Weekend of Metro protests sees four arrests

 

A protest took place on the Madrid Metro over the weekend, when hundreds of people gathered in the city centre at 5pm on Saturday.

Hundreds of protestors representing a broad demographic met outside the Sol Metro station in protest over cuts to public spending and a proposed increase to Metro fares.

Chants and placards announced "It is not a crime to spend social security money, but it is a crime to enter the metro without paying!" and "Tickets raise daily with the simple pretext that it this the cheapest metro in Europe!"

A number of protestors made reference to the annual income of the Spanish Royal family, released in the press last week, demanding that the deficit be charged to the King rather than the population.

After a brief demostration outside the station, protestors attempted to enter Sol Metro station, where the Police quickly took action to prevent them from doing so, at which point a number of group took the opportunity to run to the next station on the line, Callao, where they succeeded in jumping the barriers.

The Police were quickly inside the station and a number of injuries were sustained in clearing the area, resulting in four arrests.

Elsewhere, similar protests took place this weekend in Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Bilbao.