WEST EUROPE Attacks by fire on Spanish Government w Basque and Catalan^ warning of call-up community centres for Metro strikers F r o m Our Correspondent T h e M e t r o company, w h i c h without the permission of the F r o m Our Correspondent M a d r i d , Jan 6 receives state subsidies, says i t M a d r i d , January 5 ecclesiastical authorities. cannot afford to pay more. Right-wing extremists i n Y e t i n Seville, police evicted The Spanish Cabinet tonight 47 metal workers f r o m a church threatened to end the strike So far the strike has had B i l b a o and Barcelona set fire little effect. Today, the twelfth to community centres, accord- where they h a d barricaded which has paralysed M a d r i d ' s M e t r o (Underground) by call- day of Christmas, was a holi- i n g to reports published i n themselves since December 22. day M a d r i d today. I n B i l b a o , a The workers, a l l dismissed from i n g up the strikers for m i l i t a r y their factory, were evicted service. If the strike continues it w i l l b u i l d i n g belonging to a Basque severely affect city and indus- c o m m u n i t y association was without trouble and no arrests A f t e r an emergency meeting were made. t r i a l life. Thousands of people burnt to the ground. The re- the Cabinet issued a statement r e l y on the M e t r o to get to mains of an inflammable l i q u i d In San Sebastian, the college saying that it had considered work. were found i n the ruins. In of lawyers has offered to co- a l l legal means of trying to end Barcelona, the extremists, ordinate o n a national scale all the strike, i n c l u d i n g legislation W h e n the last strike thought to be W a r r i o r s of petitions for a n amnesty for under the labour laws, the occurred, the director-general Christ the K i n g , threw petrol political prisoners and the penal code and the public order of the police issued a state- bombs at the b u i l d i n g but the establishment o f c i v i l rights. laws. ment saying that the strike " gravely affected public blaze was q u i c k l y extinguished. A c c o r d i n g to a report pub- o r d e r " . General F r a n c o then lished i n La Voz de Espania, in The statement said ministers Slogans reading " Death to issued a decree drafting the San Sebastian between 300 and had discussed the possibility of communism and s e p a r a t i s m " strikers into the A r m y . Such 400 Basque exiles l i v i n g i n "niboilizatio'ii i f the situation were daubed on the walls. This drastic action now w o u l d , i n F r a n c e for p o l i t i c a l reasons are required i t " . That would mean is the fourth time a c o m m u n i t y the opinion of observers, lead p l a n n i n g to return. A l s o , that the 4,000 strikers w o u l d be centre i n Barcelona has been to a confrontation and prob- according to the same report, drafted into the A r m y , and attacked i n the past few days. a b l y discredit the Govern- 150 p o l i t i c a l prisoners i n the those who then refused to ment's declared intention to be I n M a d r i d , 80 C h r y s l e r car Basque provinces may be re- return to w o r k could face court more tolerant. workers continued their sit-in leased shortly. martial. i n a church i n a suburb of the The late General Franco T h e Government is faced city. They are demanding Spain's last soldiers i n E l used that method to end the with a dilemma. If it gives i n that the company should with- A a i u n , the capital of the last M e t r o strike i n J u l y , 1970. to the wage demands, the way draw its p l a n to dismiss some Spanish Sahara, today left for T h e Cabinet, however, d i d not w i l l be open for a flood of of their colleagues as a result the m a i n l a n d o r the garrison specify how it proposed to end s i m i l a r demands from workers of illegal labour disputes. town of V i l l a Cisneros near by. R e m a i n i n g i n E l A a i u n is the strike, W h i c h is expected to i n other sectors. The protesters are demand- C o l o n e l Rodriguez de V i g u r i , continue tomorrow. This morning a delegation of i n g the right to elect their o w n workers from the Chrysler car the Government's secretary- The strike started last night trade union representatives and general w i t h a group of c i v i l factory visited the church and l e d to violence between have called for the seven repre- servants. They w i l l share the where strikers are stagingEspañola riot police and workers demon- sentatives of their state-run administration of the territory their sit-in, and offered food strating outside the M e t r o union to be dismissed for " not w i t h M o r o c c o and M a u r i t a n i a and money. W o r k e r s f r o m ] defending the rights and in- u n t i l F e b r u a r y 28, when Spain offices. Police used tear gas Standard E l e c t r i c also went to terests of workers ". w i l l officially h a n d over and charged the demonstrators. the help of the M e t r o workers. The a u x i l i a r y Bishop of There were several arrests and T h r e e hundred C h r y s l e r M a d r i d , M g r Jose M a n u e l Rabat, Jan 5 . — A M o r o c c a n three workers were injured. gunboat has seized a Soviet workers ended their sit-in i n Estepa, visited the workers this W h i l e the Cabinet met, another church i n a w o r k i n g morning. R i o t police were on cargo ship carrying weapons apparently destined for about 2,000 of the strikers class suburb this m o r n i n g after guard outside the church. U n d e r staged a sit-in in the C h u r c h of 37 hours. the terms of the Concordat of Algerian-backed guerrillas i n the Spanish Sahara, m a r i t i m e Our L a d y of L u j a n . M e m b e r s The use of churches for pro- 1953, which regulates church- of their families were allowed tests is catching on i n Spairi. state relations, police sup- sources i n Rabat said today.— U P I . to bring food. Police patrolled I n B i l b a o , 26 workers ended a posedly cannot enter a church near the c h u r c h and no i n c i - 12-day hunger strike in support >> dents were reported. of a demand for higher wages | i several angry scenes when and i n Tariassa, an industrial •,. 1 people tried to h a i l ordinary The strikers are demanding suburb of Barcelona, 300 • j cars w i t h plenty of room for an increase i n their monthly workers demonstrated outside a & I passengers, but most drivers wage of about £112 and an church to show their solidarity y refused to stop, and drove on. immediate bonus of £125. They with 12 workers on . hunger 1 | Some people walked to work. are p a i d for 14 months a year. strike inside' The strikers are i n a defiant mood as they have shown by their action and demonstra- tions. The Government is ; anxious, according to reliable j sources, not to appear soft, and '•. give i n ; but it does not want to take repressive action and 1 lose the confidence of workers, .