How many people do you "see" in this demonstration?
According to the organization: 1.500.000
According to the local police: 1.100.000
According to this site: 62.000 with an estimated error of +20%
The third source comes from a company which is specialized in measuring attendance.
These pictures were taken in Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona a couple of months ago. It's one of the most popular avenues of the city, where large demonstrations usually take place.
I recall years ago a couple of similar demonstrations in attendance, at least at first glance. One was against Basque independent terrorism and the other one, against the Irak War. The media reported an attendance of approximately 1.000.000 people in both events. So, given these precedents, it would somehow seem reasonable to think that, this time, the approximate number would be again 1.000.000.
But this time, the reason of the demonstration was more controversial. Very soon, many people and also part of the mainstream Spanish media who are against the ideology behind this demonstration rushed to show this "alternative" source (alternative meaning scientific... ahem...). The attendance, according to this source, was much smaller than 1.000.000. In fact, it looked ridiculous in comparison. But, contrary to what most people from both sides of the spectrum thought, the numbers given by this specialized source weren't implying an unsuccessful demonstration in terms of attendance, but most probably the fact that the attendance figures from previous demonstrations of about 1.000.000 people were vastly inflated too.
Some of the people who supported this demonstration are still in denial: they still think there were more than 1.000.000.
Some of the people who were against this demonstration think that the specialized source is right, but they blindly believe inflated figures from other demonstrations that are ideologically closer to their line of thinking.
According to the organization: 1.500.000
According to the local police: 1.100.000
According to this site: 62.000 with an estimated error of +20%
The third source comes from a company which is specialized in measuring attendance.
These pictures were taken in Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona a couple of months ago. It's one of the most popular avenues of the city, where large demonstrations usually take place.
I recall years ago a couple of similar demonstrations in attendance, at least at first glance. One was against Basque independent terrorism and the other one, against the Irak War. The media reported an attendance of approximately 1.000.000 people in both events. So, given these precedents, it would somehow seem reasonable to think that, this time, the approximate number would be again 1.000.000.
But this time, the reason of the demonstration was more controversial. Very soon, many people and also part of the mainstream Spanish media who are against the ideology behind this demonstration rushed to show this "alternative" source (alternative meaning scientific... ahem...). The attendance, according to this source, was much smaller than 1.000.000. In fact, it looked ridiculous in comparison. But, contrary to what most people from both sides of the spectrum thought, the numbers given by this specialized source weren't implying an unsuccessful demonstration in terms of attendance, but most probably the fact that the attendance figures from previous demonstrations of about 1.000.000 people were vastly inflated too.
Some of the people who supported this demonstration are still in denial: they still think there were more than 1.000.000.
Some of the people who were against this demonstration think that the specialized source is right, but they blindly believe inflated figures from other demonstrations that are ideologically closer to their line of thinking.
