Madrid Street Cleaner Strike in Second Week

Garbage piling up

Residents and visitors to Madrid are increasingly being confronted by piles of malodorous rubbish and litter-strewn streets as a strike by street cleaners enters its second week.

The mayor of the Spanish capital has denied the city faces a health risk.

The city's street-cleaners are striking over plans to cut hundreds of jobs, and reduce the remaining workers' salaries.

Madrid is trying to cut its public service costs at a time when the whole country faces a strict austerity drive.