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

Portugal military protest austerity in Lisbon (video)

Holding red cards and banners, thousands of military personnel marched through the streets of Lisbon on Saturday, protesting the austerity measures and budget cuts imposed in Portugal. 

Wearing civilian clothing, with some proudly displaying their medals, an estimated 5,000-10,000 active and retired soldiers rallied against "unjustified cutbacks" in the 2013 budget. They called for Portuguese President Aníbal António Cavaco Silva to veto the controversial austerity budget adopted by the government. 

They marched quietly, carrying banners calling for respect for the military and for "national sovereignty." Some banners read, “Police are unhappy, military are unhappy, people are unhappy”. 

With some officers complaining that their monthly wages have been cut by as much as 25%, one soldier told AFP, "We are getting cut after cut and there is no light at the end of the tunnel." 

Sergeant José Paulo Leitão said, “The 2013 budget proposes we make higher payments for medical care, although the service is worse. We pay more for less.” 

According to retired navy officer, Armenio Teodoro: “All the soldiers – not just me – have the right to receive our pension with dignity, because they discounted the money from our salaries. Now I ask, where’s our money? Where’s the money we paid for so many years?” 

Other reasons for the protest are the decline in finances for maintenance and training, as well as the cuts in the social sphere and tax hikes. Several associations which represent the military called on Portugal's Constitutional Court to review the legality of next year's budget. The court ruled in July against a finance law, and told the government to revise the measure, which stripped bonuses from civil servants. The court argued that it violated constitutionally-guaranteed rights to equal treatment.

Now the protesters hope to receive a similar outcome with the austerity budget. Portugal received a €78-billion bailout package in 2011 from the Troika, comprised of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Now austerity measures are needed to keep within this package. Lisbon must lower its budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2014.

According to Eurostat, thanks to austerity measures, the economy is expected to shrink by 3% in 2012, while unemployment is around 15.7%. Euronews is reporting that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has praised Lisbon's efforts to reduce the deficit. Merkel is due to visit Lisbon on Monday.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336609#ixzz2BuBketQv

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

Spanish students take to the streets in protests throughout Spain

Amidst ongoing protests throughout Spain, thousands of students took to the streets in Madrid on Wednesday, angry at proposed education cuts which they say leaves them with "no future." 

While thousands marched in Madrid as part of a three day action, according to local police, a further 3,000 rallied in the streets of Barcelona and thousands more protested in Valencia and other major Spanish cities.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335033