Crowds flocked to the protest village in the Spanish capital which has over the last two weeks become the heart of the popular protests which have swept the country.

Demonstrators, mostly young people, have been gathering in city squares to decry mainstream political parties, soaring unemployment, corruption and welfare cuts.

On Saturday thousands attended protests in 120 neighbourhoods and communes of Madrid.

They were due to decide Sunday whether to maintain their protest village in Puerta del Sol square where hundreds have been camping night and day although in smaller numbers than previously.

“We want to establish movement bases. After that we’ll see,” said spokesman Pablo Lopez, a 21-year-old student engineer.

Spanish police fired rubber bullets to disperse protesters in Barcelona’s Plaza de Cataluna square on Friday as cleaning crews cleared their tent camp.