Spain's 'indignados' return to the streets

Spain's "indignants" are demonstrating in cities and towns nationwide to decry economic injustice and mark the first birthday of the grassroots movement which inspired "Occupy" protests in the US and around the world.

Tens of thousands of people rallied on Saturday to mark the beginning of a four-day protest that will end on 15 May, the anniversary of the movement's birth.

Several columns of protesters marched separately on Madrid's city centre from all directions to converge on central Puerta del Sol. But authorities vowed to stop them camping in the square, which became the cradle of their popular movement.

The "Indignados", a youth-led movement which took to the streets in 2011 in protest against political corruption and economic hardship, say not much has changed in a year.

They feel they have even more to demonstrate against this time around, including a recession, unemployment at 24.4%, and 52% for the young, and more than 30 billion euros  worth of austerity cuts so far this year.

The centre-right government has recently announced fresh austerity measures.

In central Madrid, many protesters occupying Puerta del Sol square ignored a midnight deadline to disperse.

However, by 5am on Sunday police had mainly evicted them.

Police vans eventually moved in and appeared to have cleared protesters from the square. The atmosphere in other parts of the city centre was reported to be tense on Sunday morning but there were no reports of violence.

Last year the Indignants established a protest camp in Puerta del Sol, but the authorities had vowed they would prevent any protesters from staying overnight in the square.

There were some 2,000 riot police on duty.

At least 45,000 people also took to the streets in Barcelona, police said, although organisers put the attendance in the hundreds of thousands.