10,000 Protest French N-Tests

More than 10,000 people opposed to French nuclear tests marched through central Madrid on Sunday, the day before French President Jacques Chirac arrives for a visit.

Organizers called on Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez to exert greater pressure on France to halt the nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Gonzalez currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

“President Gonzalez can do more and should do more to make it clear to Chirac that Europe wants the tests to stop,” said Antonio Gutierrez of the Workers Commissions, one of the country’s two main labor federations.

The march was organized by a coalition of environmental groups, labor unions and political parties.