MADRID — Spanish public workers went on strike on Tuesday against a cut in their wages in what could be the first of several union-led protests against the government’s latest austerity measures.

The strike reduced hospital care, mail distribution and other public services to a minimum, but did not cause a nationwide paralysis. Trade unions said that 75 percent of the country’s 2.5 million public workers had gone on strike — a number that was contested by the government, which put the level of participation at about 11.85 percent.

Consuelo Rumi, deputy minister in charge of the civil service, described the protest as a day of “normality” with few incidents. “This strike has had a limited reach,” she said.

Reports suggested that some regions were far more affected than others, particularly Catalonia, where the transport network was disrupted and protesters briefly cut off the city’s main thoroughfare by burning tires. The public sector strike came on top of a separate protest by truck drivers angered by the cost of diesel fuel, which has notably hit traffic at the border with France.