STORYLINE:

Crowds of people lined the streets of Madrid on Tuesday night to greet protesting coal miners, who had walked for nearly three weeks from the pits where they eke out a living.

The miners, angry about huge cuts in subsidies, arrived in the Spanish capital with their hard hat lights glowing.

They planned to march along major avenues to the Puerta del Sol, the city's most emblematic square.

One group of about 160 walked all the way from the northern Asturias and Leon regions, as many as 400 kilometres (250 miles) away; about 40 made an almost equally long trek from Aragon in the northeast.

Their complaints include a 63 percent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies struggling to maintain a share of the Spanish energy market against gas-fired electrical plants and renewable energy sources, while fighting to hold their own against cheaper imported coal.

Coal miners make an average of 1,200 euros (1,470 US dollars) a month, according to The General Union of Workers (UGT).

Today there are 8,000-9,000 coal miners in Spain, whereas 20 years ago there were nearly 30,000 in Asturias alone.

Besides cuts in subsidies to the coal companies themselves, the new conservative government has enacted austerity-minded cuts in spending for miners to learn new professions and for school grants for their children in the generally poor mining regions where they live.

The protesting miners were impressed with the welcome they received in Madrid on Tuesday night.

"They may say that Madrid is a right-wing city, but I don't think so. This is a working class city, a true city," said Toni.

"We've had the same reception in every village we've arrived in during the whole march. It's so good," he continued.

A much bigger rally of miners and their supporters travelling to Madrid aboard hundreds of chartered buses is scheduled for Wednesday.

Before setting out for Madrid, miners clashed with Spanish police in Leon.

Miners used homemade rockets and slingshots against police, barricading a highway and a rail line in the northern town of Cinera on 19 June.

At one point, some 80 officers firing rubber bullets were repelled by hundreds of miners and forced to retreat.

1. High pan across crowd in Moncloa Square, waiting to greet miners

2. Wide of miners arriving, helmet lights on

3. Various of miners walking through crowds, waving flags

4. Mid of miners walking through street

5. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

6. Mid of miners chanting

7. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

8. Close-up of miners walking through street

9. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Toni, last name not given, miner taking part in march:

"This is impressive, look at this amount of people. They may say that Madrid is a right-wing city, but I don't think so. This is a working class city, a true city. We are very impressed. We've had the same reception in every village we've arrived in during the whole march. It's so good."

10. Mid of miners singing

11. High shot of miners among crowd

STORYLINE:

Spanish coal miners angered by huge cuts in government subsidies for their industry converged on Madrid on Tuesday for protest rallies, after walking nearly three weeks under a blazing sun from the pits where they eke out a living.

Two columns of miners met up in a Madrid suburb in the evening.

They marched downtown at night, trudging along major avenues to the Puerta del Sol, the Spanish capital's most emblematic square, where young demonstrators opposed to austerity cuts prompted by the financial crisis in Spain and Europe camped out last year in defiance of a government ban.

The miners, wearing hard hats with lights turned on were joined by thousands of sympathisers in the city.

One group of about 160 miners walked all the way from the northern Asturias and Leon regions, as many as 400 kilometres (250 miles) away from Madrid, and about 40 made an almost equally long trek from the northeastern Aragon region.

"We don't have any blisters or cramps, nothing like that after seeing this reception. This is so impressive. And our message for the people is for them to wake up and get out on the streets too and fight, fight for their own, and fight all of us together," said miner Victor Luis Perez.

A much bigger rally of miners and their supporters travelling to Madrid aboard hundreds of chartered buses is scheduled for Wednesday.

The miners' complaints include a 63 percent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies struggling to maintain a share of the Spanish energy market against gas-fired electrical plants and renewable energy sources, while fighting to hold their own against cheaper imported coal.

Coal miners make an average of 1,200 euros (1,470 US dollars) a month, according to The General Union of Workers (UGT).

Today there are 8,000-9,000 coal miners in Spain, whereas 20 years ago there were nearly 30,000 in Asturias alone.

Besides cuts in subsidies to the coal companies, Spain's conservative government that took power in December has enacted austerity-minded cuts in funding for miners to learn new professions and for school grants for their children in the generally poor mining regions where they live.

Before setting out for Madrid, miners clashed with Spanish police in Leon.

Miners used homemade rockets and slingshots against police, barricading a highway and a rail line in the northern town of Cinera on 19 June.

At one point, some 80 officers firing rubber bullets were repelled by hundreds of miners and forced to retreat.

1. Wide of crowd in street

2. Various of miners marching through crowd

3. Wide of crowd

4. Mid of miners marching

5. Close-up of two women clapping

6. Mid of miners marching

7. Wide of crowd

8. Mid of miners carrying flags through crowd, towards Puerta del Sol Square

9. Various of supporters

10. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Victor Luis Perez, Miner:

"Tiredness? What tiredness? Do you call tiredness to walk 450 kilometres and get here to see all this? No way! We don't have any blisters or cramps, nothing like that after seeing this reception. This is so impressive. And our message for the people is for them to wake up and get out on the streets too and fight, fight for their own, and fight all of us together."

11. Wide of miners and supporters in Puerta del Sol Square

SHOTLIST

1. Mid of demonstrators with flags

2. Wide of demonstrators standing behind banner and waving flags

3. Close up of poster, reading (English) "Rice, Poison, No!"

4. Tilt down to demonstrators chanting and waving flags

5. Demonstrators walking along street

6. Wide of demonstrators marching holding banner

7. Various of demonstrators playing instruments.

8. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) No Name Given, Demonstrator, Vox Pop:

"This is a protest against the Bush's policy, of which Condoleezza Rice is the maximum expression. We protest not only because of the aggressions against Cuba but the attitude in Palestine, Iraq etc. In general this is a protest against Bush's policy."

9. Demonstrators marching

10. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) No Name Given, Demonstrator, Vox Pop:

"I hope they stop defending a wrong discourse against Cuba. I hope Spain still keeps the diplomatic relation. If we talk with Cuba I hope false words like "democracy" will disappear. I hope they follow the same rules they use for a real (and normally cruel) dictatorship. I hope nobody breaks the diplomatic relation with Cuba under no circumstances. In my opinion, the European government which will do this would be an unjust government and it could mean they do not know anything about the world or the reality of Latin America."

11. Wide of demonstrators in street

12. Close up of poster, tilt down to demonstrators

13. Demonstrator chanting behind banner

14. Wide of demonstrators marching

STORYLINE

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the Spanish capital on Friday, to protest against US foreign policy during a visit to the country by US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

"This is a protest against the Bush's policy, of which Condoleezza Rice is the maximum expression. We protest not only because of the aggressions against Cuba but the attitude in Palestine, Iraq etc. In general this is a protest against Bush's policy," said one demonstrator in Madrid.

Another demonstrator was concerned that US policy on Cuba would influence the policies of other European nations towards the country.

The demonstrations came as Rice said in an interview with Spanish television that Spain's decision to pull its troops out of Iraq in 2004 was made hastily and without giving its allies time to prepare for it.

Rice was interviewed by Spain's state television TVE at the US Embassy in Madrid at the end of her six-hour trip to Spain.

Earlier she had met with King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Rice, whose words were translated into Spanish, said that Iraq was and continues to be a very dangerous place.

She said the US troops were facing danger at the time Zapatero withdrew the Spanish troops from Iraq and that they should have been advised beforehand to prepare for such a move.

Zapatero pulled the troops out of Iraq a month after taking office in 2004.

The war has been deeply unpopular in Spain, particularly after a terror attack by militants that killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains.

The militants said they targeted Spain because of its participation in the peacekeeping force in Iraq.

However, Rice acknowledged that the withdrawal happened a long time ago, and although she said both countries have had their differences, she highlighted that their relationship was warming.

She said the US is the world's biggest human rights defender and that it was fighting to stop terrorists from committing attacks and killing innocent people as they have done in the United States and in Madrid.

STORYLINE:

Crowds of people lined the streets of Madrid on Tuesday night to greet protesting coal miners, who had walked for nearly three weeks from the pits where they eke out a living.

The miners, angry about huge cuts in subsidies, arrived in the Spanish capital with their hard hat lights glowing.

They planned to march along major avenues to the Puerta del Sol, the city's most emblematic square.

