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Thousands in Spain protest health privatisation
Thousands of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, many wearing white lab coats,
and their supporters marched in Madrid Sunday to protest against government spending cuts
and plans to partly privatise medical services.
The demonstrators blew whistles and chanted "nothing for the private sector" as they marched
from leading hospitals in Madrid to the landmark Plaza de Sol square in the centre of the Spanish capital.
Police put the turnout at between 3,000 and 5,000 people. However the protest organisers gave an
estimate of 70,000 people.
It was the fifth "white tide" demonstration held this year in Madrid, named after the colour of the
medical scrubs worn by many of the protesters.
"We have to keep up the pressure, we can't let the government go ahead with its plans, it will not
lead to more efficient services, on the contrary, healthcare will get worse," said Abel Alvarez,
a 42-year-old X-ray technician at a Madrid hospital.
The conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has slashed health spending by
seven billion euros ($9.1 billion) a year as part of a campaign to squeeze 150 billion euros out of the
crisis-hit country's budget by 2014.