19 Dec 2010

More protests in Spain

7:09 pm on 19 December 2010

Unions in Spain have staged marches across the country on Saturday against government austerity measures.

They have threatened another general strike if the government does not back down on plans to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67.

Thousands of people braved the cold in Madrid as part of a series of peaceful demonstrations against state spending cuts, reformed labour laws and other measures to trim a high deficit.

The last general strike was on 29 September.

The government is making the moves to calm market fears about Spain's finances.

Even though the country has cut spending and promised more reforms, Moody's has put Spain on review for a possible ratings downgrade.