Series: Stories from Europe’s squares

France: Place Gabriel Peri in Béziers

Béziers, a small town in southern France, has a new moral guardian. Elected last year, far-right mayor Robert Ménard has wasted no time crusading in favor of Christian values, clean streets and conservative morals. Starting with his town´s central square, he placed a ban on satellite dishes and drying laundry on balconies there, pointing out that his city wasn’t Naples. Some citizens are impressed by the wind of change in Béziers, others lament the law-and-order campaign of Ménard whose political home was on the left not too long ago.

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Spain: Plaça de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

Barcelona has always been a major tourist hub in Spain. The famous church Sagrada Familia is one of the city’s biggest tourist draws, with millions of visitors each year.It comes as no surprise that the square around the church is overwhelmed with tour buses. The constant throng of tourists has started to wear on locals’ nerves who saythe entire neighborhood is being ruined by a monoculture of souvenir shops and fast-food restaurants. They have taken up a fight to preserve the original character of the area – a charm they fear will be increasingly lost.

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Turkey: The Arenas of the Aegean

Winter is rutting season for camels. While the Anatolian highlands are covered in snow, the Aegean coastline further west becomes home to temporary arenas where male camels clash.This tradition was started thousands of years ago by nomadic Turkic tribes in Central Asia. Today there are still thousands of fighting camels in Turkey — camel wrestling festivals and even camel beauty competitions are held during the winter — and they are not only a colorful spectacle, but also a chance for local people to earn some money.

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Gemany: Borsigplatz in Dortmund

Soccer looms large in Germany. Borussia Dortmund is a football club that holds an entire city in its thrall, as well as enjoying widespread popularity elsewhere.In 2012, after winning both the Bundesliga and the German Cup, the squad held a victory parade on Borsigplatz - a square with little to no pretentiousness or glamour, located in a social hotspot area. But it was here where local people celebrated together with millionaire football stars, turning the square into a sea of black and yellow – the traditional colors of football club BVB Dortmund.

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Great Britain: Trafalgar Square in London

No other European country keeps as close a watch on its citizens as the UK. For years, the government has been broadening its powers of surveillance in the name of security. In other nations, its laws would long since have been considered breaches of privacy. A hot spot is Trafalgar Square in London, the biggest public space in town. Surveillance has a long tradition here, beginning in 1926 when police stood at the corners of Trafalgar Square and kept an eye on demonstrators. Today, it’s more about video surveillance.

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Ukraine: Maidan in Kyiv

It all started on Maidan square in 2013. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets of the capital of Kyiv to topple the government and drive President Yanukovych from power.It was here that protests erupted last year calling for closer integration with the EU. Since then Ukraine has watched the east of the country descend into conflict with Russia. But Maidan has also being revived with new bistros, bakeries and libraries. And it remains a reminder of what the Ukrainians have fought for.

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