Madrid, May 14 (RHC)-- Protesters in Spain marked the third day of demonstrations at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, on the eve of the first anniversary of the M-15 Movement.  At least 100,000 people marched in Spain over the weekend in 80 cities to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the protest movement that arose in response to crippling austerity measures and economic stagnation.

The so-called "Indignados" movement swept Spain a year ago -- on May 15th -- and helped inspire similar protests across the globe, including the Occupy Movement in the United States.

Riot police dispersed about 100 people from the Madrid square early on Monday morning, making two arrests.  After leaving Puerta del Sol, the demonstrators gathered outside the nearby headquarters of Bankia, a major bank that has been nationalized in the financial crisis.

Police said they arrested 18 people on Sunday morning in Madrid after a number of protestors continued Saturday's rally through the night.  Nine of those arrested had been released by Monday while nine went before a judge.

The four-day protest is due to end tomorrow, Tuesday, the actual anniversary of the birth of the movement, which occupied the Puerta del Sol with a tent city for weeks last year in anger at economic hardship and corruption.

One year later, Spaniards have even more to protest: an ongoing recession, unemployment at 24.4 percent overall and 52 percent jobless among those youth under 25-years-of-age, and more than 30 billion Euros worth of austerity cuts so far this year.

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