Police brutality against protesting students in Valencia

Valencia - Yesterday a group of students were protesting against budget cuts in education in Valencia, Spain. It is said that police overstepped the mark in trying to control them.

Up to 21 demonstrators, including minors were beaten and arrested in Valencia yesterday. The regional police chief had branded the students as being "the enemy" and said that the riot police had used "proportioned physical force" against the students. However, reporters on the scene confirmed that the police had even fired rubber bullets at the students, who were protesting peacefully. The region is one of the most indebted in Spain, with tough spending cuts by the Government and schools now even lack heating due to these cuts, in the midst of a cold winter. Despite the brutality, or possibly even because of it, students were back on the streets in the evening to continue protesting, and say they will continue until the resignation of the government’s regional education minister. The student protests come a day after over a million Spaniards took to the streets to contest the governments’ labor reforms, and marked the fourth straight day of student protests in Spain’s third largest city. There has been a call by the 15m movement in Spain to protest this evening countrywide in support of the students in Valencia.