Madrid: mass rally for secure pensions – a key election issue
Thousands of pensioners marched in Madrid from Atocha to the Gran Vía, demanding that pensions stay linked to inflation. Pensions are a central issue in November’s parliamentary election.
Symbolic image · Photo: Carlos Delgado / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid on Saturday in defence of the state pension system. Estimates of turnout varied widely: Madrid city authorities told AFP around 250,000 people took part, while Al Jazeera reported about 25,000. The march proceeded peacefully from Atocha station to the Gran Vía shopping street, with banners reading “Protect and guarantee our pensions.”
Participants, who came from all over Spain, are demanding that pensions remain linked to inflation and that the pension gap between men and women be closed. “They are threatening us with the privatisation of pensions,” a 68-year-old participant told The Associated Press. Spain’s monthly pension spending reached a record of almost 14.5 billion euros this year; an ageing population, a low birth rate and a falling ratio of workers to pensioners are straining the system.
Pensions are a central issue ahead of next month’s snap parliamentary election. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accuses the conservative People’s Party (PP) of wanting to weaken inflation indexation and says the system is affordable. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, however, assured on Monday that he too would keep adjusting pensions to inflation if he wins the election.