01:26Spain: Violent clashes during 'Surround Congress' protests
Spain: Violent clashes during 'Surround Congress' protests
Violent clashes continued at the 'Surround Congress' rally in Madrid on Thursday. These protests only fuel more unrest in the Spanish capital in the wake of rising unemployment and new austerity measures to be announced in coming days.
8000 anti-government protesters took to the streets in front of the Spanish congress government building and moved onto the on Puerta del Sol square, with eight police officers injured and 35 arrests made.
The 'Day of Liberation' protests were organised to begin at 6 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT) at three major plazas throughout the city and were to merge at the Congress of Deputies. They follow an announcement made by the National Statistics Institute on Thursday that reported for the first time ever over 6 million Spaniards are now unemployed, making the country's 27.2% unemployment rate a record low.
Grassroots platform 'En Pie' meaning 'On your feet', organised the rally in response to recently released unemployment statistics but never showed up. Instead 25A, an affinity group of En Pie, protested in solidarity among the protesters.
25A organised protests against austerity measures last September. Their website says they want the regime of the Spanish government to fall and they demand a fairer society, with the nationalisation and public control of banking, energy, water, health, education and environment to take place.
01:26Spain: Violent clashes during 'Surround Congress' protests
Violent clashes continued at the 'Surround Congress' rally in Madrid on Thursday. These protests only fuel more unrest in the Spanish capital in the wake of rising unemployment and new austerity measures to be announced in coming days.
8000 anti-government protesters took to the streets in front of the Spanish congress government building and moved onto the on Puerta del Sol square, with eight police officers injured and 35 arrests made.
The 'Day of Liberation' protests were organised to begin at 6 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT) at three major plazas throughout the city and were to merge at the Congress of Deputies. They follow an announcement made by the National Statistics Institute on Thursday that reported for the first time ever over 6 million Spaniards are now unemployed, making the country's 27.2% unemployment rate a record low.
Grassroots platform 'En Pie' meaning 'On your feet', organised the rally in response to recently released unemployment statistics but never showed up. Instead 25A, an affinity group of En Pie, protested in solidarity among the protesters.
25A organised protests against austerity measures last September. Their website says they want the regime of the Spanish government to fall and they demand a fairer society, with the nationalisation and public control of banking, energy, water, health, education and environment to take place.