Anti-austerity protests sweep across Europe

...Greek doctors and railway employees walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even blocked the Irish parliament with a cement truck to decry the country's enormous bank bailouts.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators poured into Brussels, hoping to swell into a 100,000-strong march on European Union institutions later in the day and reinforce the impact of Spain's first nationwide strike in eight years.

All the actions sought to protest the budget-slashing, tax-hiking, pension-cutting austerity plans of European governments seeking to control their debt.

In an ironic twist, the march in Brussels comes just as the EU Commission is proposing to punish member states that have run up deficits to fund social programs in a time of high unemployment across the continent. The proposal, backed by Germany, is expected to run into strong opposition from France.

Spain strike impact limited to transport and plants

Hundreds of marchers waved flags, blocked streets and forced some shops to shut in the heart of Madrid. Union leaders said 30 protesters were detained but most were quickly released.

In northern Spain, car factory assembly lines halted. Few buses were running in Madrid and only half of underground trains...

"We'll continue to strike if that's what's needed to bring down the labour reform, which threatens to make jobs even more vulnerable," said graphic designer Alfredo Perez, one of the pickets.

The two biggest unions, the CCOO and UGT, called the strike over austerity, labour reform and Zapatero's plans to overhaul state pensions and raise the retirement age to 67 from 65.

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Many Spaniards braved transport hassles to go to work, citing the country's high unemployment rate -- 20 percent.