‘Bread, jobs, dignity’: Crowds gather for anti-austerity march in Madrid
RT.com
March 21, 2015
Spaniards are gathering for an anti-austerity rally in the Spanish capital’s center. Almost a year ago, a similar protest in central Madrid turned violent and hundreds were injured.
Spanish police deployed some 1,200 officers to monitor Saturday’s protest, which is called Marches of Dignity. Up to 20,000 people are expected to show up.
Nine columns of demonstrators, who have been on the march for several days, are to converge in Madrid’s Plaza de Colon (Columbus Square) for a massive anti-austerity rally.
The protesters gathered by some 300 social action groups and trade unions are demanding “bread, jobs, housing and dignity” from the government. They are also advocating holding a general strike later in October.
“We want to take back the rights that were stolen from us,” one of the protesters told RT.
“Poverty and unemployment rates have grown. The social model the government is applying has failed,” another one said.
The Spanish economy remains in poor shape due to the economic slowdown, with the unemployment rate surpassing 23 percent. The government had to cut many public services and spending as part of an austerity drive designed to address the budget deficit.
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