One group of about 160 walked all the way from the northern Asturias and Leon regions, as many as 400 kilometres (250 miles) away; about 40 made an almost equally long trek from Aragon in the northeast.

Their complaints include a 63 percent cut in subsidies to coal mining companies struggling to maintain a share of the Spanish energy market against gas-fired electrical plants and renewable energy sources, while fighting to hold their own against cheaper imported coal.

Coal miners make an average of 1,200 euros (1,470 US dollars) a month, according to The General Union of Workers (UGT).

Today there are 8,000-9,000 coal miners in Spain, whereas 20 years ago there were nearly 30,000 in Asturias alone.

Besides cuts in subsidies to the coal companies themselves, the new conservative government has enacted austerity-minded cuts in spending for miners to learn new professions and for school grants for their children in the generally poor mining regions where they live.

A much bigger rally of miners and their supporters travelling to Madrid aboard hundreds of chartered buses is scheduled for Wednesday.

Before setting out for Madrid, miners clashed with Spanish police in Leon.

Miners used homemade rockets and slingshots against police, barricading a highway and a rail line in the northern town of Cinera on 19 June.

At one point, some 80 officers firing rubber bullets were repelled by hundreds of miners and forced to retreat.

HEADLINE: Marching coal miners arrive in Madrid

CAPTION: Crowds of people lined the streets of Madrid on Tuesday night to greet protesting coal miners, who had walked for nearly three weeks from the pits where they eke out a living (11 July 2012).

VOICE-OVER: This video contains only natural sound. There is no voice-over narration.

1. Wide of miners arriving, helmet lights on

2. Various of miners walking through crowds, waving flags

3. Mid of miners walking through street

4. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

5. Mid of miners chanting

6. Tracking shot across crowd, clapping

7. High shot of miners among crowd

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana

2. Wide of press

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General:

"We call on Israel to halt immediately its military operations. We call for immediate, meaningful ceasefire and an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah, specifically including Chairman Arafat's headquarters. We call on Israel to fully comply with international humanitarian principals and to allow full an unimpeded access to humanitarian organisations and services. "

4. Cameraman

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General:

"We call on Chairman Arafat, as a recognised elected leader of the Palestinian people, to undertake immediately the maximum possible effort to stop terror attacks against innocent Israelis. We call on the Palestinian Authority to act decisively and to take all possible steps within its capacity to dismantle terrorist infrastructure, including terrorist financing, and to stop incitement to violence. We call on Chairman Arafat to use the full weight of his political authority to persuade the palestinian people that any and all terrorist attacks against Israelis should end immediately."

6. Wide of press

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Colin Powell, US Secretary of State:

"I think we are all in agreement, and I think the world is in agreement, that there will not be a solution that will be produced by terror or will be produced by a response to terror. This is not going to get us there. What will get us there are political discussions. And the sooner we get to them, the better. Now, I have to speak to the parties in the region at greater length to see how they view this matter and to see how we can go forward. And in due course, I'm sure that we will let the whole world know what we think it the proper way to go forward."

8. Wide of press

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Colin Powell, US Secretary of State:

"Violence of whatever form, whether one would call it an act of terrorism or an act of resistance at this point is counterproductive. It does not lead to the vision that the Palestinian people have of a state where they can live side by side in peace with Israel. What we have to see now is an end to the violence. And whatever title you want to give to the violence, it's violence nonetheless. And it is totally destabilising the region, and it is destroying that vision (for peace). And so our call today is for violence to end, and response to violence to end, withdrawal from the current incursions that the Israeli government is conducting."

10. Wide of Ivanov, Annan, Pique, Powell and Solana

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General:

"The situation is very grave, the humanitarian situation. I suspect that none of us will know the full gravity of the situation until we gain access to all the territories that are now a theatre of battle. But I have a sense that we will be shocked by what we see. We are getting too many independent reports for it now to be credible."

12. Wide of Ivanov, Annan, Pique, Powell and Solana laughing at journalist

STORYLINE:

Leaders of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia issued a joint statement on Wednesday urging Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories and for both sides to call an immediate cease-fire and prevent the conflict from spreading.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan read a joint communique to a news conference in Madrid.

The statement followed a four-way meeting in Madrid with Annan, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, EU foreign and security chief Javier Solana and Josep Pique, Spain's foreign minister whose country holds the EU presidency.

Powell, touring North Africa, the Middle East and Europe at a time of the worst Israeli-Palestinian fighting in decades, said in Cairo on Tuesday he planned to see Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week.

Powell left no doubts about Washington's commitment to a creation of two separate Israeli and Palestinian states, and said the international community was ready to help rebuild the Palestinian government.

He also offered the assistance of US observers to monitor a truce he hopes to broker in the region.

The participants of the talks reflected the EU's argument that Washington has lost its clout as a sole peace broker, and a broad-based international alliance was needed to stop Middle East violence. In the past, Israel and the United States have long rejected an EU role in peacemaking.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refused to see a high-level EU delegation and also barred it from meeting with Arafat at his Ramallah headquarters that is besieged by Israeli troops.

SHOTLIST

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of protest

2. Wide of front of the march, protesters carrying banner, reads (Spanish): "Let's defend what's ours: public University"

3. Mid of protesters carrying banner and chanting

4. Close up of placard, reads (Spanish) " Wert (Education Minister) resignation! Do not touch our right to strike! No to education from Franco's times!"

5. Wide of protest

6. Mid of protesters

7. Wide of Workers Commission Union holding their banner, reads (Spanish): "There is no future without education, Say no to cuts!"

8. Wide of protesters marching and chanting

9. Tilt from little girl carried on shoulders to the banner she is holding: "Educate!"

10. Wide of banners, reading (English) "NO!"

11. Wide of protest

12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) David Martin, unemployed teacher:

"I have been working for 12 years and my experience counts for nothing. I am going to have to pass another exam, and again in two years if I don't have a job by then and my experience will just not count at all, when it should be one of the most important things in education."

13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carmen Alonso, mother of students in public education:

"I am going to feel it hard (the cuts) because my daughter will go to university next year and if she does not get a scholarship she will not have that option."

14. Wide of protest

STORYLINE

Thousands of students and teachers staged a strike across Spain on Thursday to protest government austerity measures and a planned new education reforms.

The stoppage affected all levels of education and union pickets were placed at many schools and universities across the country.

Organisers claimed a 65 percent turnout by teachers for the strike, while the Education Ministry put the figure at 19 percent.

Spain has seen almost daily protests by people angry over cuts and reforms in the education and health sectors while banks have been bailed out with billions of euros.

The central and regional governments claim the cuts are necessary to help Spain rein its swollen deficit to within European Union limits.

Spain has been in recession for most of the past four years and has a record 27.2 percent unemployment rate.

The country came dangerously close to needing a sovereign bailout last year as the country negotiated a 40 billion (b) euro (52.4 billion US dollar) bailout for its stricken banking system while its borrowing costs soared.

But the threat has since receded owing to the government's deficit-reduction program and a pledge of help from the European Central Bank to buy up unlimited amounts of short-term bonds in countries struggling with high borrowing costs.

This year's international meeting on tackling climate change was meant to be a walk in the park compared to previous instalments.

Countries had planned to put the finishing touches to the rules governing the 2015 Paris accord, ironing out a few wrinkles left over from last December and setting the scene for a major review of their efforts next year.

But then Brazil pulled its offer of hosting the talks and stand-in Chile, rattled by anti-government protests, cancelled five weeks before the meeting.

President Donald Trump served formal notice that the United States was quitting the Paris accord, delivering a symbolic blow to one of his predecessor's signature achievements.

Scientists didn't have any good news either.

Study after study published in recent months has underscored the rapid pace of global warming and the urgent need to cut emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing it.

Against that backdrop, the December 2-13 meeting in Madrid has gained fresh urgency.

Organizers expect around 25,000 visitors, including heads of state, scientists, seasoned negotiators and activists to attend the two-week meeting.

The main items on the agenda include finalizing rules on global carbon markets and agreeing how poor countries should be compensated for destruction largely caused by emissions from rich nations.

Proposals to create a worldwide market for emissions permits have been around for decades.

