Workers in Greece, Spain, and Portugal held synchronized protests on Wednesday against austerity measures, with the demonstration in Madrid in particular taking a violent turn as police charged with billy clubs. Large factories in Spain shut down production, and retail traffic was slow. In Athens, 5,000 people took to the street in a mostly peaceful protest. More demonstrations are scheduled in Madrid and Greece as the day goes on, although analysts warned that the frequent protests have caused the government to tune them out.
