Hundreds of thousands of people protested in the Spanish capital Madrid on Sunday against announced health care cuts. They demand more investments and the resignation of the regional head of government Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
According to the organizers, about a million people took part in the protest. The Interior Ministry estimated the number of protesters at 250,000. Doctors, nurses and politicians also took part in the protest, as well as well-known artists.
The demonstrators indicate that the current situation in healthcare does not call for cuts, but for investments. Due to a shortage of staff, more than 800,000 people in the city cannot be assigned a GP in their health centers. “At the moment, ten doctors do the work of fifteen,” the newspaper said The country.
There have also been protests against the austerity measures outside of Madrid. Media estimates put some 20,000 people in Santiago de Compostela in the Galicia region on Sunday, while police said there were also 11,000 in Burgos, some 250 kilometers north of Madrid.
