The "green wave". Balance of an unfinished mobilization

Abstract

It has been called "green tide" to the set of protests that have been taking place in Spain from July 2011 against budget cuts in education in Spain. This article aims to examine this social movement: its background, objectives, organization, active agents and repertoire of actions. To that end, the paper presents a reconstruction of the protests, which are placed in a broader context defined by the economic crisis and a government reaction oriented to increase cutbacks in the welfare state. The analysis of events and social discourses of the participants reflects that the "green tide" went beyond a mere corporate claim and managed to establish itself as a movement in defense of quality in public education considered as a guarantee of the universal right to education.