Spain's 'Robin Hood' Mayor Raids ... Supermarkets

He's being called both Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. First Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, mayor of the town of Marinaleda ( population 2,645) in southwestern Spain, led seven followers in a raid of two local supermarkets last week, stealing food and distributing it to local food banks, reports Reuters. "There are people who don't have enough to eat. In the 21st century, this is an absolute disgrace," he said.

Now Sánchez Gordillo has started on a three-week march that begins in Jodar, the Andalusian town with the highest unemployment rate (the province's rate is up to 34%, worse than Spain's 25%), and will take him throughout the region, as he tries to rally local leaders to fight back against government austerity measures. Sánchez Gordillo's advice? Skip debt payments, halt layoffs, end home evictions, and ignore Madrid's demands for budget cuts. "They say I'm dangerous. And the bankers who are let off for fraud? That's not dangerous?" Sánchez Gordillo said. (More Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo stories.)