Hundreds of Spanish coal miners have marched on Madrid to protest against subsidy cuts they fear could threaten thousands of jobs.

Yesterday thousands more people joined the miners for a rally in the capital, after some miners and their families finished their three-week long march from different mining regions around the country on Tuesday (pictured).

The protests hit Madrid on the day Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced new austerity measures including a 3% rise in VAT, designed to slash spending by €65billion (£51bn) over the next two and a half years.

More than 8,000 workers have been on indefinite strike since the end of May. Some appear to have occupied a few mines as part of the industrial action.

Colin Campbell, Secretary General of trade union UGT said the miners locked in the mines “are having a hard time to defend reason and justice”, according to UGT’s website, adding: “harsh measures to be adopted by the Executive give more reasons to miners”.

Image copyright: Izquierda Unida / Gonzalo Caro