In Spain, Protests By Tens Of Thousands Against Health, Education Cuts

MADRID — Tens of thousands of people across Spain protested Sunday against education and health care spending cuts as the country slid into its second recession in three years.

Unemployment is at a eurozone high of 24.4 percent, more than half of Spaniards under 25 years old are jobless, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government has introduced stinging austerity measures in its first five months in office.

Speaking at a party rally, Rajoy, who on Friday announced a new set of tax hikes to come into effect next year, said he had "no alternative." He added, "Spain needs deep structural change, not makeup."

Protesters in northeastern Barcelona, northern Bilbao, eastern Valencia and many other regional capitals carried banners urging Rajoy to not "mess around with health and education."

Cayo Lara, lawmaker of the United Left party, said at a large gathering in Madrid that many protesters believed the government was intent on using the financial crisis as an excuse to sell off essential public services to the private sector.

Ruth Colomo, a 39-year-old teacher, said the country's public education system and national health service had been built up over decades with Spaniards' tax contributions.

"They are ours and I think we have the right to fight for them," she said.

Mechanic Evaristo Villar, 62, said he hoped Rajoy would listen to the protesters' concerns. "The government will hear us. I don't know, though, if it will pay any attention."

Rajoy said that, given the bad state the national economy was in when the previous Socialist government handed it over to him at the November general election, "the least they could do now is to shut up."

Comments

[Freddie27]

06:16 PM on 04/30/2012

Social democracy and the welfare state are being sacrificed upon the altar of austerity, which is dragging economies back into recession, deepening deficits and increasing NO-ONE'S confidence in the fiscal solvency of these countries. One cannot cut one's way back to economic growth.

[Galician]

05:23 PM on 04/30/2012

and many more protest ahead!!

[Peter007]

09:03 AM on 04/30/2012

The US is also suffering a recession.
It's not recorded that way but if you take into consideration the money borrowed and printed, the real growth is below zero.
Adding $1 Trillion in counterfeit money to the economy doesn't mean your wealth has increased by $1 Trillion.

[FAHayekWasRight]

06:29 AM on 04/30/2012

Spain should call Krugman for advice.

[McKeaton]

07:22 AM on 04/30/2012

better off with a GS alumni, like thge "royal" in Britain...who's produced this world mess...?

[tj3usa]

06:12 AM on 04/30/2012

Perhaps they should instead celebrate the wreckage of their nation for the sake of international investors! No?

[smiththomas]

12:49 AM on 04/30/2012

The Obama path

[joanno]

12:46 AM on 04/30/2012

Spain, minus the onus of EU rules, would have been looking a deficits as a result of the economic downturn that were not outrageous or suggestive of deep concern. Because of EU rules however and German and French conservatives and international bankers demanding austerity measures, Spain has gone down a path guaranteed to produce more unemployment leading to greater and greater deficits. It is frightening to think that such thinking is being touted in this country too. The same thing happened before the Great Depression (which was preceded by several market runs) and re-appeared 4 years into FDR's efforts to get us out of the depression. Conservatives crow that it was WWII that really got us out of the depression, completely ignoring the fact that the war catalyzed the biggest amount of government spending in history that went straight to businesses. Meanwhile they natter on about saving GM.

[tkns]

07:19 AM on 04/30/2012

Without the EU, Spain, Greece t all could have declared bankruptcy and walked away from the bankers debts-just like any corporation does. GM walked away from 90 billion in debt-just gone. Their currency would have crashed-making exports cheaper and tourism a bargain and theyh would have recovered-like iceland. But now they are stuck.

[SeenItBefore]

11:22 AM on 04/30/2012

Spot On!!! If the basic premise is built around Capitalism, with a Socialistic bent, it stands to reason debt incurred bankruptcy, but in a nice way, was the only answer.

Capitalism demands a profitable bottom line, and has, and never will rise to this reality through government/taxpayer bailouts.

Rewarding incompetence and outright stupidity is the problem, not the answer!

[Galician]

05:31 PM on 04/30/2012

You don't have any idea about Spain as I can see.

