Wives of protesting miners from León and Asturias arrived in Madrid on Tuesday evening and headed for the Senate, where they were planning to do their part in the ongoing protests against the government's cuts to subsidies in the sector.

Of the demonstrators, around 100 secured accreditation to enter the public gallery in the Senate, where they were due to be present during a vote on the state budget, which includes measures cutting 63 percent of subsidies to the coal-mining sector.

The women, who traveled to Madrid by bus, were stopped several times by the police, but were eventually allowed to approach the Senate. Those who entered, however, were obliged to remove t-shirts bearing protests slogans.