MADRID (AP) — Tens of thousands of people across Spain are protesting education and health care spending cuts as the country slides into its second recession in three years.

With unemployment at 24.4 percent — a Eurozone high — and more than half of Spaniards under 25 years old jobless, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government has introduced stinging austerity measures in its first five months in office.

Speaking at a party rally, Rajoy, who on Friday announced a new set of tax hikes due to come into effect next year, said he had "no alternative." He added, "Spain needs deep structural change, not makeup."

Protesters in Madrid, northeastern Barcelona and eastern Valencia carried banners Sunday urging Rajoy not to "mess around with health and education."