Opposition protesters in Spain keep tents erected in main squares throughout the country's major cities in defiance of a government warning.
The protesters have set up a large encampment stretching across Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza and vowed to continue their sit-in until their demands regarding unemployment, corruption and the government's austerity measures are met.
In Barcelona, more than 1,000 protesters vowed to remain in the Plaza Catalunya square in a vote late on Wednesday.
They also pledged to find other ways to ensure that the spirit of the nationwide movement continues. The decision comes despite a government warning that activists cannot continue their protests.
"It cannot be that some citizens cut off the rights of others," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told Cadena Ser radio, adding that police action would be proportionate to avoid making things worse.
The protests, which began on May 15 and soon spread to city squares nationwide, have, at times, turned violent. The massive protests came after the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero introduced a slew of drastic austerity measures.
These include the cutting of civil servant wages among other things as part of the government's plans to curb the budget deficit from 11 percent a year earlier to within three percent of the GDP by 2013, a limit set by the European Union.
Spain's M-15 movement has as well inspired other European countries, including France and Greece, where people have been protesting austerity measures. Article source here
MSD/MRS/AKM
No comments:
Post a Comment