ARCHIVED - Suicide pact protest staged in Prado museum, Madrid
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The group claimed to be on hunger strike and threatened to overdose on pills
A group of victims of the rapeseed oil poisoning scandal that rocked Spain in the 1980s barricaded themselves inside the Prado museum in Madrid on Tuesday morning, October 19, and threatened to commit mass suicide if the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, did not meet their demands.
The six protesters, one of whom was in a wheelchair, arrived at the museum at around 10am and installed themselves in the Las Meninas room, where one of Spain’s most famous period paintings is housed. Through social media, the group ‘Plataforma Síndrome Tóxico-Seguimos Viviendo’ (Toxic Syndrome Platform-We Continue Living) announced that they were on hunger strike and would begin taking lethal pills in six hours if Mr Sánchez didn’t respond. Thankfully, museum staff and the National Police managed to remove the protesters just two hours after their stand began, and three of the group have been arrested.
What is Toxic Oil Syndrome?
The rapeseed oil crisis emerged in Spain on May 1 1981 when a mysterious illness resembling pneumonia broke out, killing more than 5,000 people and leaving 20,000 more with lifelong health issues. It transpired that rapeseed oil designed for industrial use (known in Spanish as ‘aceite de colza’) was being sold for human consumption as a substitute for olive oil and was essentially poisoning people. The first death reported as a result of the Toxic Oil Syndrome was that of an eight-year-old boy.
The cases finally made it to court in 1987 and 14 people stood accused of mass poisoning. Several people were imprisoned and those responsible were ordered to pay compensation to their victims, something which never happened as the perpetrators were declared insolvent.
The group chose October 19 as the date for their protest to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the approval of the decree law for the protection of victims of toxic syndrome and their families.
Why are survivors of the poisoning protesting?
The survivors’ association has requested an urgent meeting with the President and has demanded that their condition be recognised as an official illness.
“We are victims of the State and they are not treating us as such,” complained spokesperson for the group, Maria Altagracia.
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