[Alwayspissedoffatsomeone]

11:37 PM on 04/29/2012

Sounds like Greece which sounds like California which sounds like Detroit which sounds....

[smiththomas]

12:48 AM on 04/30/2012

Exactly

[Taterhead McGobstopper]

11:34 PM on 04/29/2012

We live on a finite planet with finite resources. Regardless of economic policies, we have the exact same resources today as we did yesterday and that we will have tomorrow.

If we give it all to just a few at the top, we won't have enough for anyone else. If we share it, there's enough for everyone.

That's just the way it is. Now we have to decide if we're going to continue on depriving the majority for the insanity of a few.

[BN68]

03:49 PM on 04/30/2012

You have things pretty much exactly backwards. Nothing was "given" to the people at the top, they earned them. It's giving things to people that haven't earned them which is causing the problems we now have.
How many people have you seen being "deprived"? Instead, haven't you seen billions and trillions of dollars of benefits being given to people who won't go to school, who won't get a skill so they can get a job, who get money for staying home and drinking or doing drugs or having illegitimate children? And since when is it considered "insane" to work, strive, persevere, save and prosper? Only in LibWorld.

[oilfield]

10:15 PM on 04/29/2012

what happens when you spend more than you take in......

[nopilikia]

10:58 PM on 04/29/2012

Is it anything like what happens when you spend huge amounts on tax cuts for the top .05% and large corporations and then don't have money left over for that other stuff like education, healthcare, medicare, and SS?

[oilfield]

02:58 AM on 04/30/2012

most of the bush tax cuts went to folks other than the top 1%....check it out.

[Hufffan]

12:10 AM on 04/30/2012

When you take in less than you spend because the ones that gain the most pay the least, you self implode.

The masses of poor will someday rise up and challenge the greed that has stricken them down for so long.
It will be a powerful day when it happens.

[smiththomas]

12:49 AM on 04/30/2012

The wealthy are paying most of the tax

[oilfield]

02:57 AM on 04/30/2012

if you taxed the rich at double the rate, its still no where near enough....most of the bush tax cuts go to the middle class and working poor.

[ABM777]

09:17 PM on 04/29/2012

For 8 years the Socialist Gvt. of Zapatero spent and spent beyond theit means,add rampant corruption, uncompetitive industries and a global recession that hit hard tourism and construction and you have a recipe for a disaster. Now that the Conservative Govt. of Rajoy has taken over with painful measures of austerity and a deep restructuring of the economy; the Socialist party and unions (controlled by the socialists) have taken out to the streets to obfuscate and gain political points. Spain is nearly bankrupt and may loose its ability to borrow a la Greece., while the unions call for strikes left and right, adding further burden to the Spanish economy which had depended so heavily on government projects which were neither productive nor affordable. Now Germany is making the calls and demands austerity and an efficient economy from Spain as painful as it may be--- the days of the long siestas to recover from the good life of partying till dawn may be soon gone.

[JudgeMoonbox]

09:58 PM on 04/29/2012

"For 8 years the Socialist Gvt. of Zapatero spent and spent beyond theit means,"

The Spanish government ran a surplus from before Zapatero was elected until the crash happened. The reason the crash hit Spain so hard was the same housing bubble that hit Florida and Nevada.

"Now that the Conservative Govt. of Rajoy has taken over with painful measures of austerity and a deep restructuring of the economy; the Socialist party and unions (controlled by the socialists) have taken out to the streets to obfuscate and gain political points."

How does it obfuscate to say that Merkel has made the EU enter a suicide pact in hopes that the Confidence Fairy will come through? The austerity policies that Merkel advocates have failed, and you're insulting those who proclaim that failure.

[nopilikia]

11:00 PM on 04/29/2012

Wall Street bankster invented CDS infected Spain also.

