As my colleagues Liz Alderman and Niki Kitsantonis report, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Athens to protest salary and pension cuts on Wednesday. The rally, which began peacefully, turned violent in the early afternoon when a small group of demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at police officers and firebombs at government buildings near the Greek Parliament.
The violence came after anti-austerity protesters in Spain clashed with police officers outside the Parliament building in Madrid. Video posted online showed the violence in both capitals.
Protesters scattered in Athens's Syntagma Square as black smoke filled the air and the police responded with tear gas and batons.
Stathis Kalligeris, a photographer, captured multiple images of the demonstration showing how it began peacefully but devolved into violence.
Πλατεια τωÏα, πιεση στους λιγοστους που εχουν μεινει. #26sgr #rbnews http://t.co/3RMrwCEL
- Stathis (@Stathisgr) 26 Sep 12
By afternoon, the crowd dispersed as firefighters put out the lingering fires.
Tear gas still lingering in Syntagma Square â€" 5h after it was deployed. Ppl covering mouths as they go about daily business. #Greece #26sgr
- Mehran Khalili (@mkhalili) 26 Sep 12
In Spain, organizers against the austerity measures called for a protest in Madrid to begin early Wednesday evening, a day after thousands of people showed up for a peaceful demonstration that ended with violent clashes with the police outside the Parliament building.
My colleague Raphael Minder reported that the protests came as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was coming under intense pressure from investors and his European counterparts to clean up Spain's banks and public finance.
In this video, captured and posted on YouTube by Tim Pool, a freelance video journalist who was in Madrid, the police can be seen wielding batons against the crowd.
El Pais, which published more video of the violence, reported on Wednesday that government officials defended police a ctions.
El Pais reported on Wednesday that the police had arrested 35 demonstrators on a variety of charges as people criticized what they viewed as a harsh response by the police during the protest.
El Pais also quoted Cristina Cifuentes, the government delagate in Madrid, about her support for the police response.
“They have my absolute support, and I want to congratulate the National Police because they showed professionalism during difficult times,†said the government delegate in Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, on Wednesday. Cifuentes had earlier warned that all protests in front of Congress were illegal and demonstrators would only be allowed to converge on Neptune square.
Cifuentes said the police came under a “disproportionate attack,†with people at the protest hurling “stones, screws and bottles,†at the law enforcement officers.
