Spanish mothers strip for calendar to save school bus

A new measure introduced in July cut funding for the school bus running in the Monserrat district of Valencia in eastern Spain. A group of mums got together and posed for an erotic calendar to raise money for their children's transport.

The problem is that, according to Spanish law, the government only has to provide transport if students live more than 3km away from the school. However, this new austerity measure states that the distance has to be calculated in a straight line, and this meant that "Evaristo Calayatud" school in the Monserrat District of Valencia was no longer eligible for a school bus. 

 

However, as Silvia Lucas, one of the mothers, points out, “We have to scale a mountain and climb down a cliff to get to the school. On foot, using the most direct route it’s 4.5km, if you walk on the road it’s six." 

 

Some of the parents are unemployed and have problems paying for petrol to drive the children to school themselves. For this reason, and to try and raise 43,000 euros, the group of mothers got together, disrobed and posed for the erotic calendar. 

 

To make their point, the mothers struck various poses, including scaling cliffs and pushing prams along dirt tracks, which clearly illustrate the 6km walk their children were being forced to endure every morning. They figured that not only could their calendar raise the necessary money, it could at the same time “give the politicians a slap in the face.” 

 

It took just over a month after the launch of the calendar to raise enough money for the bus to run for three months for the 83 affected children. 

There were difficulties along the way, when police ejected them from the town center for illegally selling the calendar. However, Silvia Lucas pointed out, “We were not selling them, we were collecting donations.” 

 

She further said that while the calendar is not to everyone's taste in the neighborhood, there was little other choice. “A lot of people tell us that we could have organized a community meal and not the calendar, but that would not have made nearly enough money. Our husbands are happy with the result and proud of our achievement” added Lucas, saying that she had done it for her children.

Read more and view video: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/340157

Thousands of police protest in Madrid, Spain against the cuts

Between 5,000-8,000 police officers from all over Spain marched through Madrid on Saturday, protesting austerity measures and cuts. They even apologized to the public for arresting the wrong people. 

Protesting against the government's austerity measures, which includes frozen pensions and the elimination of Christmas bonuses, the demonstration was called by the nation's main policing union.

 

Numbers are estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 officers (depending on the media) from all branches of the Spanish police.The Spanish government has imposed harsh spending cuts, which are aimed at saving around 150 billion euros between 2012 and 2014. 

 

The cuts have been met with anger and protests by thousands of Spanish citizens, and now the police are joining them in their anger. 

 

Blowing whistles and chanting slogans, they marched through the city center to the Ministry of the Interior. One of the banners they carried read: "Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those truly responsible for this crisis: bankers and politicians."

Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those truly responsible for this crisis: bankers and politicians.

33-year-old police officer Antonio Perez told AP, "The problem is they take from us to give to others, like the autonomous regions and the banks."

 

But it's not just about money. Jose Maria Benito, a spokesman for Spain's Unified Police Union, said that the cuts will affect the security of the country. He said that working conditions have become more precarious and equipment used was no longer up to standard.

 

Benito told AP, “We are here to tell the government that security has to be its priority…in socially convulsive times, we need an adequate police response,” adding that 15,000 workers who have left the force were not going to be replaced.

 

On that point, in a speech, the Union's general secretary, Jose Maria Sanchez Fornet said that "Each year, between 1,500 and 2,000 police officers retire and 125 are recruited, which means in three or four years, there will be more insecurity and crime in Spain."

 

General Secretary of the Trade Union SIPE, Alfredo Perdiguero, said that never before in the history of Spain had the police suffered "so many cuts and setbacks".

 

"The police have a difficult job and the government mistreats us with lack of legal support, low wages and contempt," he said.

 

President of the European Organization Eurocop, Ana Nellberg, shares the demands of the Spanish officers and has assured them that police officers from all over Europe are suffering the same situation. "A disillusioned cop who is not properly funded and paid cannot offer to the people or the government the protection they need and are entitled to. The alternative is chaos." Nellberg warned.

 

The protest by the police officers comes in the wake of the general strike against austerity in Spain and other countries in Europe.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337116#ixzz2CWdBu53C

Between 5,000-8,000 police officers from all over Spain marched through Madrid on Saturday, protesting austerity measures and cuts. They even apologized to the public for arresting the wrong people.

Protesting against the government's austerity measures, which includes frozen pensions and the elimination of Christmas bonuses, the demonstration was called by the nation's main policing union. Numbers are estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 officers (depending on the media) from all branches of the Spanish police. The Spanish government has imposed harsh spending cuts, which are aimed at saving around 150 billion euros between 2012 and 2014. The cuts have been met with anger and protests by thousands of Spanish citizens, and now the police are joining them in their anger. Blowing whistles and chanting slogans, they marched through the city center to the Ministry of the Interior. One of the banners they carried read: "Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those truly responsible for this crisis: bankers and politicians."

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Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those truly responsible for this crisis: bankers and politicians.

