• Madrid: Marching keys headed by Greta Thunberg
  • Opinion: Greta Thunberg, leader of the next generation

A symbol becomes such when it achieves that its simple physical presence embodies an entire idea: a flag, to its nation; a famous activist, to the cause she defends. But the young Swedish girl Greta Thunberg transcended yesterday at the Climate Summit in Madrid her status as a symbol when she monopolized all the foci of the day dedicated to young people, in which she did not participate or was in any way present. It was this Thursday night when the activist has taken with her father the Lusitania , the Renfe night train that connects Lisbon and Madrid, bound for the Spanish capital

While hundreds of scientists, authorities and young people from all over the planet were debating at the Madrid fairgrounds on Thursday, turned into UN territory these days, Spanish media swirled in front of the San Pedro de Atacama hall . So named in honor of one of the best-known places in Chile , the country that presides over the summit, there was rumored that Greta would appear from one moment to another.

The truth is that in that and other nearby venues spoke dozens of young activists, but received little attention from the press. Every time a new rumor arose - "it's in room 3!" Or "in room 5 there is a sign announcing his intervention!" -, someone leaned out, took a quick look and came out again: "No , here is not Greta ».

Occasionally the disenchantment, when not tired, could be seen in the face of the personnel asked by the journalists: Will Greta Thunberg participate in this talk? "We don't know . " But is she invited? "We do not know".

Meanwhile, other young activists talked about the problems they suffer in their country or how they plan to influence political decision making.

"They are playing with us," the press began to worry. No one really knew where the rumor came from, that it did not start from the Swedish activist or its surroundings. The rest of the visitors did not understand what so many people were doing there at that point. The organizers, in fact, confirmed that in that act the presence of Greta Thunberg was expected .

The bulo was dissipating at the time that the mealtime was on top, so that the rumor around the young woman made a hole in the news in the afternoon. In front of the San Pedro de Atacama room, someone explained that renewable energies will reach in 2020 the point where they will be as economically efficient as non-renewable ones. The young Swedish woman was still in Lisbon, where she arrived last Tuesday after crossing the Atlantic by catamaran.

Today Friday, however, Greta Thunberg will be in Madrid. The first act he has scheduled will be a press conference at the La Casa Encendida cultural center in Madrid . From there you will go to the nearby Atocha station, where at 6:00 p.m. a march against climate change will begin.

More than 100,000 protesters planned

The demonstration, convened by Fridays for Future , Alliance for Climate, Alliance for Climate Emergency and 2020 Rebellion for Climate, will tour the Paseo del Prado, Recoletos and la Castellana, until culminating in New Ministries. There, Greta Thunberg herself will read a manifesto with actor Javier Bardem and indigenous leader Sônia Guajajara . The event, which will last until 11 pm, will feature live music by Macaco, Amaral and Los Canallas, among others.

From Ecologists in Action they expect the assistance to be massive, despite the Immaculate Bridge. Although it is a speculative figure, it is possible that more than 100,000 people come, because, as Samuel Martín-Sosa , head of International of this organization, told this newspaper, "there is a great social anger."

"For us, there has been a qualitative leap this year because we are now talking about a climate emergency," added Martin-Sosa, who believes that the wave of mass protests is the natural result of two elements. «On the one hand, there has been an aggravation of the scientific diagnosis. In October 2018, the IPCC [the UN group of experts on climate change] published a report that gave us just 12 years to undertake the necessary measures. And, on the other hand, climate change is going from being a theoretical element to being something emotional that we are beginning to see in the first person, for example, with heat waves, ”he explained.

For this person in charge of Ecologists in Action, «there is fear because we are seeing that governments are not acting. If we do not go out, without social pressure, politicians will not undertake the necessary changes.

Youth Day at the Climate Summit Alberto Di Lolli

The young activist Meredith Adler , who did speak yesterday in the Pedro de Atacama room and is the executive director of Student Energy, highlighted the magnitude that this kind of call has taken in a short time: «I had never seen adult organizations join so quickly movement as has happened with Fridays for Future, ”he said. «The challenge now is for young people and other actors to speak the same language. It is exciting to see what is possible, ”he added.

Greta Thunberg confirmed yesterday via Twitter that she will participate in the Madrid march, which she links to her "strike" - she does not go to school - and retweeted a message from the Dalai Lama : "I support young people in their protests against the inaction of the governments in the face of the climate crisis, ”declared the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

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