The World : Students Riot in Madrid

High school students and riot police clashed in Madrid during a nationwide strike that drew hundreds of thousands into the streets to protest the Socialist government’s plans to raise university fees and stiffen entry requirements. Madrid riot squads used water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse about 200 students who overturned cars, smashed shop windows and threw rocks and bottles as they tried to set up barricades outside the Education and Science Ministry. Police said one student was arrested. The skirmishes came at the end of a march by students who chanted anti-government slogans and waved banners calling for the abolition of university fees and entrance examinations.