Protesters clashed with police in Madrid today as the government prepares a new round of unpopular austerity measures for the 2013 budget that will be announced on Thursday.
Thousands gathered in Neptune plaza, just a few metres away from El Prado museum in central Madrid where they formed a human chain around parliament, surrounded by barricades, police trucks and more than 1,500 police in riot gear.
Police fired rubber bullets and beat protesters with truncheons, first as several protesters were trying to tear down barriers and later to clear the square. The police said at least 15 people had been arrested and at least 6 injured.
The protest, promoted online by different activist groups, was younger and more rowdy than recent marches called by labour unions. Protesters said they were fed up with cuts to public salaries and health and education.
"My annual salary has dropped by 8000 euros and if it falls much further I won't be able to make ends meet," said Luis Rodriguez (36), a firefighter who joined the protest. He said he is considering leaving Spain to find a better quality of life.
With this year's budget deficit target looking untenable, the conservative government is now looking at such things as cuts in inflation-linked pensions, taxes on stock transactions, "green taxes" on emissions or eliminating tax breaks.
The 2013 budget is the second one conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has had to pass since he took office in December. Spain must persuade its European partners that it can cut the budget shortfall by more than €60 billion by 2014.
Mr Rajoy has already passed spending cuts and tax hikes worth slightly more than that over the next two years, but half-year figures show the 2012 deficit target slipping from view as tax income forecasts will not be hit due to economic contraction.
He said earlier this month the 2013 budget would cut spending further in all areas of government apart from pensions and borrowing costs.
Spain is at the centre of the euro zone debt crisis on concerns the government cannot control its finances and those of highly indebted regions, bitten by a second recession since 2009 which has put one in four workers out of a job.
On the regional front, Catalonia, which generates about 20 per cent of the national output, announced today it would hold early elections on November 25th after its call for more tax autonomy was rejected last week by Mr Rajoy.
Political uncertainty in cash-strapped Catalonia, along with an announcement from southern region Andalucia it might seek a €4.9 billion credit line from the central government, will pile more pressure on Madrid to seek European aid.
Mr Rajoy is holding back from applying for help, which would activate a European Central Bank bond-buying programme and bring down Spain's punishing debt premiums.
With the threat of the plan alone reducing 10-year yields by around 2 percentage points, the cautious leader, known for keeping his cards close to his chest, is playing for time.