Thousands join left-wing Podemos rally in Spain

SATURDAY 31 JANUARY 2015

Tens of thousands of protesters march through the streets of Madrid in a show of strength by Spain's fledgling radical leftist party Podemos, which hopes to emulate Syriza's rise to power in Greece.

Supporters from across Spain converged on Madrid to show support for leftist party Podemos which hopes to shatter the two-party system.

The "March for Change" drew tens of thousands of people in the same place where sit-in protestsagainst political and financial corruption laid the party's foundations in 2011.

The fledgling party hopes to emulate the success of Greece's Syriza party in elections later this year.

The meteoric rise of Podemos is attributed in large part to its leader, Pablo Iglesias (pictured above) - a pony-tailed 36-year-old political science professor who has won followers with his determined arguments, which have so far been light on detail.