Grandparents to join general strike

Brussels: Spain's "babysitter" grandparents have been called on to take part in a general strike against budget cuts.

Spanish grandparents, who give a significant, unpaid boost to Spain's economy by providing free childcare for their grandchildren, have been called on to join tomorrow's demonstrations.

Manuel Pastrana, the Andalusian leader of the UGT general workers' trade union, the country's biggest, said: "We want grandparents to strike to prove they are a key part of the way this country functions."

The Spanish general strike, which is expected to bring millions on to the streets, follows massive protests in France last week.

Half of all Spanish grandparents look after their grandchildren every day and one in eight provides unpaid childcare for more than nine hours a day.

"It is a growing problem because grandparents are cheaper than childminders and they are an easy option when the economy is as bad as it is now," said Dr Jaime Rodriguez, of Spain's Society of Gerontology.

Grandparents Plus has estimated that Britain's 14 million-strong army of grandfathers and grandmothers provides childcare worth almost £4 billion (Dh23 billion) to the economy every year.