Spain: Unaccustomed Tumult

Until recently, strikes and demonstrations were the rare exceptions in Spain; by last week they seemed to have become the rule. Shouting "Freedom, Freedom!" 2,000 students surged out of Madrid University to scuffle with squads of grey-clad police. After the Madrid riot was put down, students in Barcelona took up the fight; even women students joined in, whacking cops with rock-filled purses. Striking miners closed down 21 pits in the always tense Asturias area, and 7,000 textile workers staged a one-day walkout in Barcelona. Steel workers struck a major cold-rolling plant in Bilbao. Elsewhere, Spain's burgeoning industries were bothered...

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