I WISH I didn't have to write about this:

Concern was mounting in Spain on Thursday over a violent turn taken by a protest movement demanding democratic reforms.

The violence represented 'a very dangerous mixture of anti-system (activism) and anti-democratic radicalism,' Ramon Jauregui, a minister for the prime minister's office, said following clashes which injured more than 40 people in Barcelona.

The movement had been viewed sympathetically.

But on Wednesday, demonstrators in Barcelona trying to prevent a regional parliamentary debate on social spending cuts attacked legislators going to the meeting, shouting insults and death threats, pushing them, spraying some of them with paint and even trying to take away the guide dog of a blind lawmaker.

The violence forced several legislators to arrive by helicopter in front of the parliament building. Police charged against protesters, six of whom were arrested.