Spain: Huge Demonstrations against "Robbery"

Over a million public employees, trade union members and fed-up citizens have taken to the streets in over 80 Spanish cities. They were protesting against crisis pay cuts and tax hikes, yelling and whistling in anger as they branded the government's latest crisis measures "robbery".

They marched in towns and cities around the country in the latest of an almost daily series of protests to erupt since prime minister Mariano Rajoy's announcement last week of 65 billion euros of budget cuts in an attempt to slash Spain's public deficit.

Spain is struggling with its second recession in four years and an unemployment rate of more than 24 per cent.

Under pressure from the European Union to stabilise Spain's public finances, the conservative government has cut unemployment benefits and increased sales tax, with the upper limit rising from 18 per cent to 21 per cent.

We have to all come out into the street, firefighters, street-sweepers, nurses, to say: enough. If we don't, I don't know where this is going to end.

Protesters complained that they were being made to pay for the financial crisis while banks and the rich were let off.

Civils servants, including firefighters, are frustrated that their Christmas bonus payments, equivalent to seven per cent of their annual paycheck, have been cut.

This came on top of a pay cut in 2010, which was followed by a salary freeze.

"We have to all come out into the street, firefighters, street-sweepers, nurses, to say: enough," said Manuel Amaro, a 38-year-old fireman in Madrid.

"If we don't, I don't know where this is going to end."

"There's nothing we can do but take to the street. We have lost between 10 and 15 percent of our pay in the past four years," said Sara Alvera, 51, a worker in the justice sector, demonstrating in Madrid.

"These measures won't help end the crisis."