Thousands rally in Spain

Hundreds of thousands of people protested across Spain yesterday against reforms to the labour market they fear will destroy workers’ rights, and spending cuts they say are destroying the welfare state.

Organisers, including the two largest unions, Comisiones Obreras and UGT, said as many as half a million people joined the protest in 57 towns and cities.

In Madrid, one of the largest protests since the economic crisis began almost five years ago filled the wide boulevards from the Atocha train station up to the central Sol square.

“Contracts are getting worse every year . . . They’re not looking to the future but to the next election with cuts dictated from Brussels,” university researcher Nacho Foche, 27, said.