General strike grips Spanish state: ‘We have to give young people a future’

Socialist Worker spoke to striking workers on the streets of Barcelona A massive general strike has gripped the Spanish state. The strike began at midnight on Wednesday night with workers blockading roads with burning tyres, occupying building and picketing major workplaces. In many areas, the police attacked strikers, charging them to break the picket lines and blockades of roads in cities including Valencia and Castellón. The entire rail network has been shut down in a strike that began on Tuesday. The striking railworkers are demanding better health and safety after the horrific crash on the high speed line two weeks ago. The entire industrial zone of Barcelona was shut down. And every motorway into both Madrid and Barcelona was shut down by huge pickets. The government imposed “minimum service” orders on the unions, requiring some workers to turn up to keep transport moving. But in many cases pickets stopped the services running.

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