Huge Madrid march in support of anti-austerity party

Tens of thousands of people have marched in Madrid on Saturday in support of the anti-austerity party Podemos, whose surging popularity and policies have drawn comparisons with Syriza, Greece's new leaders.

Protesters chanted "Yes we can!" as they made their way from Madrid city hall to the central Puerta del Sol square. Podemos and its anti-austerity message have been surging in polls ahead of local, regional and national elections this year. Podemos ("We Can") was formed just a year ago but gained international attention after winning five seats in elections for the European Parliament last May.

Antonia Fernandez, a 69-year-old pensioner from Madrid, came to the demonstration with her family. Fernandez, who lives with her husband on a combined pension worth about $790 a month, said she used to vote for Spain's Socialist party but had lost faith in it because of its handling of the economic crisis and its austerity policies. "People are fed up with the political class," Fernandez said. "If we want to have a future, we need jobs," she said.

Like Syriza, Podemos has found popular support by targeting corruption and rejecting a European austerity program aimed at lifting struggling economies out of a deep crisis. After his Syriza party swept to victory in a snap election on Jan. 25, Alexis Tsipras promised that five years of austerity, "humiliation and suffering" imposed on Greece by international creditors were over. 

Spain is emerging from a seven-year economic slump as one of the eurozone's fastest growing economies, but those gains have done little to improve the fortunes of thousands of households in a country where nearly a quarter of the workforce is unemployed.

Wire services