MADRID, Spain -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators from across Spain have marched in central Madrid to protest government measures they claim have eroded civil rights in the country.
Six columns of protesters -- each from a different region of Spain -- arrived at the outskirts of the city early Saturday before heading for Colon square, carrying banners bearing the slogan "Marching for Dignity."
By late afternoon, Madrid's principal boulevard, Paseo del Prado, was packed with people chanting against government's austerity policies and the cuts they have entailed.
The protest includes trade unions, civil servants and organizations representing people evicted from their homes for not being able to make mortgage payments after losing their jobs.
One woman carried a banner saying, "My daughter can't be here because she's had to emigrate."
