"Not one more euro for defense, all euros for housing": the streets are mobilized against rearmament, with the epicenter in Catalonia.

Madrid"The massive demonstrations against the Iraq war illegally promoted by the government of José María Aznar are part of our recent collective memory," recalls the manifesto entitled We do not resign ourselves to rearmament and war in Europe. which was read this Wednesday by actors Juan Diego Botto and Carolina Yuste at the doors of Congress during Pedro Sánchez's appearance in which the president justified the increase in defense spendingThe political and social context is now very different from that of 2003, when millions of people took to the streets to shout "No to war," and even left-wing groups warn that we must go beyond the banners displayed twenty years ago. However, the peace movement remains organized and seeks ways to influence public opinion conditioned by the "war propaganda" that has been in place since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

"Our option is to try to mobilize this entire society that has been mobilizing for years," explains Tica Font, president of the Delàs Center for Peace Studies, one of the organizations promoting the manifesto, which has already garnered more than 16,000 signatures, including those of well-known figures from around the world (Tosar and Rozalén), academia and activists, and more than 800 organizations. No political parties have been invited, but they were present at the rally in front of the Lower House. Deputies from Sumar, ERC, EH Bildu, Podemos and the BNGThe manifesto and Wednesday's event were developed in less than ten days through existing national coordination networks of development NGOs and peace organizations, but the goal is to forge synergies with all social movements—pensioners, climate activists, housing and healthcare organizations. The initiative, Font describes, stems primarily from Catalonia, where the "most powerful" anti-militarist movement in the country is located.

Assuming that the promoters of this protest do not believe the Spanish Prime Minister's promise that social spending will not be cut even if military spending is increased, they call for the mobilization of organized civil society around various demands to protect social and economic rights. Font, who has been linked to the peace movement since 1987, recalls that in its early years there was "more willingness" to engage in anti-military protests, but now she perceives that the population "has become much more relaxed, finds it harder to mobilize, and is engaging in fragmented struggles." "Here, what will unite us is not peace. What will unite us is that we do not want the social budget cut," reflects the president of the Delàs Center. In this sense, the manifesto warns that "militaristic contexts are often accompanied by setbacks in rights, freedoms, and social policies."

Font explains that for now they are "testing" the ground and will join calls like the April 5th one by the Renters' Union to lower rents and introduce their message: "Not one euro more for defense, every euro for housing," he adds. "We will see how much strength there is in the social mobilization," he adds. While the historic protest against the invasion promoted by former US President George Bush was "exceptional" and difficult to repeat, the peace movement remains undeterred and warns that it will stand up against it. The climate of "fear" that is being imposed "without any logical sense" to justify rearmament.