Barcelona civil servants take to streets to protest massive cuts

Thousands of public servants took to the streets of Catalonia Wednesday to protest upcoming cuts that will affect over 200,000 people and save regional coffers around 625 million euros.

The largest demonstration took place in Barcelona's Sant Jaume square, in front of City Hall and the regional seat of government, with smaller protests registered in Girona, Tarragona, Lleida and Tortosa. The austerity measures include pay reductions and fewer social benefits for workers, such as six vacation days for personal matters rather than nine, no more government contributions to the workers' pension fund, and no more restaurant coupons for personnel.

The government of Artur Mas had already warned that after slashing spending on education and healthcare this year, public employees were next in line for some serious budget adjustment. But the Mas administration has already backed down from the initial 860 million euros it was planning to save on this issue, which constitutes the largest expense for any public administration.

Protestors on Wednesday wielded signs demanding that officials cut their own expenses instead, such as official cars.