About 25,000 Rally in Madrid in Support of Spain’s State Pension Scheme

About 25,000 people from across Spain marched in Madrid on Saturday to defend the state pension scheme ahead of next month’s general election. They walked from Atocha train station to Gran Via, calling for pensions to remain indexed to inflation and for the gender pension gap to be eliminated. The system faces pressure from an ageing population, low birth rates, stagnant wages and a falling ratio of workers to pensioners; its monthly bill reached nearly 14.5 billion euros this year. Pedro Sanchez accused the Popular Party of planning to weaken inflation-linked increases, while party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said he would maintain them if elected.