Spanish miners fight furious battles with riot police as they protest austerity cuts to coal subsides



Nationwide strike organised by unions bitterly opposed to reductions in coal subsidies from €300 million to €110 million

Protesters set up barricades of burning tyres and launched home-made rockets at groups of riot police

Economic stagnation has pushed Spain's unemployment rate to above 24 per cent, the highest in the European Union

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the country will stick to harsh austerity measures

Striking Spanish coal miners set up burning barricades and fought running battles with riot police as they protest harsh austerity cuts to coal subsidies.

In violent scenes, the masked protesters lit barricades of burning tyres and launched home-made rockets at groups of police bringing traffic to a halt along key roads in the north of the country.

Riot police retaliated with tear gas grenades and baton charges as they desperately tried to bring the situation under control.

Blockade: Miners stand behind a burning barricade of tyres outside Vega del Rey, Spain

Ugly scenes: Riot police fire tear gas grenades in an attempt to disperse the protesting miners Around 8,000 mineworkers from over 40 coal mines in northern Spain are staging a nationwide strike organised by unions bitterly opposed to reductions in coal subsidies from €300 million to €110 million. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next Britons face £5bn bill to help out Spanish as fears grow... Irish people grudgingly accept EU treaty with referendum... Share this article Share Protests were today being held in Vega del Rey, near Oviedo, northern Spain and just outside the port city of Santander. Miners holding a demonstration in Madrid on Thursday were baton-charged by police after a group started throwing stones and bottles. Police said two people were arrested and nine were slightly hurt.

Blaze: Riot police stand on a bridge over a highway blocked with burning barricades. Around 8,000 mineworkers at over 40 coal mines in northern Spain are protesting against government cuts

Ballistics: Spanish miners fire homemade rockets up a hill towards riot policemen during a miner's demonstration in Vega del Rey Advance: Police move down a hillside to tackle a group of protesting Spanish miners during the protests in Vega del Rey The official strike action began on May 23 last month. Eight miners are staging an underground protest. Spain's economy is crisis having contracted for the second time since late 2009. Four years of stagnation and recession have pushed unemployment to above 24 per cent, the highest rate in the European Union. Today Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Spain will stick to harsh austerity measures until it emerges from financial crisis, promising that the country would survive the present economic turmoil.' Rajoy acknowledged that the country is experiencing turbulence, but said 'we are not at the edge of a precipice, we will not sink.' 'The government has "the will to persevere in this line for as long as is necessary,"' Spain has imposed spending cuts and tax hikes to escape a crisis many fear could eventually swallow other countries using the European single currency.

Protest: A masked miner clutches a rock as he prepares to place another tyre onto the blazing barricade on the A-66 motorway in Vega del Rey. Spain's economy is contracting for the second time since late 2009 Desperation: Four years of economic stagnation and recession have pushed Spain's unemployment above 24 percent, the highest rate in the European Union

Stand-off: Miners stand behind burning barricades in a separate protest along a road near the port city of Santander Rajoy said he supported the creation of a single European fiscal authority to uphold the credibility of the euro, and acknowledged that for this to happen it would be necessary for member states to 'surrender more of their fiscal autonomy'. He said while it was possible Spain could have lived beyond its means, it was also true that those who are now criticising Spain - a reference to Germany - had also lent it money at very cheap rates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has long maintained that austerity is the most important step toward easing the eurozone debt crisis, however, the leaders of some of those countries hardest hit - faced with anti-austerity demonstrations that have at times turned violent - have also called for steps to be taken to try and boost employment. Despite months of painful austerity reforms by Rajoy's conservative government, there is growing concern that its leaders have not done enough and Spanish banks may need to be saved from loans gone bad and foreclosures of property now worth far less than the loans paid out for it.

Action: A series of strikes, road blockades, and mine sit-ins continue across Spain as workers at over 40 coal mines continue their protests against government cuts

Mayhem: Riot police cross the burning barricade as they attempt to tackle dozens of protesters taking action against government cuts The country's banking sector is laden with soured investments on real estate and the government recently needed Euro 19 billion ($23.4 billion) to rescue just one bank, Bankia SA. Some estimates have put a complete Spanish banking sector bailout cost at between Euro 50 billion and Euro 150 billion, but Spain only has Euro 5 billion left in the Euro 19 billion bailout fund it established in 2009. Spain's banking sector, however, is not the sole issue. The economy is mired in its second recession in three years and is forecast to contract 1.7 per cent for the year.

Clashes: Riot police aim tear gas rounds at protesting miners near a burning barricade in Vega del Rey

Rail passengers watch on as police deploy at a train station near Vega del Rey

Retreat: Miners clutch home made shields as they flee a cloud of tear gas during violent confrontations with police This means the country has to raise money in bond markets and the interest rate on Spanish 10-year bonds finished trading Friday at 6.47 per cent, as reported by financial data provider FactSet. A rate of 7 per cent is considered unsustainable in the long run. Countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland that have faced such rates have had to be bailed out. Spain's current banking problems have startling similarities with Ireland. Both countries witnessed unprecedented property building and buying sprees enabled by their 1999 entry into the euro. It was an entry that many economists say was partly responsible for both countries' present problems - by entering into the single currency with more stable economies their credit-risk profiles were lowered giving their banks unprecedented access to international loans at rock-bottom rates.

Defensive position: Striking miners take cover during protests in Vega del Rey. The government is planning to cut mining subsidies from euros 300 million to euros 110 million

Masked miners kick away a smoke bomb during clashes with police near highway A-66 in Vega del Rey

Sheepish: A riot policeman wanders across a a field next to sheep during the demonstration in Vega del Rey



