FRUSTRATION: Spanish miners and sympathizers incensed with the nation’s seemingly endless austerity cutbacks clashed with riot police on one of Madrid’s most famed avenues Wednesday. Six demonstrators were hospitalized after police fired rubber bullets. Police made seven arrests, and two officers were injured.
THE BACKGROUND: The miners’ march into the capital was the culmination for some of a nearly three-week trek from the remote regions where they eke out a living, and drew heavy sympathy from Spaniards weary of a series of government-imposed measures that have increased taxes, made it easier to fire workers and reduced cherished government services.
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THE OUTLOOK: The violent end to the protest is still a relatively rare event in Spain. While there have been sporadic street clashes at Spanish demonstrations as Europe’s financial crisis worsened over the last several years, the country has largely been spared the violence seen in places like bailed-out Greece.
