Gonzalez Pledges Firm Anti-inflation Battle

Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, facing an increasingly violent wave of labour unrest, has told Spaniards he is determined to bring down inflation even if it means slower growth and fewer votes for his Socialist Party.

In a 50-minute television interview broadcast live, Gonzalez criticized widespread protests which have blown up less than a year after he won a resounding general election victory.

“It seems so important to us that sometimes I ask myself ‘Why don’t they understand when I explain this?’” Gonzalez said of the anti-inflation strategy designed to modernise Spain and make its economy competitive within the European Community.

Gonzalez said the illegal work-to-rule at the airline was grounding more and more planes and producing a backlog of maintenance work which would not be cleared until the summer.

“The comfortable thing to do would be to give in and have no problems,” the 44-year-old prime minister said, adding that nothing could justify the use of violence in a democracy.

Gonzalez said he still believed it was possible to reduce inflation to five pct this year from the current rate of 6.3 pct, even though other government officials have admitted the target may now be beyond reach.