Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy unveiled new austerity measures to save 65 billion euros ($80 billion) over the next two years, caving in to pressure applied by the European Union to avoid a full bailout.
While addressing parliament, Rajoy said Spain needs to move “firmly on a path” towards recovery, but it will not be easy, short, or “pleasant,” according to his office. “But we cannot escape.” While speaking, he received boos and jeers from opposition politicians.
The conservative prime minister said sales tax would increase from 18 percent to 21 percent and local governments would have to endure smaller budgets. He also announced cuts to unemployment benefits, civil service wages, more environmental taxes, a tax hike on tobacco, and said there will be no Christmas bonuses for top public officials.
While Rajoy announced the measures, people demonstrated at the Ministry of Industry in Madrid, which led to violent clashes between protesters and police. At least 76 people, including both protesters and police, suffered mild injuries, reported El Pais publication.
Police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators in an effort to disperse the crowd. Initially it was mostly a miners’ protest, then thousands more joined in. Witnesses told the paper that protesters threw bottles, rocks, and even fireworks at police.
Miners, who have carried out marches over the past several weeks against austerity cuts, came out to protest because they are one of the groups most affected by the measures, the newspaper said.
“We were eating quietly when several police vans began to appear. Then we started to shout and some threw a few bottles,” Herman, a miner from Langreo, told the paper. The protester later said that police responded by firing rubber bullets, and that protesters were armed with a few pieces of pavement. “Imagine the result,” he said.
