Violence on Spain's streets sparks slip in U.S. stock futures... as thousands clash with police in 24-hour general strike




U.S. stock futures slipped today as riot police took to Spain's streets to stop protesters burning bins, vandalising shops and attacking officers during a one day nationwide general strike.

Dow Jones industrial futures fell 43 points to 13,010 and the Standard & Poor's 500 futures slid 5.5 points to 1,394.7. The Nasdaq composite futures fell 9.25 points to 2,758.75.



Spaniards angry with having the eurozone's highest unemployment rate refused to go to work in protest at further crushing austerity measures being brought in by the new centre-right Popular Party government.

In Madrid more than 1,000 members of the National Police's mobile anti-disturbance units patrolled the streets on foot and in armoured personnel carriers.



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Blaze: Firemen try to extinguish burning waste containers after clashes during the national strike in Barcelona

Running battle: Firefighters fought back the flames in Barcelona after protesters set fire to rubbish bins in the city



Protest: Tyres were burnt in Burgos as boisterous picket lines formed across the country

In Barcelona there were several incidents, the worst being an attack on a bingo hall in the early hours in which troublemakers used the strike as a cover to loot €2,250 from the cash register. Bins were set on fire as small groups battled police.



At the city's El Prat international airport there were angry scenes when travellers who checked last night that their flights would not be affected arrived to find they had been cancelled early in the morning.

They then found it difficult to get back into Barcelona because there were few taxis or buses.

The country's two major trade unions, the Socialist led General Workers' Union - UGT - and the Communist dominated Workers' Commissions - CCOO - which called the protest action, claimed that more than 70 per cent of the work force was out.

Brutal: Picketers clashed with police in the northern city of Santander during the 24 hour strike

Force: Police arrested a woman in Madrid (left) as undercover police buster activists in the same city (right)

Kung Fu: A demonstrator is pushed by riot police in Pamplona, northern Spain, during the strike

It said virtually all workers at Renault, SEAT, Volkswagen and Ford car factories around Spain, and at other industrial, mining and port facilities, honoured the strike during the overnight shift.

Picketers tried to block wholesale markets in Madrid and other cities and commuter train service were disrupted in Barcelona.

Outside Atocha, one of Madrid's main commuter and long-distance rail stations, picketers waved red union flags and blew shrill whistles as police looked on.

Some picketers tried to convince a coffee shop owner to join them, and slapped a pro-strike sticker on his glass window.

Angry: A bonfire was set up outside Barcelona's Stock Exchange Market during the strike

Bubbling over: Security was high in Pamplona (left) and Barcelona (right) where riot police flooded the streets

Protection: Riot police officers stood in front of Pamplona's El Corte Ingles as protesters took to the streets

A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police car in the eastern city of Murcia, and Spanish National TV showed footage of police in Barcelona on horseback accompanying buses trying to leave a parking garage, and scuffling with a picketer.

Regional TV stations in Andalusia in the south, Catalonia in the northeast and Madrid were also forced off the air because of the strike.

But with the exception of those isolated incidents in which 58 pickets were arrested and nine, including six, officers received minor injuries, peace prevailed.

Observers noted that in a country where the jobless rate stands at 23 per cent, and almost one in two young people are out of work, many simply did not want to lose a day's wage.

Massive: The government tried to play down the amount of people attending the protests, but activists filled the streets of Seville in this demo

Anger: Protesters shout slogans in Madrid (left) as masked protesters throw stones in Barcelona (right)

Mega: Protesters stretched as far as the eye could see in the northern city of Coruna

The government dismissed protesters claims that the strike was 'massive' though by saying its impact was 'clearly inferior' to the last one, held under the Socialists in September, 2010.

Cristina Diaz, the Popular Party's director-general of Interior Policy, said there was a sparse following of the strike call in the public, commercial and banking sectors, and claimed that in most work places normality ruled.

But another factor believed to have played a part in keeping people at work, said observers, was fear of losing their jobs.

New measures brought in by the party which pledged in the run-up to last autumn's general election to create more jobs have made it easier for bosses to sack staff.



No messing: Police stood guard outside El Corte Ingles' department store in Coruna

Anger: A protester argues with an older man in Barcelona (left) as protesters hold a doll of Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Seville (right)



Grabbed: Police stopped a protester in Madrid during the union-sponsored general strike

The piece of legislation also trims wages and modifies other working conditions by citing concerns over, for example, productivity.

The idea behind the decree is to make Spain more competitive once the rest of Europe recovers and employers are less wary of hiring.

The demonstrations come the day before the government will serve up even more austerity pain with a budget to feature tens of billions of euros in deficit-reduction measures.

The government's cuts are designed to help Spain in its struggles to satisfy both the European Union and the international investors who determine the country's borrowing costs in the international debt markets.

They will therefore have a lot of say in whether Spain will follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in needing a bailout.

Video: Police arrest protestors after clashing on the streets in Barcelona



