World : General Strike Shuts Down Spain

MADRID — Spain’s first general strike in 54 years shut down major industries, public transportation and state offices today. Police reported sporadic violence and made at least 30 arrests.

Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez told a news conference that the strike is no reason to call elections before they are scheduled in 1990. But a government communique acknowledged that the strike succeeded in much of the country. Jose Manuel de la Parra, spokesman for the Socialist General Workers’ Union, the country’s largest, which called the strike to protest government austerity measures, estimated that 7.8 million of the 11.8 million employed Spaniards stayed off the job.