The idea is that putting a price on carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, and gradually reducing the available permits will encourage countries and companies to cut their emissions, such as by shifting to renewable energy sources.

Scientists and activists say the time to act is now, if the world wants to meet the goal set in Paris of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally 1.5C by the end of the century.

Madrid - 27 November 2019

1. Various of sign of COP25 Climate Change Conference - Chile Madrid 2019 outside conference venue

2. Spanish flag waving

3. Entrance of COP25 conference venue 'Feria de Madrid'

4. People walking past COP25 sign inside conference venue

5. COP25 logo on wall inside conference venue

Berlin - 5 November 2019

6. Johan Rockström, co-director of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, speaking with colleague

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Rockström, co-director of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research:

"We are having a larger risk than we previously predicted, so global warming is going faster, climate impacts are occurring earlier, and that we are approaching potentially irreversible thresholds earlier than we previously thought."

Abaco - 5 September 2019

++MUTE++

8. Drone footage of people walking through the piles of debris from demolished buildings left by Hurricane Dorian

Busovaca - 14 May 2019

9. River Lasva rushing past houses in flooded area

10. Flooded house

Santiago - 23 August 2019

11. Dried land after severe drought

12. Dead cow on dried land

Berlin - 5 November 2019

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Rockström, co-director of Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research:

"We're talking of a change that has to occur at a pace which exceeds the industrial revolution that took us here, so we are talking of another revolution in terms of decarbonising the world economy, and you know, that is not sinking in yet."

Beijing - 6 January 2017

14. Cars driving down road in smog

15. People walking along wearing masks

16. Skyline showing city shrouded in smog

Berlin - 5 November 2019

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Jessica Strefler, researcher at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Transformation Pathways Department:

"We have waited so long with really ambitious climate protection that we need a combination of all the options that we have. We need mitigation, we need renewable energies, we need bio-energy, but we also need, for the last bit of emissions that we cannot avoid, we also need carbon removal."

Madrid - 27 November 2019

18. Sign of COP25 Climate Change Conference - Chile Madrid 2019 at entrance of conference venue

19. Participants in front of information sign inside conference venue

20. Tents outside conference venue entrance, reading (Spanish) "Welcome"

Rondonia State - 23 August 2019

21. Aerials of white smoke rising from burning Amazon forest

22. Various aerials of burned area and charred trees

Near Vila Nova Samuel - 26 August 2019

23. Firefighters walking with equipment to contain Amazon fire

24. Amazon forest burning

Geneva - 26 November 2019

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):

"There's a young girl who said that the house in on fire, and we should treat it as such. It's time to think about the house being on fire, and so yes, we absolutely need action, and action needs to be taken now. This is not something we can postpone."

Denver – 11 October 2019

26. Activists putting up banner that reads (English) "climate strike" at climate rally with Greta Thunberg

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Greta Thunberg, environmental activist:

"How dare they pretend that they are doing enough, when the politics needed are still nowhere in sight."

28. Activists with poster showing photograph of Greta Thunberg with the famous quote (English) "How dare you?"

Geneva - 26 November 2019

29. UN flag waving

30. SOUNDBITE (English) John Christensen, Director, UNEP-Danish Technology Institute Partnership:

"The IPCC, the UN climate panel, last year put out a 1.5 degree report that described the difference in terms of impacts from 1.5 up to 2, and they are really scary. And if you go beyond that, I mean, there's already been reports about a 4 degree world, and that's really something you don't want to live in. I mean, you have complete cities being flooded, you have coral reefs, eco-systems completely being destroyed. That's something, it's really hard to describe, because you don't even know what the tipping points are, I mean, if something really dramatic happens and so on. It's a place you don't want to go."

Venice - 17 November 2019

31. Various of flooding in Venice

Helheim Glacier - 14 August 2019

32. Drone footage of helicopter on the ice field of shrinking Helheim Glacier

33. Students sitting on the top of the mountain, Helheim Glacier in the background

34. Time lapse of sunset over Helheim Glacier ++MUTE++

HEADLINE Raw: Protesters clash with police in Madrid

CAPTION: Thousands of Spaniards took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts. Protests turned violent during the evening when protesters hurled stones towards police. (Sept. 29)

[Location - Date:Madrid --- Sept. 29, 2012]

[Source:AP TELEVISION]

[VO:]

APTN STORY NUMBER: 860917

[INSERT: Wire Copy]

AP-APTN-2330: ++Spain Protest<

Saturday, 29 September 2012<

<

STORY:++Spain Protest- Protesters clash with police at mass anti-austerity rally

LENGTH: 02:30

FIRST RUN: 2330

RESTRICTIONS: AP Clients Only

TYPE: Spanish/Nat

SOURCE: AP TELEVISION

STORY NUMBER: 860917

DATELINE: Madrid - 29 Sept 2012

LENGTH: 02:30

SHOTLIST:

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Pan across protesters to police vehicles in Neptuno Square

2. Mid of police vans and litter on ground

3. Pan across police and chanting protesters

4. Mid of protester holding a "No" banner and chanting: (Spanish) "The police has just two options: join the people or become the enemy"

5. Close-up of two protesters holding flowers against police van window, chanting

6. Wide of police officers protecting themselves from rocks being thrown by protesters

7. Wide of demonstrators filling street

8. Tracking shot of police officers moving towards demonstrators in square

9. Close-up of demonstrator lying on the ground after allegedly being hit by police

10. Mid of police pushing back demonstrators, people crouched on ground

STORYLINE:

Thousands of Spaniards took to the streets of Madrid on Saturday to protest enduring deep economic pain from austerity cuts.

Demonstrators approached parliament for the third time this week to vent their anger against tax hikes, government spending cuts and the highest unemployment rate among the 17 nations that use the euro currency.

The boisterous crowds in the Spanish capital let off ear-splitting whistles near parliament and yelled "Fire them, fire them!" - referring to the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Protests turned violent during the evening when protesters hurled stones towards police.

At least one person was injured.

The protests near Spain's parliament turned violent on Tuesday and Wednesday nights as well, when protesters clashed with riot police, who barricaded entry to the streets surrounding government buildings.

Dozens of people were arrested and injured.

On Friday, Rajoy's administration presented a 2013 draft budget that will cut overall spending by 40 (b) billion euros (51.7 (b) billion US Dollars), freezing the salaries of public workers, cutting spending for unemployment benefits and even reducing spending for Spain's royal family next year by 4 percent.

Rajoy has an absolute majority and has pushed through waves of austerity measures over the last nine months - trying to prevent Spain from being forced into the same kind of bailouts taken by Portugal, Ireland and Greece.

Investors worried about Spain's economic viability have forced up the interest rate they are willing to pay to buy Spanish bonds.

The country's banks hurting from a property boom that went bust are set to get help soon from a 100 (b) billion Euro (129 (b) billion US Dollars) financial lifeline from the eurozone, and Rajoy is pondering whether to ask for help from the ECB to buy Spanish bonds.

Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said on Saturday that the budget cuts for next year were necessary to ease market tensions and try to bring down high interest rates Spain must pay to get investors to buy its bonds.

Protesters gathered outside the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid on Thursday, calling on Japan to stop supporting the use of coal, domestically and internationally.

One protester donned an oversized mask meant to represent Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while another held up a sign reading, "Japan: stop coal finance".

Officials at this year's U.N. climate talks are hoping to achieve a breakthrough in long-running efforts to agree on rules for a global carbon trading system.

Economists say establishing an international market for carbon could unlock billions of dollars' worth of investments as countries and companies seek the most cost-effective way to cut emissions.

But the issue, known in the parlance of climate diplomacy as 'Article 6,' has defied agreement for years.

"There are some fundamental differences between parties that remain and it's going to be a lot of work to try to resolve those issues," said Kelly Levin, Senior Associate with the global climate program at World Resources Institute.

"This is really a COP that is dedicated largely to Article 6," she said, adding that a year of technical work and political pressure "will certainly aid the negotiations".   

