Madrid teachers' strike goes into 8 day

Teachers in Madrid on Thursday hold their eighth day of strike action in protest against spending cuts in public education carried out by the regional authority. The Madrid regional authority, which is controlled by the right wing Popular Party, has announced cuts of 80 million euros in its education budget, which mean the loss of teaching jobs and those of classroom assistants. Teachers have seen their number of contact hours raised and are angry that the cuts, which happen at the same time the regional government is giving tax-allowances to those sending their children to private schools, will cause a decline in the services they can offer. Teachers unions, who hold a demonstration through the center of Madrid on Thursday evening, under the banner "Education is not an expense, it is an investment" are also angry that the cuts mean reductions in the use of laboratories and other facilities. Previous strikes have been mainly held by secondary school teachers, but Thursday's strike is also joined by primary school teachers, who are holding their third day of action. Other areas of Spain are also seeing strike action. In Catalonia there is a strike from secondary school and university students. This takes place the day after the end of a two-day strike in the Catalan health service against cuts in that sector. Meanwhile there are further protests in Seville, Valencia, Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba and Valladolid against education cuts.