FLIGHTS WERE GROUNDED, schools shut and transport services brought to a standstill in Greece today, as workers protested against the conditions of an international bailout.

The protests turned violent, when demonstrators torched cars and threw fire-bombs at two luxury hotels in the central Syntagma square outside parliament, RTÉ reports.

Workers were also also due to rally in France, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Czech Republic today, ahead of a summit of EU leaders that is top take place on Thursday and Friday.

The International Monetary Fund and the European Union approved a €110 billion package of emergency loans for Greece in May. Last month, the IMF said that Greece was at a “crossroads”; The IMF wants the Greek government to lower health spending, cut debt at state-owned companies and increase tax collection, Bloomberg reports.

An estimated 15,000 protesters flooded the streets of Athens.

Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary at the civil servants’ union ADEDY, said:

We need to send the government a message that we will not accept measures that lead us only to poverty and unemployment.

After the vote late last night on the worst labour relations ever in Greece, we are warning of more action after the holidays. We will not yield, we will prevail.

RTÉ reports that journalists have also joined the strike, resulting in a news blackout in the country.