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33-year-old police officer Antonio Perez told AP, "The problem is they take from us to give to others, like the autonomous regions and the banks." But it's not just about money. Jose Maria Benito, a spokesman for Spain's Unified Police Union, said that the cuts will affect the security of the country. He said that working conditions have become more precarious and equipment used was no longer up to standard. Benito told AP, “We are here to tell the government that security has to be its priority…in socially convulsive times, we need an adequate police response,” adding that 15,000 workers who have left the force were not going to be replaced. On that point, in a speech, the Union's general secretary, Jose Maria Sanchez Fornet said that "Each year, between 1,500 and 2,000 police officers retire and 125 are recruited, which means in three or four years, there will be more insecurity and crime in Spain." General Secretary of the Trade Union SIPE, Alfredo Perdiguero, said that never before in the history of Spain had the police suffered "so many cuts and setbacks". "The police have a difficult job and the government mistreats us with lack of legal support, low wages and contempt," he said. President of the European Organization Eurocop, Ana Nellberg, shares the demands of the Spanish officers and has assured them that police officers from all over Europe are suffering the same situation. "A disillusioned cop who is not properly funded and paid cannot offer to the people or the government the protection they need and are entitled to. The alternative is chaos." Nellberg warned. The protest by the police officers comes in the wake of the general strike against austerity in Spain and other countries in Europe.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337116#ixzz2CWd4levf

Tens of thousands march in the streets of Madrid, Spain

Angered by the latest austerity measures and budget cuts, and calling for the Spanish government to resign, thousands thronged the streets of Madrid on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched on Spain's parliament in Madrid on Saturday evening, accompanied by a massive police escort, and closely guarded by officers with dog teams and in full riot gear and many police vans. The march, which was 2.3 kilometers long, was organized by the "Surround Parliament" protest group, as part of the ongoing anti-austerity protests in the country. On arrival at the parliament building, the protesters were met by an even bigger police presence, which pushed them back, using a chain of metal barricades.

As tens of thousands of jobs were lost in the third quarter of 2012, with a bank bailout a strong possibility, demonstrators have had enough. 

 

70-year-old Alan Pipo told the AP, “And now they are going to give banks a bailout, rescue them as if they were princesses." 

 

"They should be put out on the streets, just like all those families who are being evicted from their homes because they are unable to keep up with mortgage payments!" he added. 

 

Paloma Martinez, 62, said, We can't go on like this. We have a right to a public health system and quality schools for our kids. We are indignant and have no fear." 

 

At one stage, the protesters held a minute's silence, with their backs turned on parliament, showing their condemnation of the Spanish's government's policies which have caused a quarter of the Spanish people to become unemployed. They then shouted "resign" with their fists clenched. 

 

Part of the crowd also protested in front of Bankia bank, where a group has been camping out since Monday of this week, demanding a halt to the evictions that have so far affected 400,000 families in Spain

As reported on Digital Journal, earlier in the day, almost 3,000 off-duty police officers also took to the streets to protest austerity measures and the fact that their Christmas bonuses are to be take away and carrying banners stating "Police officers can no longer take it." 

 

With 25% of the country unemployed, with a staggering 52.34% of the young unable to find work, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has hiked taxes, introduced harsh labor reforms and cut spending, as he tries to persuade investors that his government can manage the crisis without a full bailout. 

 

Spain's troubled banks have been granted a 100 billion euro ($130 billion) loan facility by the 17 eurozone countries. 

 

However, some researchers say that instead of cutting spending, it might be wiser to increase it. 

 

Jerome Roos, a searcher on the EU debt crisis at the European University Institute in Florence, and founder of ROAR Mag, told RT, “The alternative is actually not to cut spending, but to invest in the economy, to invest in growth to make sure that there are jobs. And the only way to ultimately get out of this debt, is to grow out of debt and not to cut your way of debt.”

 

“Clearly things can’t continue the way they are now. Spain would do very well to heed the lessons that were learned in the past decade from three other countries - Argentina, Ecuador and Iceland - each of which defaulted on part of its external debt.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335665#ixzz2AaQRGtiO

Now it's the cops' turn to protest in Madrid, Spain

Madrid - 3,000 off-duty national police officers rallied outside the Ministry of the Interior in Madrid on Saturday, protesting austerity measures and budget cuts, including the loss of their Christmas bonuses. 

 

The officers, wearing blue caps, some wrapped in Spanish flags, blocked the central Paseo de la Castellana Boulevard in Madrid, while their on-duty colleagues looked on. 

 

The protesters charged and threw fireworks into the air. One banner said "Police officers can no longer take it." One protester apparently required medical treatment, when a firework he intended to throw, went off in his hand.  

 

The demonstrators are members of the Confederación Española de Policía (CEP), the Unión Federal de Policía (UFP) and the Sindicato Profesional de Policía (SPP). 

 

As with all Spanish civil service workers, police are being hit by the country's attempt to get the debt crisis under control. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy revealed a 2013 austerity budget earlier this month, as the country continues into its second recession in three years. As part of the latest cuts, starting January 1, police will lose three of the six days of supplementary holidays that they are allowed every year, in addition to their regular vacation, wage cuts when on sick leave, along with the loss of their Christmas bonus. 

 

Fran Estacio, a 33-year-old officer from Valencia, told AFP, "We came to express our anger at the way the government treats us, not only because they have removed Christmas bonuses, but also because they are eliminating our rights." 

 

Unemployment in Spain hit a record twenty-five per cent this week, which is the highest since the Franco dictatorship ended almost 40 years ago.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335638#ixzz2AX5NDbXX