Protests in Spain began in March 2012, but in July they became widespread and widespread. More than one and a half million people from 80 large cities of the country took part in the marches on July 19-20. About 600,000 residents and visitors of the city took to the streets of Madrid. The center of the capital of the country is paralyzed, parliament and government agencies are taken under protection.
The crisis in Spain began long before the strikes began and forced the government to take rather harsh measures. In March, new labor legislation was passed simplifying the procedure for dismissing employees, which caused widespread unrest and clashes with the government.
At the end of May 2012, another strike took place, this time by educators, students and their parents. The government plan called for a 3 billion euro cut in education spending.
In June 2012, the country's government had to turn to the European Union to request material assistance in the amount of 100 billion euros. The problem was caused by the problems of several banks. It was decided to nationalize these banks, and by July the following were nationalized: Catalunya Caixa, Banco de Valencia, NovaGalicia and Bankia, and only Bankia requested financial assistance in the amount of 19 billion euros.
A prerequisite for the EU in providing assistance was austerity measures - a decrease in unemployment benefits, a reduction in wages, an increase in taxes. The Spanish government has decided to increase the value added tax by 3% (from 18% to 21%), as a result, the average family's expenses will increase by 450 euros. The number of municipal institutions was reduced by 30%, the number of state enterprises was reduced. The unemployment benefit has been reduced by 10%, despite the fact that Spain has the highest unemployment rate among the EU countries - almost 25% (among young people, unemployment reaches 50%). In addition, the salary of civil servants has been reduced by 7%, and additional days to leave and the payment of bonuses have been canceled.
Such harsh measures could not but cause indignation among the people. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to take part in the protests. The largest trade unions of the country and the General Association of Workers, associations of policemen, officials, military, judges, firefighters, students - all forgot their previous differences and united under the slogan: "The authorities are destroying the country, we must stop them."
