and a mural demonstrating the costs of military spending, and the equivalents of those costs in social resources like hospitals, schools, etc.

Mundo Sin Guerras

We organized a campaign to raise awareness through the internet and social media, the local media and with posters around the city.

Fundació per la Pau

“As a first action, the 5th April, Fundació per la Pau launched an animated video comparing the figures of the MDG with the military expenditure…

“The 12th, the Day of Action, together with another NGO, we launched a Manifesto that had the support of 15 organizations and 50 personalities of the Catalan and Spanish civil society, peace movement, and cultural world.

“Together with the Manifesto we launched a cyber action to ask people to send a letter to the Spanish president, Mr. Zapatero, to ask him to reduce military expenditure.”

R.A.N.A. (Red Antimilitarista y Noviolenta Andalusian)