Not my picture

This was the scene on the Paralela on Thursday afternoon. The story is that some of the striking police stopped the buses, took the keys and took off. The result was a huge traffic jam, massive smash and grab opportunities taken, and mass panic. There were newspaper photos taken of the suspected strikers shooting into the air and huge masses of people walking down the Paralela away from the mess. Friday was the Friday of fear, stores closed early, there were more mass robberies, looting of local stores so that only shelves were left over, and everywhere you went there was a general feeling of hurry and stress in the air. Schools canceled classes and at the supermarket they had turned off the conveyer ramps to get down to the parking lot, forcing those doing their shopping to walk out the side ramp with their groceries and circle around to the parking the long way. Major events and concerts are cancelled for the weekend and the national guard has been called in to restore order. We even made the national news (though not NPR) - the first time that has happened since I moved here. Great first impression, yes?