Spanish students protest education cuts, rising tuition

Students in Spain have taken part in a strike against cuts in education funding and rising tuition fees imposed by the government.

On Thursday, Spanish police forces dispersed crowds of protesting students in the capital, Madrid, using batons.

Reports say the protesters set up barricades and burned bins at Madrid’s Complutense university campus.

Similar protests were held in Barcelona, Valencia, Pamplona, and Bilbao.

At least 70 students have been arrested across the country for taking part in the protests, which began on Wednesday, March 26.

According to the national Students’ Union, some two million students abandoned their classes on Thursday. The union also said that about 70 demonstrations were held across the country.

The protesters say the measures imposed by the government will prevent the young working class from receiving university education.

Last week, nearly one million protesters took to the streets of Madrid to rally against the measures that also cut scholarships.

In 2012, Spain’s government launched spending cuts to save 150 billion euros ($206 billion), in a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s public finances.

The education cuts have affected university students and schoolchildren.

Spain’s public spending on education was cut by over 1 billion euros in 2013.