Thousands protest new budget cuts in Spain

Fresh protests broke out in Spain on Saturday after PM Mariano Rajoy's government announced plans to cut spending next year by about 40bn (£32bn) euros as it tries to prevent the need for an EU bailout.

In all, Rajoy's programme will require spending cuts of €150 billion between 2012 and 2014.

Saturday's protesters came from all over the country and were met by vans of riot police.

However just hours earlier, 300 police had staged their own protest in the capital, setting off fire crackers and blowing police whistles over the same issue - budget cuts.

In Madrid, Demonstrators held a minute's silence with their backs to parliament, then shouted "resign" with fists clenched, as the parliament building itself was surrounded by hundreds of police officers.

Austerity protests also took place in Barcelona, Valencia and other cities.

Rajoy's government has found itself in financial difficulty since the 2008 global financial crisis caused a big crash in the country's over-heated property market.

New figures this week showed about a quarter of working-age people in Spain were now unemployed.

Having spent almost a year in office, Rajoy has tried to head off a full-blown EU bailout by introducing tax increases, labour reforms and public sector cuts.

However, output has now contracted for five quarters in a row.