Spaniards Protest Austerity Measures

Tens of thousands of Spaniards took to the streets Sunday in a mass march against rampant unemployment and harsh austerity measures.

The protesters first converged in the capital Madrid where they streamed in from all sides of the city chanting, banging drums and waving placards.

Demonstrations were staged also in more than 60 cities and towns across the South European state including main cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia.

Youth activists dubbed “the indignant” recently started a three-week sit-in in Madrid to pressure the government to improve its handling of the economic crisis.

The Sunday’s protests focused on the “Euro Pact,” agreed by euro zone politicians to stimulate competitiveness across the bloc, as the protesters fears the pact means harsher austerity measures.

In Spain, youth unemployment is more than 43 percent. The economic crisis has left more than a million families without a single wage-earner.