Nurses, Firefighters, Teachers, Students and Civil Servants joined Doctors on strike in the Spanish Region of Catalonia on Thursday, protesting budget cuts which they alleged hindered their jobs properly.

Protests were noted in Barcelona, Tarragona and Girona, among others.

The strikers say the government needs to undo austerity measures introduced in 2011 to make better pay and working conditions possible.

Doctors, who have already been on strike for four days, say they need to be able to have more time to work with their patients.

Eva Granados, a spokesperson for the Socialists, noted the “great social protest’’ in the region and pointed out that the sitting government had focused its energies on seceding from Spain.

Catalonian leader Quim Torra has not yet made a comment.

“This silence is scandalous. The government has gone missing,’’ said Granados. </s> Protesters surrounded the Catalan regional parliament in Barcelona on Wednesday, November 30, for a third day of protests over budget cuts and labor improvements. This footage shows scenes from outside the parliament. Demonstrators can be seen holding flares that are sending smoke into the air. According to El Pais, doctors and firefighters make up the protesting groups, with the doctors calling for increased resources and the firefighters asking for more personnel. The union Doctors of Catalonia has been on strike since Monday. Credit: Marta Belles Abad/Catalunya Radio & Catalunya Informacio via Storyful </s> Protesters surround the Catalan parliament. M.M.

Doctors and firemen surrounded the Catalan regional parliament on Wednesday to demand Catalan regional premier Quim Torra reverse budget cuts introduced during the financial crisis.

Catalan family doctors want a minimum of 12 minutes for each consult and no more than 28 consults a day

The protesters waved placards and used plastic horns, whistles and megaphones to mount a noisy protest and make their demands heard. The demonstrators were held back by the Catalan regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, who clashed with the firemen. The firefighters are calling for more personnel, resources and better salaries.

Family doctors in Catalonia are also demanding more resources and better working conditions.This is the third day of industrial action for the group. The union Doctors of Catalonia (MT) began a strike on Monday, claiming the state of the region’s primary healthcare sector is “unsustainable.” On the first day of the strike, hundreds of doctors blocked Barcelona’s Gran Via avenue and occupied the headquarters of the Catalan Health Institute (ICS), the public entity that manages 80% of primary healthcare services. On Tuesday, more than a thousand people protested outside the Health Department against the “precariousness” of the sector, which lost nearly a thousand doctors during the cutbacks and, according to MC, only has 30% of its former purchasing power.

ampliar foto Main entrance to Pompeu Fabra University in Poblenou. grego casanova

The ICS has offered to immediately incorporate 200 doctors to help relieve the sector’s urgent needs. While the institute has the budget to cover this measure, it admits there is not enough staff to fill the places and is asking doctors to work extra remunerated hours. The MC has rejected the offer. The union wants a minimum of 12 minutes to be guaranteed for each patient visit and no more than 28 visits a day – demands the ICS has not accepted.

“We are doing everything we can to address their demands. Hopefully today we will find a solution,” said Torra on Tuesday.

But no solution was found and on Wednesday the family doctors entered their third day of stoppages. This time they were joined by university students who stopped classes to call for academic fees – which rose by 67% during the financial crisis – to be reduced by 30%.

University protesters at UAB. Cristóbal Castro

The Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) suspended classes in the Ciutadella campus in Barcelona in response to the strike, citing security reasons. The University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) continued classes but asked professors not to hold exams or other activities that would be graded. Students at UAB blocked access to the Bellaterra campus early Wednesday morning, setting up barricades with chairs, tables and trash cans at each of the entry points.

The strike, organized by the Catalan Student Union (SEPC), is set to continue on Thursday. University teaching and research staff have called their own strike on Thursday to support the students’ demand to reduce academic fees. Students and teachers will gather outside the University of Barcelona square for a demonstration at midday.

English version by Melissa Kitson. </s> Protesters surrounded the Catalan regional parliament in Barcelona on Wednesday, November 28, for a third day of protests over budget cuts and labor improvements. This footage shows various scenes from outside the parliament. Demonstrators can be seen holding flares, burning effigies and waving placards. According to El Pais, doctors and firefighters make up the protesting groups, with the doctors calling for increased resources and the firefighters asking for more personnel. The union Doctors of Catalonia has been on strike since Monday. Credit: Ric_one1 via Storyful </s> BARCELONA, Spain — Thousands of Catalan civil servants have joined strikes and ongoing protests by students and health workers to demand more funding and better working conditions.

Barcelona police say that 8,000 have joined a downtown march all the way to the regional parliament in the city. Thursday’s strike paralyzed many public services in the northeastern Spanish region, leaving some schools and universities empty.

Workers and student unions say that austerity measures implemented at the height of the 2008 financial crisis haven’t been reverted despite five years of continued economic growth. Catalan authorities blame the cuts on a lack of funding from central authorities.

A similar protest on Wednesday by fire and health workers — the latter on their fourth day of consecutive strike — ended in clashes with anti-riot police. </s> Doctors, nurses, students, teachers and civil servants went on strike in Catalonia Thursday, asking the Spanish region's government to end spending cuts imposed during the crisis after years of seeking independence.

Thousands protested in Barcelona -- 8,000 according to police and 25,000 according to unions -- against the government led by Quim Torra, whom many regard as giving priority to splitting from Spain rather than day-to-day management of the region.

"We have a government that doesn't govern, which only focuses on independence and does nothing to resolve the social situation," said Josep Lluis Casamitjana, a 62-year-old doctor, in the protest.

