Tens of thousands of people from all over Spain rallied in the capital Saturday against punishing austerity measures enacted by the government, which is trying to save the country from financial collapse.

Large anti-austerity protests also took place in neighboring Portugal. Demonstrators in Lisbon threw tomatoes and fireworks at the Portuguese headquarters of the International Monetary Fund. Two protesters were arrested, but otherwise the rally was peaceful.

Spain is stuck in a double-dip recession with unemployment close to 25 percent. The conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has introduced stinging cuts and raised taxes in a bid to reduce the deficit and to reassure investors and officials from the 17-nation eurozone.

The marchers in Madrid unfurled banners with slogans such as "Let's go! They are ruining the country and we have to stop them."

"This government's policies are causing too much pain," union chief Ignacio Fernandez Toxo said. "It's a lie that there isn't another way to restore the economy."

The situation looks set to get worse in coming weeks. At a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Cyprus on Friday, Spain revealed it would present a new set of economic reforms by the end of the month. It's a move that raises expectations that Spain might soon ask for financial help.

The economic reform plan will be unveiled by Sept. 27. It is expected to be the launch-pad to Spain's tapping of a new European Central Bank bond-buying plan.

Just before Saturday's march began, buses transporting protesters blocked several major roads in the Spanish capital. The main organizers were Social Summit, an association of more than 150 organizations, and the Workers' Commissions and General Workers trade unions.

The Interior Ministry's regional office said it had expected more than 500,000 people to reach a central Madrid square, but later said 65,000 had attended to listen to speeches made by protest leaders.

Toxo called for a referendum on the government's austerity and bailout plans, saying the measures were so different from the ruling Popular Party's election pledges that Spaniards should have the right to express an opinion on them.

Rajoy was swept to power with a large majority in November elections, having said "I have no plans to raise taxes."

The Madrid protest comes four days after another anti-government gathering in the northeastern city of Barcelona that attracted about 1.5 million demonstrators, according to police estimates...

Spain's economy minister, Luis de Guindos, said his government is aware it is asking citizens to make sacrifices.

They "are absolutely unavoidable if we are to correct the difficult economic climate we are experiencing," he said in Cyprus, where Europe's finance ministers were meeting Saturday. "We are laying the foundations for a recovery."

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