Spanish rallies turn violent as million people protest in 80 cities

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Spanish rallies turn violent as million people protest in 80 cities

July 22nd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Firefighters pose naked in front of a banner during a demonstration against government cuts inside their fire station in Mieres (REUTERS / Eloy Alonso)

Russia Today
20 July, 2012

At least 15 people have been arrested and around 40 injured in central Madrid after police used force to disperse hundreds of thousands of angry protesters that flooded the streets in outrage against the country’s latest austerity package.

Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities.

Violence erupted in Madrid around midnight after dozens of protesters reached the city’s Puerta del Sol square and clashed with riot police. Security forces used batons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd as it tried to enter the congress building located on the square. Some of the protesters lobbed bottles at officers. At least 10 policemen were injured during the clashes in the capital.

In some urban areas, activists set trash cans on fire and tried to block police vehicle access with barricades of plastic bins and cardboard boxes.

Demonstrators carried flags and banners decorated with scissors, symbolizing the country’s harsh spending cuts. The streets of Madrid were paralyzed by the boundless crowds of people bellowing “Hands up, this is a robbery!” An estimated 100,000 people participated in the demonstrations in the capital.

In Barcelona, similar scenes were reported. About a dozen protesters were arrested outside the local parliament building.

Eight firemen stripped naked in the northern town of Mieres near Oviedo. “With so many cuts we have been left naked,” declared a banner on the wall above them.