Spain Strike Challenges Austerity

Thousands of protesters rallied in several Spanish cities as a nationwide strike disrupted public transportation and forced factory closures across the country, highlighting popular opposition to government austerity measures, The Wall Street Journal reported. The strike, called by Spain's two largest unions to protest a sweeping overhaul of labor laws, was mostly peaceful, marred by isolated clashes between police and demonstrators in some cities. The strike drew support from the Socialist Party, which was in power until December and is now the largest opposition in Parliament, as well as the much smaller United Left bloc. Major disruptions weren't apparent in big cities, but the demonstrations presented a new challenge to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's push for austerity and overhauls, which is important for retaining international investors' confidence that Spain can avoid falling into a Greek-style debt crisis. Union leaders have said more strikes are possible. Social pushback is seen as one of the biggest threats against efforts by high-debt euro-zone countries to reduce budget deficits with cutbacks and higher taxes. After a second bailout deal for Greece in March, the focus has shifted to whether Spain can successfully keep its fiscal imbalances from deteriorating further as its struggles to overcome the impact of a contracting economy on its deficit-reduction efforts. Spain says its overhauls remain on track. The government has no plans to request money from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to prop up its ailing banks, Finance Minister Luis de Guindos said this week, as Madrid sought to quell fresh concerns on the shaky finances of the euro zone's fourth-largest economy. Read more. (Subscription required.)