In Spain more than 15,000 people have been involved in grassroots actions throughout the country. A roadshow (big truck containing an exhibition on the campaign) was travelling to universities around the country. High school students have been working with Intermon Oxfam Labour Rights kits in the classroom and exchanging ideas with each other over the internet. Two thousand of these students came together on 15th March 2004 at regional meetings where they heard personal stories from women factory workers from Honduras and Bangladesh.

All over Spain "Play Fair" campaigner teams collected signatures at sportive events like cycle races, swim races, marathons, in the university and also in our fair trade shops. In some cities actions were held in the streets with big T-shirts with different "quotes" about the terrible working conditions of those making the Olympic sportswear.

There were also theatrical events to coincide with the Torch relay in Seville, Coruña, Andalucia and Galicia which were covered in local newspapers. Spanish celebrities continuously threw their support behind the campaign, inluding famous actresses Vicky Peña and Neus Asensi; top model, Judit Masco; the mayor of the city of Cordoba, Rosa Alguiler; and European magic champion, Jorge Blass.

In Barcelona there was a campaign march where Turkish Trade Unionist, Sedat Kaya, denounced labour conditions in sportswear factories in Turkey. The story was covered in five newspapers, five television stations and two radio stations.

"Making a quilt in Barcelona" - a personal account

"When we decided to make a quilt, we weren't aware that it would be a lot of work and that we would have to do a lot of sewing. We invited the schools that are working in our ED Program about Labour to make a quilt with different pieces of clothes, with messages about Labour Rigths. All the different quilts would be joined in a big one in order to use when the Olympic torch would pass Barcelona. We also asked people of Oxfam Australia to sent us some pieces off the quilt they were making; so our quilt was really made in Spain and in Australia. When we received the quilts, it became clear that each one was different from the others; panels are of different sizes, some quilts were sewn, others stapled. It was very difficult to join all the quilts and we didn't have much time……

The result was that we involved many different people to sew the quilt: neighbors, mothers, a group of women trained in seaming, together with a lot of colleagues. It's a pity we don't have photos of the process, but it was very nice! Eventually we achieved to make a quilt that's 10 by 15 m.

Different quilts were shown in Forum 2004, and the complete quilt was held in front of the building of trade union, in a center street of Barcelona, the day that the Olympic torch passed through Barcelona."

Lourdes Cusó
Campaigns and Policy Department

Oxfam, Spain