With pressure growing from governments to resolve the deadlock, environmental campaigners say the two-week meeting in Madrid might finally result in a deal, after agreements were reached last year on almost all other parts of the rulebook governing the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Madrid - 5 December 2019

1. Protester wearing mask representing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, another holding sign reading (English): "Japan: stop coal finance"  

2. Protesters holding up banners

3. Protesters wearing large mask representing Abe

4. Protester holding bucket with text on it reading (English): "Coal"

5. Protesters and people dressed as fictional video game character Pikachu chanting, UPSOUND: "Sayonara (goodbye) coal"

6. Various of protester holding sign reading (English): "No coal Japan"

7. SOUNDBITE (English) no name given, protester:

"We don't want Japanese government to use coal anymore, because they said they're going to keep investing in coal and we don't want that to happen."

8. People protesting

9. Protester wearing Abe mask handing out coal from bucket  

10. Close of Abe mask

11. Protester saying UPSOUND (English): "Japan has been funding subsidies to expand coal in Asia"

12. Various of protesters chanting

Madrid - 4 December 2019

13. People walking past logo of COP25 Climate Change Conference inside venue

14. Various of Senior Associate with the global climate program of the World Resources Institute Kelly Levin

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Kelly Levin, Senior Associate with the global climate program at World Resources Institute:

"(On new Article 6 draft) we have altogether seven pages of text removed from Article 6.2 and Article 6.4 which are main elements of the text, so it's very streamlined, And there are really bright lines between options and it's much easier to understand, so that countries can choose. But there are some fundamental differences between parties that remain and it's going to be a lot of work to try to resolve those issues."

16. Conference venue

17. Text on wall reading (English): "Climate solutions for the future we want"

18. People in conference venue

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Kelly Levin, Senior Associate with the global climate program at World Resources Institute:

"A few things have changed since Katowice (COP24 in 2018), and the first is that this is really a COP that is dedicated largely to Article 6. There are some very critical issues as well, but in Katowice we had to put together the whole rulebook, so a lot of diverse action that was happening that was garnering a lot of attention. Second is that we've had a whole year of intense technical work and political pressure that will certainly aid the negotiations. And lastly, we have a lot of heads of delegations and eventually will be ministers next week who are paying attention to these issues in a new way that they haven't."

20. Participants talking in conference hall

21. COP25 Climate Change Conference logo

Protesters gathered in the conference centre in Madrid where delegates are taking part in the COP25 climate talks.

The protest group included indigenous people from several continents, who held hands and demanded climate justice through slogans and songs.

The climate talks in Madrid entered choppier waters Wednesday with ministers struggling to agree on rules for a global carbon market and possible ways to compensate vulnerable countries for disasters caused by global warming.

Madrid - 11 December 2019

1. Various of protesters gathered inside venue for COP25 climate conference, chanting slogans

2. Security guard talking to protesters, telling them to stop, protesters start chanting loudly

3. Protesters chanting for climate justice

4. Security guards next to protest, protesters chanting UPSOUND: (English) "Let them go."

5. Protest

6. Various of security guards in a line pushing protesters back, other security guards talking to protesters

7. Wide of protesters chanting

8. People moving through corridor

Spaniards at home and abroad expressed their concerns on Sunday after the country accepted a European financial lifeline of up to 100 (b) billion euro (125 (b) billion US dollars) to rescue its beleaguered banks.

"I'm very worried about the situation. I see a dark future for us and for our children," said Madrid resident, Rafa Alvarez, after attending mass in the capital.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is also worried, despite the bank rescue.

Spain will stay stuck in its second recession in three years, and more Spaniards will lose their jobs in a country where one out of every four are already unemployed, Rajoy told reporters on Sunday, a day after the country became the fourth - and largest - of the 17 countries that use the common currency to request a bailout.

Spanish football fans will have some welcome respite from talk of their country's ailing economy when the national team opens their Euro 2012 campaign against Italy in the Polish city of Gdansk later on Sunday.

But even with a big match to look forward to, Spaniards in Gdansk had one eye on the economic developments back home.

"The problem is we really don't know where we're at now. I don't know how much money we owe to the banks or how the banks have to manage the money. I think it's a very unfortunate situation," said Spanish supporter, Diego.

But Diego - and no doubt millions of his compatriots - will suspend those concerns for 90 minutes after the defending champion Spaniards run onto the PGE Arena pitch.

"For Spanish people I think football is in another part of their heart," he said.

Madrid, Spain

1. Various interiors of "Concepcion de Nuestra Senora" church, people attending mass, receiving communion

2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Vox pop, Rafa Alvarez, Madrid resident:

"I'm very worried about the situation. I see a dark future for us and for our children. I'm worried because all this is happening because of the bad management of the banks. And now the citizens have to pay for this situation that is socially unfair."

3. Wide interior of church

4. Wide exterior of church

Gdansk, Poland

5. Various exteriors of of PGE Arena, where Spain will play Italy in their Euro 2012 Group C opener later on Sunday

6. Spanish supporters walking on street in old part of Gdansk

7. Spanish supporters drinking beer and chanting

8. Spanish supporters draped in national flag

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Diego (no second name given), Spanish fan:

"The problem is we really don't know where we're at now. I don't know how much money we owe to the banks or how the banks have to manage the money. I think it's a very unfortunate situation."

10. Cutaway of banner reading (English) "Gdansk welcomes you"

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Diego (no second name given), Spanish fan:

"For Spanish people I think football is in another part of their heart." (Pan to another Spanish fan, Pablo)

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Pablo (no second name given), Spanish fan living in Germany:

"It's a difficult situation because I think sometimes we feel like the Italians. I don't know if you can remember the ex-prime minister of AC Milan, Silvio Berlusconi, who said to the Italian people that the best option to get a job is to look for a job outside the country. So there we are, we job outside Spain, we actually job in Germany."

13. Spanish fans toasting the national team

Gniewino, Poland (50 kilometres - 31 miles - from Gdansk)

14. Wide exterior of Hotel Mistral, where Spanish team is staying

15. Euro 2012 poster featuring Spanish team

16. Wide exterior of Hotel Mistral

RR8043 EUROPEAN SECURITY

Background to Story: Every European state will be represented at Madrid on

November 11th, together with the US and Canada, to review the 1975 Helsinki

agreement on security and co-operation in Europe. Preparatory talks have already

started. The West is stressing alleged human rights violations by the Soviets and

their allies. They'll also raise the Afghanistan question, and alleged continued

restrictions on travel and information in Eastern Europe. The Eastern bloc say

other issues should have precedence at the conference. All participants appear to

agree that further progress on arms control could emerge from the Madrid talks.

Film: Rev – Sound: Mag/SOF – Colour– Available in HD

1. NATO military manouevres, Autumn 1980;

2. preliminary talks for Madrid conference;

3. signing of Helsinki 1975 document by heads of government;

4. American and Soviet scientists;

5. US grain and Soviet cars showing East-West co-operation;

6. Belgrade conf scenes 1978;

7. file film of Soviet dissidents, with Alexander Solzhenitsyn in Switzerland;

8. stills of Daniel & Anatoly Scharansky;

9. Vladimir Bukovsky interview on prison conditions;

10. Scharansky relatives at court house;

11. Dimschitz and Kuznetsof arrive in Israel;

12. Andrei Sakharov interview on American TV;

13. protesting American Blacks in Miami, and British troops in Belfast;

14. file film of Soviet armour in Afghanistan, and opening of Moscow Olympic Games;

15. striking Polish workers in Gdansk;

16. alleged jamming of Western radio;

17. Leonid Brezhnev at Moscow march-past;

18. Warsaw Pact tanks, and NATO forces on exercise in West Germany;

19. American cruise missile tests, and effects of nuclear explosion;

20. Berlin scenes;

21. amphibious landing by NATO forces in Norway during exercise.

Length: 973.5 feet

Duration: 25 minutes 58 seconds

English Sync Sound: 2 minutes 22 seconds

World leaders were arriving on Monday for the start of a two-week international climate conference in Madrid that seeks to step up efforts to stop global warming.

The UN is warning that the efforts so far are insufficient to overcome the “point of no return” in climate change.

The summit, which moved to the Spanish capital after Chile had to pull out amid anti-government protests, aims to put the finishing touches to the rules governing the 2015 Paris accord.

That involves creating a functioning international emissions-trading system and compensating poor countries for losses they suffer from rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change.

