Violence flares in rally against Spanish education cuts

Students in Barcelona clashed with police and set fire to garbage containers during nationwide protests against education spending cuts yesterday.

Police said officers in riot gear charged at a crowd outside the stock exchange after protesters who had broken away from a peaceful rally of thousands threw rocks and other objects. Authorities made an unspecified number of arrests.

Students also marched in Madrid and Valencia, but no violence was reported. The country is enduring steep austerity cuts and the prospect of recession, and the unemployment rate among under-25s is almost 50 per cent.