MADRID -- Thousands of Portuguese enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts took to the streets Saturday in protest, and Spanish demonstrators outraged over similar measures were preparing to approach parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro currency.
In Lisbon, retired banker Antonio Trinidade said the budget cuts Portugal is locked into in return for the nation's (EURO)78 billion ($101 billion) bailout are making the country's economy the worst he has seen in his lifetime. His pension has been cut, and he said countless young Portuguese are increasingly heading abroad because they can't make a living at home.
"The government and the troika controlling what we do because of the bailout just want to cut more and more and rob from us," Trinidade said, referring to the troika of creditors -the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "The young don't have any future, and the country is on the edge of an abyss. I'm getting toward the end of my life, but these people in their 20s or 30s don't have jobs, or a future."
In Spain, marchers were preparing to again head toward parliament, where Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has an absolute majority and has pushed through waves of austerity measures over the last nine months - trying to prevent Spain from being forced into the same kind of bailout taken by Portugal, Ireland and Greece.
The protests near Spain's parliament turned violent Tuesday and Wednesday nights when protesters clashed with riot police, who barricaded entry to the streets surrounding government buildings. Dozens of people were arrested and injured.
On Friday, Rajoy's administration presented a 2013 draft budget that will cut overall spending by (EURO)40 billion ($51.7 billion), freezing the salaries of public workers, cutting spending for unemployment benefits and even reducing spending for Spain's royal family next year by 4 per cent.
Investors worried about Spain's economic viability have forced up the interest rate they are willing to pay to buy Spanish bonds. The country's banks hurting from a property boom that went bust are set to get help soon from a (EURO)100 billion ($129 billion) financial lifeline from the eurozone, and Rajoy is pondering whether to ask for help from the ECB to buy Spanish bonds.
Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said Saturday that the budget cuts for next year were necessary to ease market tensions and try to bring down high interest rates Spain must pay to get investors to buy its bonds.
