Spain has once again been rocked by protests. The protesters showed discontent over the government’s failure to tackle the economic crisis and a high unemployment rate, and demanded that some politicians resign. The people protesting were both employed and unemployed, and hailed from all parts of society. According to protest organizers, more than 150,000 people took to the streets in Madrid. In Barcelona, the number of protesters reached 270,000. At the same time, official police sources claim that the number of the protesters in the two cities was only 40,000 and 50,000, respectively. Thousands of people also took to the streets in other large cities of Spain. Mass-scale demonstrations, started by young people, have been going on in Spain since May 15.
Meanwhile, thousands of Greeks have been picketing the government building in Athens for almost a month. Answering the call of the local “indignant” movement leaders, they are opposing the new governmental strict austerity and state-run property privatization plans.
The Greek government of Prime Minister George Papandreou expects the parliament to approve a package of measures that will allow Greece to receive 110 billion euro worth loans from the EU and the IMF.
