Monday, December 02, 2013

Not a popular move

When Mariano Rajoy’s  Popular party took office in 2011, they issued a series of austerity measures and cutbacks in health and education along with labour and financial reforms in an effort to refloat the economy and stave off a bailout.

The measures triggered an increase in street protests, including several attempts to encircle parliament, some of which ended in clashes with police and rubbish containers being set on fire.

In a bid to curb these protests, the government has introduced draft legislation with fines up to 30,000 euros for offences such as; burning the national flag or causing a disturbance outside parliament. There will also be fines of up to 1,000 euros for insulting or threatening a police officer with similar fines for publishing photographs of the police that  might endanger them or hamper their operations.

With an absolute majority in parliament, the government will have no problem getting this bill passed. However, it will cause widespread dissention turning Spain into a repressed police state.

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