Spanish unions protest austerity, labour reform

In the first clear challenge to a strong austerity and reform drive launched by Spain's new conservative government, protests started early today with closures of large factories across the country, according to trade unions.

The strike, called by the two largest unions against an ambitious labour reform bill, has been supported by the Socialist Party, which was in power until December and is the largest opposition in parliament.

According to analysts, the strike might have had a bigger impact on heavily unionised factories and plants than in Spanish cities and towns, where fewer workers were union members.

Early morning, downtown city streets saw a little more traffic than usual as more people used their cars to commute to work. The Madrid regional government agreed to run skeletal services with public transport operators of around 30 per cent of normal capacity.

The central Puerta del Sol square was largely empty, with only a few people, and cars passing through the eyes of police, stationed at all accesses. A barrier was set up in front of the regional government building and along the famed Calle Mayor, leading away from the plaza, a row of half a dozen police vans stood idle.

Frequency of commuter rail services was 20-30 minutes instead of the usual 10-15 minutes.