Roughly 6,000 protesters marched through Madrid on Saturday demanding better working conditions for police and civil guards.
The demonstration was organised by the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) and the Unified Police Union (SUP) and started at midday. Protesters marched from the Puerta del Sol to the Congress of Deputies.
Protesters were seen waving Spanish flags and marching behind a banner reading, ‘This government discriminates against the police and civil guards’.
Javier Ortega Smith, a politician from the Vox party attended the demonstration in a show of solidarity with police officers in the Spanish capital.
“We cannot forget those who every day risk their lives defending Spaniards, fighting against corruption, fighting against crime, protecting our streets and protecting our borders. If we Spaniards, the public representatives, are not with them, who will be?” Smith said.
Pedro Carmona, the National Communication Secretary of the Unified Association of Civil Guards, was also seen at the demonstration.
“We are demonstrating in Madrid today to demand that the government address the discrimination and the disadvantages that the National Police and the Civil Guard have compared to other regional and local police forces,” Carmona explained.
“We are demanding a dignified retirement, a 35-hour working week and a reclassification to group B because of the responsibility and the danger that we have in carrying out our work,” he added.