CORRECTION: CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE SHOT 3 HAS BEEN AMENDED TO 'SPANISH ENVIRONMENT MINISTER TERESA RODRIGUEZ ARRIVING'. IT DOES NOT SHOW CANADIAN DEPUTY PM CHRYSTIA FREELAND, AS PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN++

Madrid - 2 December 2019

1. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arriving for COP25 climate conference

2. New European Council President Charles Michel arriving

3. Spanish Environment Minister Teresa Rodriguez arriving

4. New European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arriving

5. Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen arriving

6. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arriving

SHOTLIST:

Rome, Italy

1. Wide pan of American students walking along street in Trastevere neighbourhood of Rome

2. US students at bar near the John Cabot University

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kristen Mapes, Student from Kansas City:

"Barack Obama. (Q: Why?) Because I see the way that his campaign is going and it really moves people, it inspires people in a way that I have never seen before and it is something that I really want to be a part of."

4. Mid of students at table

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ed Johnson, Student from Park City, Utah:

"I will be voting for Mitt Romney. (Q: Why?) I like his economic policy and how he believes in having little government interference and also I like the idea that when he was governor of Massachusetts even though he disagreed with certain policies he still followed through with them because they were the general will of the people."

6. Mid of students at table

7. Fund-raising party for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, organiser Nina Gardner opening bottle of champagne

8. Mid women talking

9. Close-up Obama sign

10. SOUNDBITE (English): Nina Gardner, Obama supporter:

"We are all here to basically fund-raise money before super-Tuesday, which is a key day for both Obama and Hillary and Edwards and we're hoping to raise a little bit more money to give an influx of cash. We are also here to organise events, we want to make sure that all of us are registered in time, and turn out for our super-Tuesday on February 5th in Rome."

11. Man raising a toast to Obama

Madrid, Spain

12. Wide shot of the Embajadores area of Madrid

13. Various set up shots of journalist Terry Berne

14. SOUNDBITE (English): Terry Berne, Journalist:

"People are very dissatisfied with the direction the country is going in and also recent polls have shown that. And with the war and the economy, they seem to be entering into a recession. So I think everyone is ready for a change even Republicans."

15. Wide of TV presenter Karina Stenquist being interviewed

16. SOUNDBITE (English): Karina Stenquist, TV presenter:

"Hillary seems to be the candidate that media has tapped as the winner. As I have said, I get really frustrated with the media coverage that goes for these foregone conclusions. Sometimes the public fights back, sometimes they fall right into it."

17. Wide of square

STORYLINE:

Tuesday sees the busiest primary day in the US presidential election, with voters in a total of 24 US states and American Samoa, as well as Democrats around the globe, casting ballots on what has been dubbed Super Tuesday.

They will take part in a hodgepodge of primaries, caucuses, a state party convention and even Internet voting by Democrats living overseas.

Democrat Barack Obama closed in on Hillary Rodham Clinton's once strong lead going into Tuesday's coast-to-coast presidential primary contests.

Meanwhile, Republican frontrunner John McCain aimed to lock down his party's nomination by squeezing Mitt Romney out of the race.

McCain had a substantial lead in polls on the Republican side, but the Democratic race was far from clear.

Clinton's lead in national polls has narrowed with Obama gaining momentum after his victory in last weekend's South Carolina primary and key endorsements from Senator Edward Kennedy and other high-profile Democrats.

American expatriates who are Democrats can cast their ballots on the Internet in a presidential primary for the first time this year.

Democrats Abroad, an official branch of the party representing overseas voters, will hold its first global presidential preference primary from February 5 to 12, with expatriates selecting the candidate of their choice by Internet as well as fax, mail and in-person at polling places in more than 100 countries.

American citizens living in Europe have not been immune to the excitement being generated across the US.

At a corner coffee bar in the Trastevere neighbourhood of Rome, a group of American students talked about who they would be supporting in the primary.

Kristen Mapes, a student from Kansas city, said she was for Obama because he inspired her.

"I see the way that his campaign is going and it really moves people, it inspires people in a way that I have never seen before and it is something that I really want to be a part of," she told AP Television.

Ed Johnson from Park City, Utah said he would be voting for Romney.

"I like his economic policy and how he believes in having little government interference," Johnson said.

Many of them will be participating via internet in the first global primary.

US citizens wanting to vote online must promise not to vote twice, but can still participate in non-presidential local elections.

Republicans Abroad has operated independently of the Republican Party since 2003, and therefore cannot hold in-person or Internet votes abroad.

In an upscale neighbourhood in the centre of Rome, Obama supporter Nina Gardner held a fund-raising party to give the candidate some extra cash prior to Super Tuesday.

"We are also here to organise events, to make sure that all of us are registered in time, and turn out for our Super Tuesday on February 5th in Rome," said Gardner.

Supporters attending the dinner made a 100 euro (148 US dollar) contribution to the Obama campaign.

According to the International Labour Organisation, 160-thousand Americans live in Italy.

Anthony Sistilly, Chairman of Democrats Abroad Italy, said that 2,200 Americans living in Italy have already subscribed to the Global primaries website and he was expecting more than 3,000 voters.

In Spain, a small expat population has been closely following developments in the race for the presidential candidacy, with Spanish media closely focusing on the Democratic party.

Two US citizens who have been away from their California homeland for years, spoke about how they saw Super Tuesday developing.

Terry Berne, a freelance journalist and translator who has lived in Spain for 25 years, said the economy would be a major issue influencing voters.

"People are very dissatisfied with the direction the country is going in and also recent polls are shown that. And with the war and the economy, they seem to be entering into a recession. So I think that everyone is ready for a change even Republicans," Berne told AP Television.

Karina Stenquist, a student of politics and presenter for a web-based TV station, who has lived in Spain for four years, echoed Berne's view that Americans were ready for change.

"Hillary seems to be the candidate that media has tapped as the winner. As I have said, I get really frustrated with the media coverage that goes for these foregone conclusions. Sometimes the public fights back, sometimes they fall right into it," she said.

Spanish stocks were rising strongly on Monday and the interest rates on its bonds were down sharply in the first day of trading since the Spanish bailout was announced.

The Ibex-35 stock index was up almost 5 percent shortly after opening. Bank stocks rose strongly. Shares in Bankia, which had requested 19 (b) billion euros in aid to cover its bad loans and assets, rose 16 percent.

The yield on 10-year bonds was down 17 basis points to about 6 percent.

Meanwhile, evidence of the financial crisis could be seen in what was once planned as a prestigious development close to the Spanish capital.

Towering apartment blocks, complete with swimming pools and playgrounds, loom over empty streets, weed-filled lots and gaping excavation pits in the town of Sesena.

The lone bank in the mega-development nicknamed "Manhattan" closed two years ago and most storefronts are bricked up.

Apartments galore are for sale and prices are plunging.

More than 13,000 apartments were supposed to go up to create a mini-city for 30,000 people just 45 minutes outside of Madrid.

But only 5,100 were built, many are uninhabited and regular Spaniards who bought them as investments are now competing to offload them for huge losses.

Such modern-day ghost towns have become a familiar part of the Spanish landscape, abandoned shells left to slowly decay.

Spain's real estate crash and economic implosion have turned what was supposed to become a vibrant suburban paradise for young Spanish couples and their children into one of the most visible monuments of the country's boom gone bust.

"We have been living for a long time outside of our means, and we are now paying for that," said 39-year-old taxi driver Carlos Sierra, who lives in Sesena.

"We acted wrongly asking for credit when we didn't have any so we are paying a high price. But for the banks who gave loans that they didn't have the means to give, everything is fine because Europe is "rescuing" them," Sierra added.

On Sunday, Spain's prime minister warned that even with the promised EU rescue package of up to 100 (b) billion euros (125 (b) billion US dollars), the country's grinding financial misery will get worse this year.

Spain's banks, particularly its savings banks or "cajas," are burdened with about 184 (b) billion euros (232 (b) billion US dollars) in toxic real estate holdings, including loans and repossessed homes.

The banks' situation is expected to deteriorate as more people facing unemployment are unable to pay their mortgages.

Many Spaniards believe that even with the EU rescue package, the banks will be saved, but little will change for the average citizen.

"It's not fair, because if it had happened to a man who has an apartment with a loan through Bankia, they would take his apartment. But now, the bank did not do what it should have done, so they inject some money to rescue it and that's it," said Sesena resident Antonio Alcolado.

