In the European Union, there are economic standards that are uniform for all countries, one of the points of which obliges states to keep the GDP deficit within 3%. But in Spain in 2011 this figure reached 8, 9%. To reduce it, the country's government must take austerity measures, which even in the plans provoke fierce protests from workers.
In March, the head of the Spanish government presented to parliament a draft of the country's new budget for 2012, which provides for a sharp reduction in government spending. Such measures should significantly worsen the situation of a large number of Spaniards, especially considering that the country already has almost 23% of unemployed - this is the highest rate in Europe. The plans of the government prompted a retaliatory action by the trade unions - a general strike was held in the country. And the most persistent strikers, as you know, are the miners, so their protest has been going on for more than a month.
The draft budget plans to cut expenditures on the mining industry by 63%. According to the trade unions, this will increase not only the unemployment rate in this sector, but also the cost of coal, which will make Spain uncompetitive in the market. There are four dozen mines in the country today, and according to the estimates of the trade unions, the government's measures will entail the loss of jobs for forty thousand miners.
Miners' strikes are mainly in the north of the country, where protesters clash with the police from time to time. Trade unions in other sectors have expressed their solidarity in recent months, and support rallies have taken place in the country. At the end of May, such a manifestation gathered in the capital of the country nearly one hundred thousand people. Over time, the indefinite strike of miners begins to acquire the features of a civil war - miners block roads with burning tires, and use homemade rockets in clashes with the police.
On June 22, the miners began the "Black March" to march 400 kilometers in two columns to Madrid from different places in the north of the country. By July 11, they reached their goal and staged a mass rally in Puerta del Sol, and then at the building of the Ministry of Industry, where there were new clashes with the police.
