Spain demonstrations

More than one million people joined Catalonia’s annual independence day demonstration in Barcelona on Sept. 11. The self-governing region of Spain is asking Madrid for a larger portion of the country’s tax revenues plus a financial bailout. Those in the region also want fiscal independence to handle their own tax budget.

Demonstrations against recent unpopular austerity policies continued throughout Spain during September. In Madrid, rallies that called for a snap election to replace parliament caused massive traffic jams at rush hour on Sept. 25. More protests are expected as new austerity measures for 2013 are announced.