Spain Protests Against Education Cuts

In Spain, thousands of schoolchildren and university students left the classroom and took to the streets on Wednesday to protest against education spending cuts.

Protest rallies were held in Valencia, Barcelona and Madrid where an estimated 50,000 gathered in the city center alone. In Barcelona the protesters clashed with police and several were arrested.

Local trade union members later joined in the action demanding changes to the government-proposed labor code and threatening to stage a nationwide strike if their demands are not heeded.

The union leaders said the hard-hitting austerity measures the government was trying to introduce would ruin the Spanish society, and promised new protests on March 8 and 11.