"Later they will say, that we were only five or six." That's the chant that demonstrators at Madrid's pro-family demonstration shouted Saturday, a protest that the event's organizers announced was attended by around 1.5 million people. The people chanted the slogan over and over, laughing, because it was obvious there was a sea of people, just as it was equally obvious that the government cannot admit that the protest was well attended.
On Sunday, much of the press was reporting the demonstration was attended by only around 180,000 people. The government said that number was too high, and that only 166,000 made the march.
The demonstration was organized by The Spanish Forum for the Family (Foro Español de la Familia). Protestors were demanding marriage be legally defined as between a man and a woman, and that “experimental adoption formulas” not be allowed - in reference to the new legislation opening adoption of children for homosexual couples. Prior to the demonstration, The Forum for the Family had collected over 700,000 signatures in a petition asking Spanish lawmakers to protect the family. Under Spanish law parliament is bound to hear citizen initiatives if at least 500,000 signatures are gathered. To date, the Spanish government has refused to meet with leaders from the pro-family associations. At the end of Saturday's rally, Family Forum organizers were once again requesting to meet with government officials.
The same-sex marriage legislation still must be passed by the Senate, after being approved earlier this spring by parliament in a 183-136 vote, with six abstentions. The Senate vote is scheduled for the end of the month, and had been seen as a mere formality. Protestors hope the demonstrations will cause Senators to think twice before voting for the bill. They have also vowed that this will not be the last demonstration. (EDITOR'S NOTE: For an update on the Senate vote, which rejected the legislation, and what this means, please read this item).
To back up its stance of a limited attendance, the El Pais newspaper, which is friendly to the Spanish Socialist government, printed a map and stated that only a set number of people could have physically been within certain areas. By adding those numbers together, the El Pais article said there could have only been around 180,000 people at the rally. However, the El Pais newspaper left off many streets where demonstrators were gathered - as there were too many people to allow all the demonstrators into the official area.
There's another basic problem with the methodology of El Pais. It assumes the people stayed static for around three hours. In other words, El Pais comes to a 180,000 figure by claiming only a certain number of people can fit into an area - and forgets that there was a constant flow of people from between 4PM to 8PM.
In any event, even using the government's lower number that's certainly more than the government's own figures that calculate there are only around 10,000 homosexuals who bothered to register as couples. In other words, the government is willing to redefine marriage for 10,000, but ignores 166,000 - to 1.5 million others.
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