Spaniards crowded the streets in the Madrid center again last week in a fresh wave of protests against austerity measures set to soon hit the country.

Hundreds of protestors on bicycles filled La Gran Vía, a a major thoroughfare and the most famous street in Madrid, while chanting protest slogans against government cuts and the general malaise that has taken hold of the nation. Police were prepared, though, and had cordoned off the street in advance and had set up barricades with dozens of officers around the demonstrators.

The protest became violent at times. Fireworks or cherry bombs could be heard exploding a few blocks from Gran Vía, and there were a few scuffles between protestors and police. At one point a man burned a hole into the center of a Spanish flag as police officers watched tensely just a foot away.

The Thursday night protest followed a week of renewed demonstrations against Spain’s unemployment rate, the Spanish government, and drastic federal cuts in social welfare. The previous weekend, protestors organized a massive huelga general  (“general strike”), which they dubbed the “Dignity Marches.” While organizers of the protest said almost two million people participated in Saturday’s protest in Madrid, city government officials said the true number was closer to 36,000.

Protestors included workers for Coca-Cola, which […Pictures & more info from protest inside…]