Women in Spain kicked-off their first nationwide strike on International Women's Day with a pot banging protest at midnight in Madrid as they demanded an end to unfair wages, domestic violence and the country's prevailing "macho" culture.

The walkout aims to highlight discrimination, harassment and violence against Spanish women, which the organisers see as a product of macho attitudes.

The 8M Commission, the umbrella collective organising the strike, has demanded authorities take a tougher stance on domestic violence in Spain, where 99 women were killed by their partners last year.

The organisers have also urged women to halt the "invisible" tasks that they often perform, such as taking children to school or cooking meals, and that they said go mostly unrecognised. The group called for measures to reduce precarious work conditions and improve wages for Spanish women. They earn about 15 percent less per hour relative to their male counterparts, a survey by the European Commission showed.

Women staged strikes in dozens of cities across Spain last year, but this will be the first nationwide walkout which is expected to include teachers, journalists, healthworkers and politicians, including Madrid's Mayor Manuela Carmena and her Barcelona counterpart Ada Colau.