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Over 100,000 trade unionists marched in Barcelona against the European Union (EU) summit two days before the anti-capitalist demo. The march was organised by the European Federation of Trade Unions. Hundreds of coaches, plus a train and a plane, came from other areas of Spain. And some 20,000 trade unionists came from France and Italy, with smaller delegations from other countries.

Tony Blair has allied with the most right wing leaders in Europe to attack workers' rights. The European Union summit in Spain last week saw him set up an axis with the right wing prime ministers of Italy and Spain, Silvio Berlusconi and JosŽ Maria Aznar.

Judith Mora, a Spanish journalist working in London, has been going along to Marxist forums in Brick Lane, east London. She tells us why:

ANTI-CAPITALIST protests are back on the agenda. After last month's 70,000-strong gathering in Brazil at the World Social Forum, thousands of protesters were set to hit the streets of Barcelona in Spain this week.

Charles Clarke, chairman (unelected) of the Labour Party, last week declared his love for the US under George W Bush. In his youth, he admitted, "I was a strong opponent of the foreign policy of the US," and campaigned over issues such as US support for fascist states in Greece, Spain and Portugal, US support for dictatorships in Latin America, and the use of US troops in Cambodia and Vietnam.

ONE OF Spain's longest running industrial disputes has ended in victory for the workers. Telephone engineers celebrated in the centre of Madrid last weekend after their fight forced the country's Tory government to concede most of their demands.

Refugees: Their fight is ours The new immigration law passed in Spain last December is a clear attempt to undermine immigrant rights, leaving them in inhuman conditions. The law cuts their right to vote, strike, meet and unionise. The right wing Spanish government wants to keep the "sans papiers" in a situation of slavery.

BSE-"mad cow disease"- has suddenly become a key issue right across Europe. In France, Italy, Greece, Spain and, above all, Germany, beef consumption has slumped by up to 40 percent in the wake of a sudden rise in BSE cases.

In February 1936 in Spain a Popular Front government was elected by a radicalised working class. People hoped it would be a bulwark against fascism. Fascist General Franco launched a coup in July. He was beaten back by Spanish workers who mobilised to defend the republic. Civil war raged.

"UNCONVENTION" is an exhibition with a difference. It has been assembled by rock group the Manic Street Preachers on the theme of love and revolution. The show brings together paintings by Picasso and Jackson Pollock with posters from the Spanish Civil War and photographs of the work ers in the south Wales valleys.