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July 20, 2012

Tens of Thousands Protest New Austerity Measures in Spain 
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Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Spain on Thursday
in the largest protests to date against massive spending cuts and tax
increases pushed through to obtain a bailout for the country's banks.
Demonstrators took to the streets as Spanish lawmakers approved a new
round of austerity measures in parliament, including a higher sales tax
and cuts to the wages of public workers. Spanish union leader Ignacio
Fernandez Toxo said the new austerity measures threaten Spain's future.

Ignacio Fernandez Toxo: "This is a true aggression against the workers
out of work, against the workers from the public sector, against the
self employed, against the professionals, against the middle class of
the society who will go straight to poverty as a result of this plan.
This is a plan of budget cuts that goes against Spain's economy. In
economic terms, it's suicidal."

In Madrid, Thursday's protests ended in unrest when police fired rubber
bullets at demonstrators at the close of a massive march.

 

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