adminThick smoke hung in the air early yesterday from plastic bins set alight by protestors chased by police, who hit them with batons when some tried to reach the heavily-guarded parliament at the end of a mostly peaceful march.
AFP reporters at the scene said dozens of protesters lingered, some throwing bottles at police, near the Puerta del Sol, the big square at the heart of the city where a march of hundreds of thousands wound up late Thursday.
A police official said that officers arrested seven people and six others were injured.
Earlier, tens of thousands of public employees, trade union members and other Spaniards were marching in 80 Spanish cities to protest the latest batch of austerity measures approved by the government.
The ruling conservative Popular Party used its majority in parliament to push through the measures on Thursday. They include a rise in sales taxes and a wage cut for civil servants.
Workers yelled in anger branding the crisis measures “robbery”.
“Hands up, this is a robbery!” protesters bellowed in Madrid, where a sea of demonstrators crammed the avenues of the city centre.
Unions had earlier called for the more than 80 demonstrations across the country in the latest and biggest in an almost daily series of protests this month.
A sustained string of protests erupted after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy last week announced the new measures, aiming to save $80bn in order to slash the public deficit.
Smaller protests, organised largely via online social networks, have occurred daily since the latest austerity measures were announced on July 11, with some workers taking to the streets during their morning coffee break.
Hundreds of protesters, including fire-fighters wearing their helmets and police in black T-shirts, have marched through the streets of Madrid, blocking traffic and chanting.
‘No money’
Cristobal Mindoro, Spain’s budget minister, defended the measures on Thursday, saying they were needed to lower Spain’s borrowing costs.
Under pressure from the European Union to stabilize Spain’s public finances, the conservative government also cut unemployment benefits and raised the sales tax, with the upper limit rising from 18 to 21 per cent.
“There is no money in the coffers to pay for public services. We are making reforms that will allow us to better finance ourselves,” he said.
Critics say the government’s new austerity measures will worsen economic conditions for ordinary people. — Al Jazeera.
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