If the entire rescue fund is tapped, each person in the nation of 47 (m) million will be laden with 21,000 euros (26,500 US dollars) of new debt, which almost equates to the average annual salary for those in work.

Spain's unemployment rate has hit almost 25 percent, according to government statistics, whilst youth unemployment for 16 to 24 year olds is at a stunning 52 percent.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took pains to avoid the word bailout on Sunday, saying Spain's rescue package was a line of credit that its most troubled banks would be able to tap.

The assistance will not come with the outside control over government macroeconomic policy like that imposed on Greece, Ireland and Portugal when their public finances were bailed out.

Spain hopes to regain the economic credibility it has lost by shoring up its banks.

This should result in credit being restored so businesses and individuals shut off from loans can start borrowing and the economy will grow again, Rajoy insisted, again without saying when.

1. Pan left from Sesena Tennis Club poster to man playing tennis

2. Various of Sesena resident Rafael Pita, playing tennis

3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rafael Pita, 50, computer engineer and Sesena resident:

"There are a lot of "ghost" places built with the loans the banks gave and could not recover. The people could not buy the houses because they were expensive, because the crisis started and the situation is just getting worse."

4. Wide of people playing tennis with buildings behind them

5. Close of Spanish flag on balcony

6. Pan of men playing tennis

7. Mid of Sese�a resident Carlos Sierra playing tennis

8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Sierra, 39, taxi driver and Sesena resident:

"We have been living for a long time outside of our means, and we are now paying for that. We are paying a high price for the crisis because we acted wrongly asking for credit when we didn't have any so we are paying a high price. But for the banks who gave loans that they didn't have the means to give, everything is fine because Europe is "rescuing" them."

9. Various of people walking near buildings

10. Close of banner on a balcony reading "65,000 euros" (81,300 US dollars) (to buy an apartment)

11. Mid of people having breakfast in a coffee shop

12. Close of bread with tomato, and coffee

13. Mid of Sese�a inhabitant Antonio Alcolado and friends having breakfast

14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Antonio Alcolado, 35, Sesena resident:

"It's not fair, because if it had happened to a man who has an apartment with a loan through Bankia, they would take his apartment. But now, the bank did not do what it should have done, so they inject some money to rescue it and that's it."

15. Close of banner on balcony reading (Spanish) "From 400 euros (500 US dollars) per month, rent with the option to buy"

16. Various of buildings

17. Pan right of shuttered windows

18. Mid and tilt wide of Sesena buildings

SHOTLIST

Madrid - 22 May 2013

1. Tilt down exterior of skyscraper in Cuatro Torres business area to Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo walking on pavement towards building

2. Tilt up of del Castillo walking

3. Mid of del Castillo stopping and looking up at building

4. Close-up of del Castillo

5. Low-angle shot of del Castillo looking up at skyscraper

6. Wide of skyscrapers

7. Various of skyscrapers shrouded by clouds

8. Low-angle shot of del Castillo walking away from skyscrapers

9. Various of del Castillo climbing steps

10. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo, newly graduated architect:

"I could say I am disappointed. But we have reached a point where we just accept things the way they are. I accept that the situation is bad and is not going to change in the short term. So I think I need to try to reinvent myself. And if it isn't through architecture then it will be by another profession or business model. We mustn't restrict ourselves to just what we have studied. Your career also moulds you as a person able to do other types of jobs."

La Camara, Madrid - 22 May 2013

11. Tilt down exterior of business school in La Camara

12. Various of del Castillo in class attending entrepreneur course

13. Mid of students

14. Various of Carlos Martinez de la Riva, business school professor

15. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Carlos Martinez de la Riva, business school professor:

"Being aware of the current situation the students put pessimism aside and gain strength studying here. So they can be prepared to develop, create and undertake things."

Madrid - 22 May 2013

16. Tilt down exterior of residential building

17. Various of del Castillo speaking to flatmate Ruben Garcia Caletrio inside his apartment

18. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Ruben Garcia Caletrio, architecture student:

"It is not about choosing one thing or another. It's about taking both at the same time. I don't want to give up architecture. In fact one of the reasons I want to become a firefighter is because the spare time that job will spare me I will be able to dedicate it to architecture."

19. Various of del Castillo and his flatmate playing guitars and singing

Arguelles, Madrid - 22 May 2013

20. Various shots of del Castillo preparing entrepreneur project with friend

21. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo, newly graduated architect:

"My vocation is and has always been architecture. I would love to be working at a studio building structures. But I also have vocation for other forms of arts such as theatre, drawing, photography, and video games. I think architecture gives you a humanist background because you end up knowing a bit of everything. So if I can I will work as an architect and if I am not able then I will work on other types of arts linked to the career I have studied."

22. Various shots of del Castillo and friend working on internet project

Puerta Del Sol, Madrid - 22 May 2013

23. Various shots of Gran Via avenue with pedestrians

24. Mid of Jesus Roman with dog

25. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Vox pop, Jesus Roman:

"I think that people who studied have the same gloomy future as people like me without a proper education. I have many graduate friends that are working at a MacDonald's."

26. Pan across Eva Candelas walking in street

27. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Vox pop, Eva Candelas:

"I see things getting difficult. With the government we have and the economic policies they are implementing. I hope there will soon be a change. Because if it doesn't happen then we are doomed."

28. Wide of Gran Via avenue

LEADIN

The leaders of the world's richest countries are attending the G8 summit in Co Fermanagh this week.

The crisis in Syria is expected to dominate the agenda - but world trade will also feature.

For many the economic situation at home continues to worsen.

In May this year, our Spanish class of 2012 member Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo finally had his graduation project approved for his architecture degree.

But given the current economic climate, the young graduate has decided to widen his options.

STORYLINE

Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo has come a long way since he first started dreaming of a career in architecture.

Having completed his degree, the first step on the career ladder feels like mountain to climb, given the economic problems in Spain and the rest of the Eurozone.

Cuarto Torres (Spanish for Four Skyscrapers) Business Area is one of the best examples of Spain's real estate overspend frenzy in the past decade.

Billions of euros were invested in sometimes-superfluous infrastructure until the bubble finally burst in 2007, leaving the country on the verge of financial collapse.

Five years after the skyscrapers' completion, almost half of the offices inside this four-tower business area remain empty.

It is in this atmosphere that Rafa is trying to start his professional career as an architect, perhaps the profession with the gloomiest future in crisis-battered Spain.

Rafa has little hope of seeing an end to the present crisis in the short-term and so, in the past few weeks he has decided to widen his options.

"I could say I am disappointed. But we have reached a point where we just accept things the way they are. I accept that the situation is bad and is not going to change in the short term. So I think I need to try to reinvent myself. And if it isn't through architecture then it will be by another profession or business model. We mustn't restrict ourselves to just what we have studied. Your career also moulds you as a person able to do other types of jobs," Rafa says.

Rafa is currently taking a course in small and mid-size entrepreneurship, a course in web development and he is also involved in a theatrical project both as a director and screenwriter.

Every day this month he is attending a course consisting of 90 hours of classes at Madrid's Chamber of Commerce Academy.

Rafa says the course will allow him to acquire the knowledge that will eventually allow him to start his own business.

Carlos Martinez de la Riva is Rafa's professor at "La Camara".

He says that courses like Rafa's help young professionals reinvent themselves so they can seek a brighter future despite the current recessive labour market.

"Being aware of the current situation the students put pessimism aside and gain strength studying here. So they can be prepared to develop, create and undertake things," Carlos Martinez de la Riva says.

Rafa's flatmate Ruben Garcia is also a former-university friend.

Ruben's graduation project is now in its final stages of approval and soon he will become another unemployed architect.

But Ruben has another window of opportunity available to him as a firefighter.

"It is not about choosing one thing or another. It's about taking both at the same time. I don't want to give up architecture. In fact one of the reasons I want to become a firefighter is because the spare time that job will spare me I will be able to dedicate it to architecture," Ruben Garcia Caletrio says.

With Spain's unemployment rate for people under 25 at an astonishing 53 percent, young Spaniards are leaving the country or reinventing themselves in droves to carve out a brighter future.

According to official statistics, since 2009, when Europe's financial crisis hit the hardest, the number of Spaniards in their late teens, twenties and early thirties leaving the country has increased by 52 percent.

