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Suffering Spanish farm workers on the march for help

Having to deal with mass unemployment, Spanish farmers from the Andalusian region hope to get more government aid. And they have one local politician on their side. 

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Jon Nazca/ Reuters
Members of the SAT (Andalusian Union of Workers) march along a road between the towns of Jodar and Bedmar, southern Spain, Thursday. The march, will continue across the region through blistering summer heat in a bid to persuade other local leaders to refuse compliance with government reforms.
  • By Associated Press

| MADRID

Farm workers in southern Spain have launched a series of protest marches to get more government aid to help them deal with mass unemployment.

One of the politicians taking part in Thursday's 12-mile procession was a small-town left wing mayor, who admitted taking part in a Robin Hood-style looting of supermarkets last week.

Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo said the protesters want aid for what he said were 350,000 families in the Andalusia region, in which no one has work or gets unemployment benefits.

He told reporters he also wants authorities to halt evictions of families who cannot pay their mortgages.

The marches are scheduled to take place in Andalusia's eight provinces. Thursday's left from Jodar, a town with a jobless rate of more than 40 percent. Nationwide it is nearly 25 percent.

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