LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s disgruntled Facebook generation is marching in a dozen cities, venting its frustration at grim career prospects amid an acute economic crisis that shows no sign of abating.
Some 30,000 people mostly in their 20s and 30s gathered Saturday in Lisbon’s main avenue, called onto the streets by a social media campaign that harnessed a broad sense of disaffection.
A banner at the front of the Lisbon march said, “Our country is in dire straits.”
Portugal, western Europe’s poorest country, is producing the best-qualified generation in its history, thanks to steep investments in education.
But under a huge debt burden that is widely expected to force Portugal into accepting a financial bailout like Greece and Ireland, its economy can’t deliver the opportunities young people are hankering for.
