Tens of thousands protest over housing costs in Madrid and Barcelona

Tens of thousands of people protested in Madrid and Barcelona on Wednesday over high housing costs and falling purchasing power, with smaller demonstrations also held in other Spanish cities.

Authorities put the Madrid crowd at about 120,000 and the Barcelona turnout at around 55,000. Thousands more attended protests elsewhere, according to a report by Spanish news agency EFE, carried by Nieuws.nl.

Some violence was reported in Barcelona: objects were thrown at police and rubbish bins were set alight. La Vanguardia reported that masked men also tried to break into an Apple Store.

The demonstrations followed a nationwide strike earlier on Wednesday, organised chiefly to express anger over the housing crisis. Unions estimated that about four million people stopped work.