[ABM777]

09:30 AM on 04/30/2012

Germany is not a "failed economy". The austerity policies that Merkel advocates for Spain, Italy and Greece are common sense economic policies for governments who have spent out of control. Germany, for the most part, is footing the bill and you bet they will influence economic policy in these countries. AS to Zapatero, he inherited a surplus from the previous PP government. His policies or lack thereof, and corrupt PSOE officials only worsen the crisis in Spain, so much so, that even his own party refused to let him run for reelection. Spaniards, 5 months ago overwhelmingly voted (booted) the socialists out of power, but they still hold power in the Catalan, Valencian and Andalucian autonomies legislatures

[bobo5]

10:13 PM on 04/29/2012

Zapatero ran surpluses.

[saldog]

11:40 PM on 04/29/2012

Why are they about to go bankrupt then.? Surpluses do not equal bankruptcy generally speaking.

[ABM777]

09:31 AM on 04/30/2012

yeah, he and his buddies ran surpluses in their OWN bank accounts!

[the964kid]

08:19 PM on 04/29/2012

The Europeans, like in Spain and the UK, decided to go with austerity programs which now have many of these countries in a second dip recession, which is exactly what the republicans in the U.S. wanted to do. Thankfully we had a president who understood that when businesses aren't spending the government has to come in to stimulate the economy. The ultra deep cuts, like the kind in Europeans chose to do, only weaken an economy and now their debt is higher. Obama and the Dems have cut the deficit, but not so deeply that it forced America into a second recession.

[jgrant129]

09:20 PM on 04/29/2012

Obama hasn't cut spending! Are you kidding. If we don't cut spending, we're going to be in the same place as Spain. I was there a few months ago, and they are the laziest folks on earth! All they are looking for is gov't handouts. We have plenty of folks here in the States that want the government to take care of them..

[nopilikia]

11:03 PM on 04/29/2012

Cut Bush tax cuts........now thats some real big spending America could do without.

[formontoya]

08:12 AM on 04/30/2012

I too have made recent trips to Europe and I'm not sure we could classify Spain as the laziest, but surely the laziest country resides in Europe...

That's why a lot of folks want the same here...and who wouldn't? It's a great racket if one can get it, especially at someone else's expence.

[relee2012]

09:42 PM on 04/29/2012

Where did you get that the deficit has been cut?

[clr1390]

09:55 PM on 04/29/2012

They have put thousands of cuts in. You can't do it over night...You fools. You are going to end up like Spain...It took years to get here. And you can't fix it in a year.

[JudgeMoonbox]

10:04 PM on 04/29/2012

"Where did you get that the deficit has been cut? "

Unemployment has dropped form it's Great Recession peak. That generated more tax revenues and lowered the costs to the unemployment insurance networks.

[Mark Cormier Arizona]

08:03 PM on 04/29/2012

Another example of socialism working at its best..........If we keep spending and going we are next.

[the964kid]

08:22 PM on 04/29/2012

You're comment is uninformed.

The Europeans cut too deeply, which is exactly why they now have a double dip recession. Obama and Dems prevented republicans from trying the same ignorant measures in America, with a combination of stimulative spending along with cuts, that has the American economy with 35 months of consecutive growth. This is not a matter of opinion, this is a fact. If the people you probably voted for got their way America would also be in a double-dip recession right now.

Please educate yourself.

[jgrant129]

09:21 PM on 04/29/2012

Pure rubbish. You are uninformed!

[Mark Cormier Arizona]

10:05 PM on 04/29/2012

If people like you got yours and Obama's way we would look like Greece right now.

[redscarecrow]

07:15 PM on 04/29/2012

Spaniards, like the Greeks and the Italians, lived within their means. But their leaders got in bed with the loan sharks of The Syndicate, now the people have to suffer to pay back the banks under a program instituted by the Germans. No wonder they're protesting.

[Johnny ElDrama]

06:30 PM on 04/29/2012

Protest in Europe are revolutionary... Protest in U.S are for hippies - That's what i get from a lot of comments from what ive seen on the internet

[Siebenstein]

07:12 PM on 04/29/2012

What I get is that most people have no clue what is really going on.

Soon we will have protests we have not seen in decades !

[Taterhead McGobstopper]

11:36 PM on 04/29/2012

If that's all you're seeing then maybe you need to get out more then.