Catalan civil servants protest over cuts

 

Thousands of public servants took to the streets of Catalonia yesterday in protest over proposed cuts to public spending which will affect over 200,000 people and expect to make savings of around 625 million euros for the region.

The largest demonstration took place in Barcelona's Sant Jaume square, in front of City Hall and the regional seat of government, with smaller protests registered in Girona, Tarragona, Lleida and Tortosa. The proposed cuts include salary reductions and fewer social benefits for workers, such as a reduction of 9 to 6 days 'persona leave', no more government contributions to the workers' pension fund, and an end to restaurant coupons issued to employees.

The CiU Coalition government of Artur Mas had already warned that following cuts to spending on education and healthcare this year, public employees would be next in line for being the source of significant savings on the budget. However, the Generalitat has already backed down from the initial 860 million euros it was planning to save on this issue, which constitutes the largest expense for any public administration.

The Protest, which passed peacefully, saw demostrators waving placards demanding that officials cut their own expenses instead, such as official cars.