In Lisbon air traffic controllers and workers on the metro system went on a 24 hour strike. Public transportation halted and flights from the Lisbon International Airport had to be cancelled.
The protests are against the austerity measures proposed by the government to meet the demands for debt reduction to receive further loan instalments. Among the many austerity measures are included cuts in public spending and even expenditures on the armed forces. As well, with Xmas coming the government is playing Scrooge and will end all Xmas and holiday bonuses.
The BBC has a good article full of quotations from citizens about the strike and the situation in Portugal. Many fear that Portugal will become very much like Greece.
Added to Portugal's woes, the rating company Fitch has downgraded the quality of Portugals' bonds to junk. The company cited Portugal's debt and poor economic outlook as reasons for the downgrade. I include a video of the strike.
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