Young and talented Europeans from other troubled Eurozone nations like Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal are also abandoning home, not only for stronger European countries but also for former European colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

But even as much of the eurozone remains mired in or near recession, there is hope on the horizon.

As the leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations meet in Northern Ireland next week, the language is gradually changing from "austerity" to "growth-oriented structural reforms".

One of the activities that Rafa is currently involved in is creating a "crowd funding" project.

Crowd funding consists of a large number of individuals putting together small sums of money to finance a joint business venture by means of online social networks.

This method helps business ideas get off the ground by expanding the pool of potential investors whose combined funds can raise the amount of money needed to start a business.

At this stage, the subject of Rafa's crowd funding project is a secret.

"My vocation is and has always been architecture. I would love to be working at a studio building structures. But I also have vocation for other forms of arts such as theatre, drawing, photography, and video games. I think architecture gives you a humanist background because you end up knowing a bit of everything. So if I can I will work as an architect and if I am not able then I will work on other types of arts linked to the career I have studied," Rafa says.

Across Madrid, Rafa's hopes and fears are mirrored in many young faces regardless of their educational background.

"I think that people who studied have the same gloomy future as people like me without a proper education. I have many graduate friends that are working at a MacDonald's," says Jesus Roman.

Among the many budget cuts, the Spanish government has recently eliminated its Ministry of Science and Innovation to save money, turning it into a division of the Economy Ministry.

"I see things getting difficult. With the government we have and the economic policies they are implementing. I hope there will soon be a change. Because if it doesn't happen then we are doomed," says Eva Candelas.

The long-term toll of the cuts on education spending could be sinking competitiveness as crisis-hit countries lose many of their best and brightest amid already falling birth rates - a potential formula for a vicious cycle of economic agony.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

This is the latest instalment in Class of 2012, an exploration of Europe's financial crisis through the eyes of young people emerging from the cocoon of student life into the worst downturn the continent has seen since the end of World War II. Follow the class on its Google plus page: &lt;http://apne.ws/ClassOf2012&gt;

Spain said on Friday it could decide this month on whether to request a bailout for its troubled banking sector.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the government will not act until receiving evaluations from the International Monetary Fund on Monday and then two independent auditors Spain has hired.

The economy ministry said on its website the latter are expected by June 21 at the latest.

The official said after a Cabinet meeting no decision on a bailout has been taken.

Commenting on reports that eurozone finance ministers will hold a conference call on Saturday on Spain, Saenz de Santamaria said that no meeting was planned but would not confirm or deny whether some kind of contact would take place.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile said Spain hasn't yet sought outside help to deal with the troubles of its banks and Berlin won't pressure it into doing so.

Merkel reiterated that all necessary institutions are ready if a country decides to seek assistance.

Economist Rafael Pampillon said that a bailout of the Spanish economy beyond its banking sector wouldn't necessarily spell disaster for the country.

"The rescue wouldn't mean only to be intervened," Pampillon said. "They would also refinance all our debt with a much lower interest than the one we are financing ourselves with in the international markets. To be rescued would not be a catastrophe," he added.

FILE: Madrid, 28 May 2012

1. Various exteriors of a branch of the Bankia bank

FILE: Madrid, 18 May 2012

2. Various exteriors of Santander bank

3. Wide of people walking next to banks along street

Madrid, 8 June 2012

4. Wide of Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria entering news conference room

5. Santamaria, media taking pictures

6. Wide of news conference room

7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, Deputy Prime Minister:

"The Government has to respect the procedures before dealing with any decision about figures. That's why, as soon as we know approximately the amount our finance system might need, the Government will take a position about it. So far there are no decisions made until we know how the process is going and until we know the figures that the different evaluators, including the institutional ones, will give us".

8. Cutaway of media

9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, Deputy Prime Minister:

"The position of the Spanish government is that we all have to assume a very strong compromise in order to strengthen the European institutions and the future of the Euro. That includes a higher fiscal unity, a bank union, which is being discussed in a large number of states, the need to promote measures for a bigger and better supervision, or formulas such as building a deposit guarantee fund - in which Spain was a pioneer - and the need to work in our market, in the unity of our market, to make our common market more common and more open".

10. Wide of Madrid stock market

11. Wide of screens with indexes and companies value figures

12. Close up of ticker

13. Close up of Spanish sovereign debt rate

14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rafael Pampillon, economist at IE Business School:

"If instead of rescuing only the banks all the Spanish economy has to be rescued the consequence would be that the troika - formed by the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Found and the European Commission - would be managing the Spanish economy, they would make the economic politics. It would obviously mean reducing pensions, reducing public worker salaries and probably a bigger labour reform, but they would give us money. The rescue wouldn't mean only to be intervened. They would also refinance all our debt with a much lower interest than the one we are financing ourselves with in the international markets. To be rescued would not be a catastrophe".

FILE: Madrid, 18 May 2012

15. Exterior of Bankinter bank

16. Close up of Bankinter sign

17. Exterior wide tilt down of BBVA bank

SHOTLIST:

++16:9++

1. Wide tilt down of statue outside Spanish senate building in Madrid during arrivals of regional presidents

2. Mid of senate president Pio Escudero with Catalonia regional president Artur Mas

3. Close of policewoman saluting president of senate

4. Wide of Mas walking towards the senate building

5. Wide of family photo

6. Pan right of regional presidents at family photo

7. Mid of senate building

8. Tracking shot of arrival of King of Spain, Juan Carlos, for family photo

9. Close of Mas

10. Pan left of regional presidents with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaking to Juan Carlos in centre family photo

11. Mid Carlos and Rajoy

12. Mid round table meeting of regional presidents

13. Wide round table meeting of regional presidents

++4:3++

14. Wide of news conference at Spanish Senate building

15. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mariano Rajoy, Spanish Prime Minister:

"If there is an agency or person that says that this weekend we are going to ask for a bailout, then there are two possibilities: that this agency is right and has better information than me - which is quite possible, or that that is not the case, which is also possible. Anyway, what does it matter."

16. Mid of journalist asking question

17. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mariano Rajoy, Spanish Prime Minister:

"I am convinced that the Autonomous Regions and the Spanish Government are going to do everything in their power to accomplish the deficit target. We know that it is difficult because we have to come down from 9 percent to 6.3 percent which is 2.7 percentage points at a time of recession and at a time when credit is difficult to come by and is expensive."

18. Wide Rajoy leaving news conference

STORYLINE:

Spain's regional presidents met Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for talks at the senate building in Madrid on Tuesday, after gathering outside for a family photograph which included King Juan Carlos.

The autonomous regions in Spain have been accused of worsening Spain's deficit by over spending.

Valencia, Aragon, Murcia and Catalonia have all needed to ask the Madrid central government for a bailout.

A further five regions are expected to ask for financial assistance.

As well as financial matters, one of the most controversial issues facing the central government of Mariano Rajoy is the new wave of calls for independence in the northern province of Catalonia.

Catalonia president Artur Mas called early elections last week and proposed a referendum on the issue, after Spain recently rejected a demand to grant the region special fiscal powers.

Mas this month led a massive pro-independence rally in the Catalan capital Barcelona that was seen as a show of strength and a warning to Madrid.

Catalonia is Spain's most economically powerful region, but also the recession-stricken country's most indebted.

Later on Tuesday, Rajoy denied that he was ready to request a bailout for the country, fending off mounting speculation about a move to ask the European Central Bank to buy Spanish bonds and push down the nation's high borrowing costs.

Rajoy was asked by reporters whether a Spanish bailout request was imminent, and whether it could come as soon as this weekend, both of which he refused to confirm or deny.

SHOTLIST:

Madrid - 29 September 2006

AP Television - AP Clients Only

1. Wide shot pan Casa de America, venue for meeting of southern European states about illegal immigration by sea

2. Mid shot Franco Frattini, Vice-President of the European Commission, arriving and getting out of car

3. Mid shot sign saying Casa de America

4. Mid shot arrival of Luis Amado, Portuguese Foreign Minister

5. Mid shot arrival of Nicolas Sarkozy, French Interior Minister

6. Cutaway photographers

7. Interior wide shot meeting

8. Close-up banner on wall saying (Spanish) "Illegal Immigration on the maritime borders - Madrid 29 September 2006"

9. Mid shot Spanish Interior Minister, Alfredo Rubalcaba, talks to Frattini

Pool - AP Clients Only

10. Wide shot meeting

11. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Miguel Moratinos, Spanish Foreign Minister

"We all know that the best way to respond to this challenge is that we all assume our quota of responsibility so that we can embark together and in solidarity on creating something that we all want: a common European policy on immigration that is more coherent and able to respond to the problems and challenges we face."

