Spain police fire rubber bullets at Madrid protest
Spanish police have fired rubber bullets and baton-charged protesters attending a rally against austerity. Spanish media reported that at least 20 people had been arrested and more than a dozen injured.
The “Occupy Congress” protest comes as the government prepares to unveil further austerity measures on Thursday in a bid to shrink its budget deficit.
Spain is in its second recession in three years and unemployment is near 25%, with youth unemployment far higher.
The government will unveil the draft budget for 2013 on Thursday and is expected to present new cost-saving reforms to reassure lenders about the state of the country’s public finances.
Emergency funds
The demonstrators – known as Indignants – say “Occupy Congress” is a protest against the kidnapping of democracy.
Thousands of people had massed in Plaza de Neptuno square in central Madrid for the march on parliament.
But their route towards the parliament building’s main entrance was blocked off by metal railings, police vans and hundreds of Spanish riot police.
Mark Smith, who lives near the site of the protest, said: “I saw riot police with their batons charging at protesters trying to split up the crowd.”
Tuesday’s demonstration was organised via social media sites and many young people turned out, says the BBC’s Tom Burridge in Madrid – but the protest’s public profile meant the police were ready for them.
The police’s tactics seem to have been to target ringleaders to break up the crowds, adds our correspondent, which prompted some scuffles but no widespread fighting.
Buses had reportedly been laid on to ferry demonstrators into the capital from the provinces.
One of the main protest groups, Coordinadora #25S, said the Indignants did not plan to storm parliament, only to march around it.
The Coordinadora #25S manifesto reads: “Democracy has been kidnapped. On 25 September we are going to save it.”
Pablo Mendez, an activist from the 15M Indignants movement, told the Associated Press: “This is just a powerful signal that we are sending to politicians to let them know that the Spanish bailout is suicide and we don’t agree with it, and we will try to prevent it happening.”
Another demonstrator, Montse Puigdavall, said: “I’m here because of the situation we are living in now, because of all the social cuts and rights that we have lost, that took a lot of hard work to achieve.
“So we are here because we’re determined not to lose them.”
Under Spanish law, people who lead demonstrations outside parliament that disrupt its business while it is in session may be jailed for up to one year, AFP says.
Clashes have broken out at previous rallies and marches against the cuts and at least 1,300 police were said to be on duty at the Congress building.
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