Pensioners across Spain have been protesting in their thousands, demanding a bigger rise in state pensions.
According to The Olive Press, demonstrators in 40 cities and towns across the country, including Barcelona, Seville and Bilbao, carried placards complaining that this year’s 0.25% pension increase was “miserable” and failed to keep up with inflation. One group in Madrid even managed to break through a police cordon and block access to the Spanish Parliament.
Spain’s biggest workers’ union, the Workers’ General Union, was involved in organising the protests and has petitioned parliament to stop blocking changes to pension laws.
The Spanish government claimed that it would be unsustainable to keep increasing pensions at the current rate due to the ageing population and fewer workers contributing to the national social security fund.
But Workers’ General Union leader Mari Carmen Barrera has called on prime minister Mariano Rajoy to explain why pensions have increased by only 0.25% when the Spanish economy has grown at 3%.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
Pensioners across Spain have been protesting in their thousands, demanding a bigger rise in state pensions.
According to The Olive Press, demonstrators in 40 cities and towns across the country, including Barcelona, Seville and Bilbao, carried placards complaining that this year’s 0.25% pension increase was “miserable” and failed to keep up with inflation. One group in Madrid even managed to break through a police cordon and block access to the Spanish Parliament.
Spain’s biggest workers’ union, the Workers’ General Union, was involved in organising the protests and has petitioned parliament to stop blocking changes to pension laws.
The Spanish government claimed that it would be unsustainable to keep increasing pensions at the current rate due to the ageing population and fewer workers contributing to the national social security fund.
But Workers’ General Union leader Mari Carmen Barrera has called on prime minister Mariano Rajoy to explain why pensions have increased by only 0.25% when the Spanish economy has grown at 3%.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
