Published on Jul 19, 2012 by RussiaToday
Spanish police have clashed with protesters who marched against the latest batch of austerity measures. Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities. Violence erupted in Madrid around midnight. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd as it tried to reach the congress building. In some more urban areas, activists set garbage containers on fire and tried to block police vehicle access. No injuries or arrests have been reported.
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Spanish rallies turn violent as million people protest in 80 cities (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
Published: 20 July, 2012, 02:23
Edited: 21 July, 2012, 13:27
At least 15 people have been arrested and around 40 injured in central Madrid after police used force to disperse hundreds of thousands of angry protesters that flooded the streets in outrage against the country’s latest austerity package.
Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities.
Violence erupted in Madrid around midnight after dozens of protesters reached the city’s Puerta del Sol square and clashed with riot police. Security forces used batons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd as it tried to enter the congress building located on the square. Some of the protesters lobbed bottles at officers. At least 10 policemen were injured during the clashes in the capital.
In some urban areas, activists set trash cans on fire and tried to block police vehicle access with barricades of plastic bins and cardboard boxes.
Demonstrators carried flags and banners decorated with scissors, symbolizing the country's harsh spending cuts. The streets of Madrid were paralyzed by the boundless crowds of people bellowing “Hands up, this is a robbery!” An estimated 100,000 people participated in the demonstrations in the capital.
In Barcelona, similar scenes were reported. About a dozen protesters were arrested outside the local parliament building.
Eight firemen stripped naked in the northern town of Mieres near Oviedo. "With so many cuts we have been left naked," declared a banner on the wall above them.
The demonstrations were organized by unions who have been outraged by the government’s new measures. One such measure is an end to Christmas bonuses for civil servants, which amounts to a 3.5 to 7 per cent reduction in annual pay.
"There's nothing we can do but take to the street. We have lost between 10 and 15 per cent of our pay in the past four years," demonstrator Sara Alvera, 51, a worker in the justice sector, told AFP.
"We are two and a half million votes. I hope they are thinking about that," said Jose Luis Martinez, 52, who works at the interior ministry, told Reuters.
"We have to make some noise, because they're making fun of us and of all working people," said Iria, 34, an auditor in the treasury.
Earlier Thursday, Spanish Parliament approved a new package of spending cuts and tax hikes aiming to save $80 billion in a bid to take a bite out of the budget deficit. Since the measure was announced last week, Spain has witnessed a series of daily demonstrations, some of which have erupted into violence.
Europe's fourth-largest economy also has the EU's highest unemployment rate. About a quarter of working-age Spaniards are unable to find work.
Meanwhile, Germany’s lower house approved a $122 billion rescue package for Spanish banks in a bid to help the country cope with "excessive" market fears and prevent the eurozone's debt crisis from spreading further.
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Protesters march during a demonstration against government austerity measures, in central Valencia
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Demonstrators fill Madrid's Puerta del Sol square during a protest against government austerity measures. (REUTERS / Sergio Perez)
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Firefighters pose naked in front of a banner during a demonstration against government cuts inside their fire station in Mieres (REUTERS / Eloy Alonso)
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MORE INFORMATION & PHOTOS:
http://www.rt.com/news/spain-protests-a ... -cuts-634/
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A new stage in the euro crisis
26 July 2012
Reading the latest headlines on the euro crisis, one experiences a feeling of déjà vu. Like last summer, the rating agencies are lowering their ratings, interest rates for government bonds are rising to astronomical heights, and governments are announcing new austerity measures. Only this time Spain has supplanted Greece, whose economy is just one fifth the size of Spain’s, as the focal point of the crisis.
Despite the billions in bailouts and trillions injected by the European Central Bank, as well as round after round of austerity measures, the euro stands closer to the abyss than ever before. “We believe that Europe is sleepwalking toward a disaster of incalculable proportions,” 17 leading European economists warn in a report published this week.
It would be naïve to attribute the worsening of the crisis to a purely technical response by the markets to rising public debt in Southern European countries. Even the Financial Times’ editorial on Wednesday acknowledged that Spain’s public debt is “well below the euro zone average,” and that “there are no underlying economic reasons to feel differently about Spain now than a week ago”. Nevertheless, interest rates on ten-year Spanish bonds have risen far above the critical level of 7 percent.
Behind the onslaught on the euro lie fundamental class interests. The international financial oligarchy that dominates the financial markets and stock exchanges will not rest until all the social gains won by the European working class after World War II have been destroyed. In their eyes, collectively agreed upon wages and workers' rights are illegitimate restrictions on their wealth, as is government spending on education, health, pensions, public services and infrastructure.
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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul20 ... -j26.shtml
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Is There Even a Panic Button in Europe?
By Tim Duy Jul 25, 2012, 10:54 AM
I didn’t think it was possible, but my confidence in the ability of European policymakers to pull the Continent out of crisis continues to fall. This is saying a lot because I had virtually no confidence to begin with.
Consider where we are at today. Greece once again is making the headlines, as it is increasingly evident that they have made virtually no progress on the last bailout package, and will therefore need another. This should have come as no surprise; it was increasingly politically impossible to engage in additional austerity with the Greek economy plummeting into the abyss. But bailout fatigue will finally hit this time, as there appears to be no more appetite to limp Greece along. Evan Ambrose-Pritchard argues that Germany is leading the drive to finally force Greece out of the Eurozone. Ambrose rightly places at least some, if not the lion’s share, of the blame for this outcome at the feet of the Troika:
This was entirely predictable – and was predicted by many critics – since Greece faced an IMF-style austerity package without the usual IMF cure of devaluation. The Troika’s ideology of “expansionary fiscal contraction” – which the IMF has to its credit since abjured, but the fanatics in charge still swear by – is breaking a whole society on the wheel.
The Greeks were never given a bailout plan that had any hope of success. And they deserved such a bailout, given the rest of Europe’s culpability in this crisis for letting Greece into the Euro in the first place.
Whether or not Greece can be forced from the Euro with little impact elsewhere remains to be seen. I doubt we will need to wait much longer to learn the outcome of Grexit. But the devastating train that is the debt crisis keeps rolling right along, currently crashing through Spain’s economy.
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http://wallstreetpit.com/94053-is-there ... -in-europe
