Mass protest in Spain against ‘authoritarian’ austerity (VIDEO, PHOTO)

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Published time: September 15, 2012 15:09
Edited time: September 15, 2012 19:09

Demonstrators shout slogans at Madrid's Colon Square during a protest against government's cutting measures September 15, 2012 (Reuters / Sergio Perez)

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Tens of thousands of protesters from across Spain gathered in Madrid to decry austerity measures enacted by the government. Activists accused leaders of “destroying” Spain with brutal program cuts and tax hikes, aimed at avoiding an EU bailout.

Some 50,000 protesters converged in waves in the center of the Spanish capital, blowing whistles and waving banners that read, “they are destroying the country, we must stop them.” Representatives from over 230 civic and professional organizations also turned out to express anger at the new measures, amid cries of “lies!” and “enough!”

Demonstrators called for a referendum to decide whether the unpopular public sector cuts instated by Mariano Rajoy’s government should continue.

The Spanish government’s austerity measures will cut an estimated 102 billion euros ($126.5 billion) from the budget, and are to be introduced before 2014 with the aim of reducing the country’s deficit and avoiding an EU bailout.

Police arrested four people at the outset of the rally for refusing to present identification. They were taken into custody on charges of 'resisting the authorities.'

Nearly 1,000 buses ferried austerity-weary civil servants from the surrounding provinces into downtown Madrid.

Activists divided themselves into six 'human waves' and wore different colored shirts corresponding with the organization represented.

Those in red represented the syndicates, green for education, purple for women rights groups, orange for social services, white for healthcare and black for public services.

“The rally represents a protest from all of our society against this unprecedented social fracture,” a spokesperson from the Social Summit, the organizing body of the protests said, adding that the “ideological regression of the conservatives bore worrying symptoms of political authoritarianism.”

Spain’s ruling conservative party the PP (People’s Party) has sparked a recent wave of public anger over unpopular cuts to the country's public sector services. The PP's latest move was to revoke public workers’ Christmas bonuses, effectively cutting their yearly wages by seven percent.

“The pressure on our citizens is becoming more and more unbearable, they are reducing our incomes even more thanks to the new labor reform and the removal of overtime pay,” a spokesperson from the Social Platform for the Defense of State Welfare said.

People take part in a demonstration against government austerity measures aimed at slashing the public deficit and avoiding the need for a financial bailout, on September 15, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo / Pedro Amestre)

A protester holds a banner depecting Prime Miniuster Mariano Rajoy dressed as pinocchio reading "Enough lies" during a demonstration against government austerity measures aimed at slashing the public deficit and avoiding the need for a financial bailout, on September 15, 2012 in Madrid (AFP Photo / Pedro Amestre)

General view of the Plaza de Colon square in Madrid taken on September 15, 2012 during a demonstration against government austerity measures aimed at slashing the public deficit and avoiding the need for a financial bailout (AFP Photo / Pedro Amestre)

People take part in a demonstration in Madrid on September 15, 2012 against government austerity measures aimed at slashing the public deficit and avoiding the need for a financial bailout (AFP Photo / Dominique Faget)

Demonstrators carry banners as they march to Madrid's Colon Square during a protest against government's cutting measures September 15, 2012(Reuters / Sergio Perez)

Comments (13)

exposejesuits 03.10.2012 17:52

The world is controlled by the Jesuits, Black Nobility, and the Vatican. The Jesuits are a military organization not a religious order. The vatican and the Jesuits are not Christianity. The New World Order is controlled by elite jesuits and the black pope Adolfo Nicolas. The world bankers are NOT top of the food chain. They all follow the jesuit order and follow the supreme jesuit general aka black pope Adolfo Nicolas. The other jesuit elites are Adolfo's 6 generals which is known as his assistance. Adolfo directs and guide the white pope and tells him what to do and say. The white pope is not a christian. When Jesuits and the Vatican say they believe in God they are referring to Lucifer as the God. Christians have been fooled for centuries that the Vatican is pure and good when the Vatican and the Jesuits have destroyed sovereign nations across the globe. The illuminati was created by the Jesuits in the 1700's because at that time Jesuitism was banned in 80 countries. People at that time knew the Vatican was corrupt and desired world dominance. A lot of ppl are now learnin about the new world order but they are being taught the fake jew banker world order. Yes i know world bankers have great power but they all follow the vatican. Think about it, every world leader goes to and respects the Vatican no matter what religion they believe in. The black pope Adolfo and his 6 generals control the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican Bank(richest bank in the world), space laws, maritime laws, other jesuits, jesuit teachings in the Vatican, Knights of Malta, illuminati, black nobility, CIA, FBI, other secret services, Council of Foreign Relations, Bilderberg, IMF, multiple world banks, FED, and the trilateral commission. The illuminati, Bilderberg, CFR, IMF, etc is told what to do and is given ideas form the Jesuit Elite, The Jesuits also sank the titanic to kill the elite who opposed the idea of the FED in order to create the FED. The Jesuits were the ones that came up wit the idea of the UN.

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Fairplay (unregistered) 26.09.2012 09:39

This is not about austerity measures only. It's also about corruption.Mainly about corruption.The government representative for Madrid is an example. His husband has dissappeared, the judges are looking for him, you can check it in http://www.madri d.org/boletin/CM_Ord en_BOCM/2011/11/10/B OCM-20111110-313.PDF http://www.madrid.or g/boletin/CM_Orden_B OCM/2012/04/02/BOCM- 20120402-214.PDF
http://www.madrid.or g/boletin/CM_Orden_B OCM/2012/05/21/BOCM- 20120521-205.PDF
http://www.madrid.or g/boletin/CM_Orden_B OCM/2012/06/14/BOCM- 20120614-238.PDF

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Spanish Revolutionaries (unregistered) 25.09.2012 19:32

Live broadcast:

ht tp://elpais.com/elpa is/2012/09/17/videos /1347870347_245504.h tml?autoplay=1

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