MADRID – Thousands of angry Spanish coal miners marched through Madrid's main avenue Wednesday, throwing firecrackers and dodging rubber bullets fired by police to protest a cut in government subsidies they say will kill their industry.
"It is not violence to defend our jobs and the daily bread of our children," said Manuel Robles, a miner and union representative of the Candin Shaft in Langrea, a mining town in the northern region of Asturias.