Huge Spain rallies condemn labour market reforms

Mass protests have been held across Spain against the conservative government's labour market reforms.

The trade unions which organised the rallies said half a million protesters marched through Madrid. Police put the turnout in the capital at about 50,000.

Spanish media say protests took place in 57 towns and cities.

There was anger at a labour reform law that cuts severance pay and gives employers more flexibility over jobs. The unemployment rate has reached 23%.

The motto of the protests was "no to the labour reform that is unfair to workers, inefficient for the economy and useless for jobs," Spain's El Pais news website reports.

On 10 February the government of Mariano Rajoy approved a law reducing maximum severance pay to 33 days' salary for each year worked, compared with the current 45 days.

Employers will also be able to lay workers off outside Spain's traditional sector-wide collective bargaining arrangements.

Spain's unemployment rate is the highest in the EU, hitting young job-seekers especially hard.