"The independence process has been a big smoke screen, but bad management and spending cuts are still here," said Rafael Castillo, a 67-year-old retiree.

In 2010 during the country's economic crisis, Catalonia was a pioneer in implementing drastic austerity measures which were later extended to the rest of Spain.

For two years, people took to the streets to protest but in 2012 the issue took a back seat when then regional president Artur Mas took on the pro-independence cause.

This week austerity protests returned with a five-day strike by doctors, another two-day stoppage by students and teachers, partial strikes by civil servants and a firefighters' protest on Wednesday that ended with police charges.

Protesters want an increase in the number of health and education workers and a drop in university fees -- the highest in Spain.

They also want authorities to give back bonuses for civil servants that were suspended between 2012 and 2014, which has already been done in other regions.

But this week, a spokesman for Torra's pro-independence party Together for Catalonia played down the importance of the protests and said the solution lay in "fleeing the (Spanish) state."

"We're distracting ourselves with things that aren't essential," Eduard Pujol said Tuesday in comments that drew criticism.

Torra on Thursday gathered much of his executive to discuss the strikes which come at a time when the regional budget for 2019 is being drawn up.

"The government is well aware of the efforts made by public workers and is working to give them a response," regional vice-president Pere Aragones said. </s> BARCELONA, Nov 30 — Doctors, nurses, students, teachers and civil servants went on strike in Catalonia yesterday, asking the Spanish region’s government to end spending cuts imposed during the crisis after years of seeking independence.

Thousands protested in Barcelona — 8,000 according to police and 25,000 according to unions — against the government led by Quim Torra, whom many regard as giving priority to splitting from Spain rather than day-to-day management of the region.

“We have a government that doesn’t govern, which only focuses on independence and does nothing to resolve the social situation,” said Josep Lluis Casamitjana, a 62-year-old doctor, in the protest.

“The independence process has been a big smoke screen, but bad management and spending cuts are still here,” said Rafael Castillo, a 67-year-old retiree.

In 2010 during the country’s economic crisis, Catalonia was a pioneer in implementing drastic austerity measures which were later extended to the rest of Spain.

For two years, people took to the streets to protest but in 2012 the issue took a back seat when then regional president Artur Mas took on the pro-independence cause.

This week austerity protests returned with a five-day strike by doctors, another two-day stoppage by students and teachers, partial strikes by civil servants and a firefighters’ protest on Wednesday that ended with police charges.

Protesters want an increase in the number of health and education workers and a drop in university fees — the highest in Spain.

They also want authorities to give back bonuses for civil servants that were suspended between 2012 and 2014, which has already been done in other regions.

But this week, a spokesman for Torra’s pro-independence party Together for Catalonia played down the importance of the protests and said the solution lay in “fleeing the (Spanish) state.”

“We’re distracting ourselves with things that aren’t essential,” Eduard Pujol said Tuesday in comments that drew criticism.

Torra yesterday gathered much of his executive to discuss the strikes which come at a time when the regional budget for 2019 is being drawn up.

After that, he recognised that “the demands expressed on the streets” were “just, logical, necessary and opportune. And above all, legitimate,” according to a regional government statement.

But he largely blamed the central government for the situation, pointing out for instance that Catalonia paid a lot in taxes.

One of the major complaints among separatists is that Catalonia pays more to the central government than it receives in central spending.

He added the only solution was “an independent republic that takes responsibility for its acts and can serve with efficiency and quality the citizens who have created it”. — AFP </s> BARCELONA, Spain — A spokeswoman for four jailed Catalan separatist leaders says they are abandoning their hunger strike more than two weeks after starting it because they consider that their protest has achieved its goals.

Speaking on behalf of the politicians, who are awaiting trial for their part in last year’s attempt to secede from Spain, Pilar Calvo said Thursday the strike has drawn attention to the separatists’ plight and prompted Spain’s Constitutional Court to review some of their appeals, which enables them to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Pro-independence activist-turned-politician Jordi Sanchez and former Catalan cabinet member Jordi Turull began their hunger strike on Dec. 1. Ex-regional ministers Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn joined two days later.

The Constitutional Court had said the appeals were following the normal judicial calendar.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Activists blocked roads in Catalonia before daybreak on Thursday at the start of a region-wide strike against the trial of separatist leaders for their role in a failed secession attempt in 2017.

Traffic authorities in the northeastern region said they had cut off around 20 roads, including the A7 highway that links Spain to France, the A2 between Madrid and Barcelona and the main entry points to the Mediterranean city.

Activists also blocked train traffic by occupying the tracks on two railway lines, according to the company that manages Spain's rail network.

The one-day strike has been called by Intersindical CSC, a small pro-independence union, to protest against the trial of 12 separatist leaders that opened last week at Madrid's Supreme Court.

The union has the support of separatist parties and associations, but not of the other bigger unions.

The Catalan employers' association, meanwhile, has denounced the work stoppage as politically-motivated.

The region's separatist government has expressed solidarity with the strike and cancelled all official events planned for Thursday.

The trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders and activists, nine of whom are accused of rebellion, started on February 12 under intense domestic and foreign scrutiny.

They are being tried for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban, and for a subsequent short-lived declaration of independence on October 27.

Catalonia's former president Carles Puigdemont, who fled for Belgium soon after, is not among the defendants as Spain doesn't judge people in absentia for major offences.
Doctors and firefighters strike in Catalonia, Spain, over budget cuts, ending with clashes between demonstrators and Mossos d'Esquadra at the doors of Catalan Parliament. Students and teachers start a two-day strike.