MADRID, July 10 (RIA Novosti) - Residents of a low-rent district in southern Madrid have released cockroaches near a local government building to protest against poor sanitation, Spain's ABC paper reported on its website Thursday.

Dozens of residents from the Orcasitas district held a march to protest against the inaction of local authorities, who have failed to improve sanitation in the district. The residents say the area is swamped by cockroaches and rodents.

The paper said most protestors had brought containers of cockroaches and let the insects go near the municipal building when officials came out for talks.

The Orcasitas district developed in the late 1950s and was first inhabited by poor people, who had relocated from southern Spain in search of jobs. The district has also become home to impoverished Latin Americans and North Americans in the past few years.

Neighborhood associations have been active in the district since the 1960s. They have been pressurizing the local administration to improve living standards.