Anti-austerity protests are a familiar tactic, evidenced here by a 2010 shot from another demonstration against spending cuts in Madrid. (Creative Commons)

Economic difficulties have plagued Europe for the last five years, but recent tax increases and spending cuts on health care, education and public services in response have raised the ire of unionized workers.

Ignacio Fernandez Toxo, head of Spain's largest labor federation, said, "Austerity offers no solution, but only suffering instead."

Reports of violence have been limited to a protest in central Madrid, where police officers with clubs charged a crowd of demonstrators. 

The country's government said it would not be intimidated by protests. According to WSJ, Finance Minister Luis de Guindos said "We're aware of the difficulties Spanish society is experiencing, (but) the government's road map is the only one that will help us emerge from the crisis."

Read the full story here, and more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the European financial crisis here.

Reach Executive Producer Catherine Green here. Follow her here.