Spanish civil servants went on strike today in protest at wage cuts aimed at reducing the country's huge deficit.

The action is seen as a first test of strength for unions which are considering calling a general strike if the Socialist government imposes labour market reforms that go against workers' interests.

Talks on reforms to loosen up Spain's rigid labour market have been going on for months, but have taken on new urgency amid worries about Spain's ability to post economic growth, slash its deficit and pay off debt.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has come under pressure from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and even US President Barack Obama to take bold action and ward off a Greek-style debt crisis which would further hurt the beleaguered euro.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.