Hundreds of thousands of union supporters in Spain on Sunday protested the government's massive labor market reforms, which give employers greater liberty to reduce wages and lay off staff.

The country's two biggest trade unions, CCOO and UGT, organized protests in 57 cities. Union officials said 500,000 people turned out in Madrid and 400,000 in Barcelona. Police estimated the Madrid protest drew 50,000 people and that 30,000 showed up in Barcelona.

UGT leader Candido Mendez said the labor reforms would "alter the model of coexistence of the last 30 years," and warned the government that there would be "an escalation in the deterioration of the social climate."

"It worries me that my generation will have fewer rights than my parents, that we are not going to be able to live as well," said 23-year-old engineering student Jordi Alsedo. "I feel like we are taking steps backwards in Spain and the rest of Europe with this type of reforms."

Sweeping market reforms

Madrid's new conservative government, elected last November and led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, has passed the country's most expansive labor reforms in recent history. The law, which took effect February 12, lowers the maximum severance pay to 33 days' salary for each year of employment, down from 45 days, and gives employers greater power to set the conditions for mass layoffs.

Rajoy defended the reforms at his Popular Party's congress in Seville on Sunday, saying they were "fair, necessary and good for the country."

"This is the reform that Spain needs to stop it from being the country in Europe that destroys the most jobs," he said. "It puts us on the same level as the most advanced countries in Europe."

Unemployment in Spain has hit nearly 23 percent, the highest in the eurozone, largely due to a collapse in the construction sector and fears by employers of hiring new workers because of the country's strict labor regulations.

acb/slk (AP, AFP, dpa)