NATIONAL DEMO AGAINST NOVARTIS IN SPAIN

On Saturday, 9th February, protestors gathered against the multinational Swiss pharma company Novartis, in support of the international campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).

HLS, is the largest contract laboratory doing animal experimentation in Europe, where every day more than 500 animals die and where more than 70,000 animals are housed, which are condemned to die under terrible and unnecessary experiments. Novartis, a company dedicated to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry maintains close relations with HLS.

The rally started at the Plaza Monumental at 12 noon, it is one of the first large rallies against HLS in Spain, with protests and direct action against different companies collaborating with HLS. The protests have been growing over the past several years. People gathered to voice their opposition of this disgusting company who do animal experiments and distributed leaflets to the interested, supportive public.

The march set off with over 150 people who gathered in front of the Korean Monumental and the chanted slogan "HLS torture and murders" while heading towards the headquarters of Novartis, one block away. The main banner read "Novartis torture and murders animals." There are more banners with slogans such as "No to animal experimentation", "Animal Liberation Now!" and a lot of smaller posters.

Demonstrators chants could be heard way up the streets in Barcelona, with "You have blood on your hands" and "accomplices to murder Novartis." Many leaflets where distributed among drivers who had to wait for the protest to move on from the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes.

We arrived at Novartis, with nearly 200 people protested outside the front doors of their office block, sending a clear and strong message to Novartis that they must dump HLS while the chants continued against Novartis and HLS. It was inspiring and a positive protest, with public support against the evil experiments that HLS and Novartis do. The march finished with a clear message - we will carry on naming and shaming you until you drop HLS!

This was a culmination of a week of actions and smaller protests in Spain against Novartis in the run up to the march. At the hotel NH Podium, in Barcelona where a vivisection conference was held, hundreds of leaflets where handed out and the meeting was disrupted. The reason we where there, one of the speakers at the conference was Beatriz Artalejo Ortega who is head Pharmaceutical Development for Novartis, who listened to our protest.