Madrid, Dec 3 (IANS/EFE): Thousands of people, including health professionals, took to the streets of the Spanish capital Sunday to protest plans by the Madrid regional government to outsource management and some services provided by public hospitals.
The demonstrators, who included elderly people and children, showed up at all the hospitals in the capital as part of the "Abraza tu hospital" (Embrace Your Hospital) campaign.
Protesters chanted and held hands as they surrounded large hospitals like Gregorio Maranon Hospital.
The protest's goal is to pressure the regional government "to put in place the mechanisms needed to make it possible to have a more efficient public health system", union member Magdalena Salcedo told EFE.
About 3,000 protesters, according to organizers' estimates, held hands and surrounded La Princesa Hospital, forming a human chain around the medical facility.