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MADRID — Spain’s new conservative government approved sweeping labor market reforms Friday as part of a drive to revive a sick economy and solve Europe’s worst unemployment nightmare — a jobless rate of nearly 23 percent. The plan is designed to encourage companies to hire more people by cutting government-mandated severance packages and offering tax breaks for taking on young people. But the fast-track approval of the measures generated violent clashes between riot police and protesters who say they will be stripped of cherished worker benefits. More than 500 held a peaceful rally in Madrid’s central Puerta de Sol plaza late Friday, but it turned violent after some tried to march toward parliament and were blocked by police. Scuffles broke out, with officers using batons on demonstrators. At least eight protesters were detained and several officers sustained minor injuries, Spanish media reported. Before the mayhem, protester Cristina Fernandez waved a placard saying “Every cut mutilates my rights” and said the labor reforms won’t achieve the government’s goals. “To reduce unemployment, you need to create jobs, not simplify firing,” said Fernandez, a 52-year-old business consultant. Spain is eager to restore investor confidence, satisfy the European Union and other international institutions by seeking major structural reforms in order to cut its deficit and ward off fears that it could follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in seeking a bailout. Under the...

MADRID — Spain’s new conservative government approved sweeping labor market reforms Friday as part of a drive to revive a sick economy and solve Europe’s worst unemployment nightmare — a jobless rate of nearly 23 percent. The plan is designed to encourage companies to hire more people by cutting government-mandated severance packages and offering tax breaks for taking on young people. But the fast-track approval of the measures generated violent clashes between riot police and protesters who say they will be stripped of cherished worker benefits. More than 500 held a peaceful rally in Madrid’s central Puerta de Sol plaza late Friday, but it turned violent after some tried to march toward parliament and were blocked by police.

MADRID — Spain’s new conservative government approved sweeping labor market reforms Friday as part of a drive to revive a sick economy and solve Europe’s worst unemployment nightmare — a jobless rate of nearly 23 percent. The plan is designed to encourage companies to hire more people by cutting government-mandated severance packages and offering tax breaks for taking on young people. But the fast-track approval of the measures generated violent clashes between riot police and protesters who say they will be stripped of cherished worker benefits. More than 500 held a peaceful rally in Madrid’s central Puerta de Sol plaza late Friday, but it turned violent after some tried to march toward parliament and were blocked by police. Scuffles broke out, with officers using batons on demonstrators. At least eight protesters were detained and several officers sustained minor injuries, Spanish media reported. Before the mayhem, protester Cristina Fernandez waved a placard saying “Every cut mutilates my rights” and said the labor reforms won’t achieve the government’s goals. “To reduce unemployment, you need to create jobs, not simplify firing,” said Fernandez, a 52-year-old business consultant. Spain is eager to restore investor confidence, satisfy the European Union and other international institutions by seeking major structural reforms in order to cut its deficit and ward off fears that it could follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal in seeking a bailout. Under the...