Alberto Casillas

Spanish cafe manager becomes hero for blocking riot police

 

Spanish waiter Alberto Casillas hugs a woman at the entrance of the bar where he works in Madrid on September 27, 2012.

AFP
Friday, Sep 28, 2012

MADRID - A cafe manager has become a hero to many in Spain, and an Internet star, after standing up to riot police and letting people protesting government cutbacks take refuge in his establishment.
Alberto Casillas stood at the entrance to the Cafe Prado in central Madrid Tuesday with his arms outstretched to stop police from entering and detaining demonstrators who poured into the cafe when police charged the protestors.
Videos of the 49-year-old, wearing a white shirt and black tie as he blocked the doorway as protestors cowered behind him, have since become one of the most discussed on social media sites like Twitter.
"I did it because of the look of fear and anguish on people's faces," said Casillas as he sat at the counter of the cafe whose walls are decorated with large photos of tapas dishes set against a green backdrop.
"People started to file into the cafe in huge numbers. There were between 200 and 300 people inside at the time. There were children, youths, elderly people. If anyone got injured I would have felt very bad."
Riot police in helmets fired rubber bullets and struck people with their batons to clear thousands of protestors who swamped the Plaza de Neptuno square near parliament to protest austerity measures imposed by the government.
Emergency services said 64 people including 27 police were treated for injuries in the demonstration, including one person who had suffered a serious back injury. Police arrested 35 people.
Casillas, who voted for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular Party in a general election last year, said the police action was "disproportionate".
"You can't justify a police charge because people threw rocks. Police struck people indiscriminately. I lived in Venezuela for 25 years and I saw this type of thing there. Now I am seeing it here as well."
A steady stream of strangers have dropped by the busy cafe located across the street from the Prado Museum since the demonstration to thank him for what he did. Many posed for pictures beside him or gave him a hug.

"I came here because I think you have to value someone like him," said 20-year-old industrial engineering student Francisco Garcia Ramos, who was at Tuesday's protest, after thanking Casillas for his gesture.
Casillas, a married father of two, said he has received telephone calls from across Spain and as far away as London.
Several fan pages have been set up on Facebook and one supporter has announced he plans to make T-shirts bearing an image of Casillas's face.
"I really never wanted to be considered a hero. I simply wanted to be a hero to my family. The heroes are the ones who demonstrate peacefully, who march for hours," he said.
Casillas said that on the day of the demonstration he had been set to meet with his son to have a drink to celebrate his 24th birthday but had to cancel because of what had happened.
"He sent me a text message to say 'Dad, the best gift that you could ever give me is to see you become a hero'. It was very beautiful," Casillas said.
Casillas said he is not sure if he will vote for the Popular Party again.
"I did not vote for the Popular Party to see all this that is going on. You can't govern from behind the barricades," he said.