Six columns of protesters, each from a different region of Spain, arrived at the outskirts of the city yesterday before heading for Colon square, carrying banners bearing the slogan "Marching for Dignity."
By late afternoon, Madrid's principal boulevard, Paseo del Prado, was packed with people chanting against government's austerity policies and the cuts they have entailed.
The protest includes trade unions, civil servants and organisations representing people evicted from their homes for not being able to make mortgage payments after losing their jobs.