Thousands in Spain protest against police charge

Thousands demonstrated in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia Wednesday against police violence, two days after riot police charged a rally against education spending cuts.

The demonstrators marched behind a large black and white banner that read “We are the people, not the enemy” as a police helicopter flew overhead.

They called for the resignation of the central government’s representative in Valencia as they marched from the Lluis Vives high school, the site of Monday’s police charge.

“Enough!” and “They make cuts to education to steal from us more” were among the signs on display.

Photos and videos of Monday’s protest showed baton-wielding police charged and beat demonstrators, leaving several bleeding, and arrested dozens of people including several minors.

The clashes broke out after students protesting against education budget cuts by the regional government of Valencia — which they say have left classrooms without heating and electricity and toilets without toilet paper — came up against police barricades.

Valencia police chief Antonio Moreno fueled anger over the way security forces handled the protest by referring to protestors as “the enemy” at a news conference on Monday.

Thousands of students and their supporters marched in Valencia on Tuesday against the police violence and the spending cuts. Protests were alse held in several other cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Seville.

Valencia is the most indebted of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.

It profited handsomely from the property boom that drove Spain to strong growth from the late 1990s but has suffered, like the rest of country, since the boom went bust in 2008.

The eastern region, a powerhouse in the Spanish economy, found itself saddled with a public debt of 20.5 billion euros ($27 billion), equal to 19.9 percent of its total economic output.