It can cost the media up to €700 a day to hire a balcony in central Madrid to cover street demonstrations according to a report in El Pais newspaper.
A balcony space on the Puerta del Sol has always been a sought-after vantage point for events in the centre of the city but now owners are charging for the privilege.
According to the article in El Pais it was demonstrations by the anti-capitalist protest movement 15-M in May 2011 that triggered the demand for balcony space overlooking the square.
15-M was the prototype for other movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Occupy London, which demand a radical change in capitalist economics and western political institutions.
