Thuosands in Madrid protest austerity measures

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol on Wednesday, to rally against the government's austerity measures.

The country is bracing itself for a general strike called by the country's largest unions, to protest sweeping reforms and rising unemployment.

Labour leaders are saying the reforms violate workers' rights.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UGT LEADER CANDIDO MENDEZ, SAYING:

"They talk about reforms and what they really want is to tear down the democratic and labour social status. We have counteract those who talk about austerity when with they policies are leading us to calamity."

At 23 percent, Spain's unemployment rate is the highest in the European Union, and the government predicts it could hit a record high of 24.3 percent this year.

Spain accounts for nearly a third of all the jobless in the euro zone.

And the government is desperate to show the EU that it is serious about unforcing structural reforms, no matter how unpopular. Such reforms will make it cheaper to fire workers and more difficult to implement salary increases based on inflation.

The general strike, scheduled for Thursday, will be the first since September 2010.

Although three quarters of Spaniards are against labour reform, according to a recent poll, majority also believe that a general strike may make the situation worse.

Michaela Cabrera, Reuters.