MADRID (Reuters) - Hundreds of unemployed Spaniards who had travelled hundreds of kilometers (miles) on foot to Madrid joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government and its handling of an economic crisis in the EU country.
Demonstrations have swelled across Spain since the center-right government announced 65 billion euros in new spending cuts two weeks ago to satisfy the conditions of a euro zone bailout, with firefighters and police joining a mass protest on Thursday.
Several hundred jobless people journeyed on foot from the southern region of Andalucia, which has one of the worst unemployment rates in the country, northern Catalonia and other areas in an attempt to highlight the plight of the unemployed in recession-hit Spain, where almost one in four is without a job.
A march was planned for Saturday night towards Madrid's Puerta del Sol, a central square that has been the scene of protests involving hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. Violence erupted at a protest earlier this month and police used teargas and rubber bullets.
Protesters chanting "Unemployed, wake up!" were joined by members of Spain's "Indignados" (Indignant) movement, which has organized regular sit-ins at the square for more than a year.
The government is trying to avert a full-blown bailout after it was forced to ask euro zone leaders for up to 100 billion euros to help ailing banks in the zone's fourth-largest economy.
Rajoy has pushed through the 65 billion euros of spending cuts and tax rises to meet deficit targets set by Brussels that are widely blamed for pushing the economy back into recession for another year.
One of the government's most controversial cuts will affect unemployment benefits, set to be reduced for the newly jobless.
Spain's borrowing costs have continued to climb to record highs, reaching a peak on Friday after the Valencia region asked for financial help and the government unveiled gloomy economic forecasts.
The economy is forecast to stay mired in recession next year.
(Reporting by Sarah White; Editing by Ralph Gowling)
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