This article originally appeared on VICE Spain
On Thursday 8th of March, an estimated five million Spanish women took part in the country’s first nationwide “feminist strike” to mark International Women’s Day. A special committee was set up to organise the 24-hour worker’s strike, with the support of powerful trade union groups and some of the country’s most prominent female politicians.
Under the slogan “Together We Are More”, organisers say that 2 million people took to the streets of Barcelona and Madrid, while millions more gathered in the rest of the country. They all came out to protest the same crap women around the world have always had to put up with – pay inequality, sexual discrimination and domestic violence.
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The protests featured women of all ages and backgrounds, carrying signs and chanting slogans like “if women stop, the world stops”, “feminism has never killed anyone, but sexism kills every day” and simply “Love yourself”.
Photographers Silvia Varela and Mònica Figueras took part in the marches in Barcelona and Madrid, and documented a day that Spanish women will always be proud of.
Scroll down to see more photos from the International Women’s Day protests in Spain:
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