12. Wide shot meeting

13. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Alfredo Rubalcaba, Spanish Interior Minister

"Repatriations are key, absolutely key, because we have to counteract the message of the mafias, which is simply this: 'If you get to Spain, then you can stay in Spain and Europe'. Repatriations make clear a different message: 'If you get to Spain or other European countries, it doesn't guarantee that you will be able to stay'."

AP Television - AP Clients Only

14. Wide shot Nicolas Sarkozy at press conference

15. Cutaway

16. SOUNDBITE: (French) Nicolas Sarkozy, French Interior Minister

"If we, the French political representatives from the left and the right, do not act, we will see in our democratic countries xenophobic feelings that no one will be able to deal with. This is the main challenge."

17. Wide shot ministers come down steps

18. Mid shot ministers come down steps

19. Wide shot ministers posing for group photo

FILE: Los Cristianos, Tenerife - Recent

20. Boat bringing to shore illegal immigrants from Africa caught at sea

21. Spanish coastguard staff on shore

22. Various of illegal immigrants being brought ashore by Spanish coastguard

23. Various of illegal African immigrants being kept in tent, guarded by coastguard

STORYLINE:

Ministers from Europe's Mediterranean nations gathered in Madrid on Friday to discuss illegal immigration.

Spain insisted that illegal immigration from Africa is a joint European Union problem, fending off charges that it encouraged a flood of people by granting amnesty to more than half a million undocumented foreigners.

Spain's foreign and interior ministers made the assertion as they opened a meeting with colleagues from seven other EU countries on the Mediterranean rim to discuss how to patrol their maritime borders, as wave after wave of destitute Africans try to reach the wealthy continent for a chance at a better life.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative French interior minister and presidential hopeful, had criticised Spain for granting an amnesty for undocumented foreigners, claiming it triggered a relentless wave of poor Africans trying to reach the Canary Islands.

Other countries such as Germany and Austria have levelled similar charges.

Sarkozy came to the Madrid meeting with a proposal for all EU members to be held to the same admission standards.

So far, more than 24,000 Africans have been caught trying to reach the Spanish archipelago off west Africa this year, about five times the number for all of 2005. Italy has caught more than 12,000 trying to reach Sicily.

The 25-member EU has no common immigration policy, and the issue is handled individually by member states.

The bloc has been trying to devise a joint plan for years, but the effort has bogged down over the complexity of aligning national immigration rules and discord over whether countries should give up control over whom they let across their borders.

Friday's one-day meeting was meant to discuss this effort.

It brought together foreign and interior ministers or lower-level delegations from Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia, and several senior EU officials, including Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini.

Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Spain and the other southern EU countries have to work together on establishing repatriation agreements with African countries that are the source of people who make dangerous sea journeys to reach Europe's southern gateway and are often reluctant to take them back.

After he spoke, the meeting went into a closed session.

Much media attention was focused on Sarkozy, who was criticised this week in Parliament by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero for his remarks on the Spanish amnesty.

Zapatero said that in the light of the riots that swept poor, heavily immigrant neighbourhoods in the Paris suburbs last year, Sarkozy was in no position to give Spain lessons on how to deal with and assimilate foreigners.

The French government is pushing a bill in parliament that would stiffen the rules for immigrants in France, establish a sort of quota system and give authorities power to cherry-pick who gets in.

Zapatero's government has defended its amnesty as a way to root out a flourishing underground economy, end employer abuse of undocumented workers and get these people to pay taxes into government coffers.

Officials say it was a one-time deal, with no plans for a repetition any time soon.

Last week, EU justice and interior ministers meeting in Finland avoided making new pledges of aid in response to urgent pleas from Spain, Italy, Greece and Malta for more help in dealing with illegal immigrants from Africa.

Spain has complained that only three EU members contributed planes or boats in August to a hastily arranged EU plan to patrol African waters and prevent departures.

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Spain's political paralysis continued on Monday over which party, or parties, will lead the country following a national election that fragmented the status quo.

King Felipe VI has started the second round of meeting party leaders, after acting conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy surprised many by turning down Felipe's nomination last Friday.

On Monday, Felipe met for the second time with Albert Rivera, leader of the country's business-friendly Ciudadanos Party.

The result of the negotiations will determine whether Spain ends up with a government that could backtrack on unpopular austerity measures instituted in recent years or head into a fresh round of elections.

Daniel Lacalle, economist and Chief Investment Officer at Tressis Gestion, a wealth management firm, warned that the current political uncertainty could impact on domestic consumption and jobs, and that an unstable coalition would have an adverse effect on national and international investment.

Although Spain's economy has been growing strongly over the past year, its public finances remain strained.

Spain didn't need a financial bailout like others in the 19-country eurozone, such as Greece and Portugal, but the Popular Party government has been pursuing relatively tough budgetary policies and wide-ranging economic reforms.

The fear in the markets is that the election results may reduce the impetus for austerity and reform.

Spain's political paralysis continued on Monday over which party, or parties, will lead the country following a national election that fragmented the status quo.

King Felipe VI has started the second round of meeting party leaders, after acting conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy surprised many by turning down Felipe's nomination last Friday.

On Monday, Felipe met for the second time with Albert Rivera, leader of the country's business-friendly Ciudadanos Party.

The result of the negotiations will determine whether Spain ends up with a government that could backtrack on unpopular austerity measures instituted in recent years or head into a fresh round of elections.

Daniel Lacalle, economist and Chief Investment Officer at Tressis Gestion, a wealth management firm, warned that the current political uncertainty could impact on domestic consumption and jobs, and that an unstable coalition would have an adverse effect on national and international investment.

Although Spain's economy has been growing strongly over the past year, its public finances remain strained.

Spain didn't need a financial bailout like others in the 19-country eurozone, such as Greece and Portugal, but the Popular Party government has been pursuing relatively tough budgetary policies and wide-ranging economic reforms.

The fear in the markets is that the election results may reduce the impetus for austerity and reform.

TVE – NO ACCESS SPAIN/EBU

Madrid – 1 February 2016

1. Spain's King Felipe VI receiving Albert Rivera, leader of the Ciudadanos party at the Zarzuela Palace

AP TELEVISION

Madrid – 1 February 2016

2. Various interiors of Madrid Stock Exchange

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Lacalle, Economist and Chief Investment Officer at Tressis Gestion, a wealth management company:

"Political uncertainty first starts to affect domestic investment and marginal decisions of consumption of national citizens, because they are reading in the papers that everything is sort of changing but nothing really is set in stone, and there is always this perception also in these possible agreements between parties that big changes will happen in things that have a dramatic impact on the economy, like labour reform, like taxes, etcetera. So the general perception is that a lengthy period of uncertainty could lead to maybe a loss of about 300,000 additional jobs and maybe up to 1.5 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) if it is prolonged for a very lengthy period of time - a year or so."

5. Various of boards displaying financial data

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Lacalle, Economist and Chief Investment Officer at Tressis Gestion, a wealth management company:

"The biggest risk for the Spanish economy is a weak government, made (up) of a very unstable coalition of parties whose only term of agreement, if you would say, would be to get the previous government out of power, that's all that they agree upon. So I think that is a risk and that would be detrimental to investment, that would be detrimental to job creation and that would be extremely negative for both foreign and national investment."

7. Various of ticker and electronic boards

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Lacalle, Economist and Chief Investment Officer at Tressis Gestion, a wealth management company:

"I find that the 'Grand Coalition' of socialists plus conservatives, plus moderate-liberals, how(ever) you want to call the party Ciudadanos, is very, very unlikely today, at least with the leaders of the major parties - where they stand right now. The confrontation is too strong. The possibility of a coalition of left-wing parties with the separatists is not small, but it would be very, very unstable. It would be extremely unstable and many political commentators have spoken about that if that came into power, it would last very little."

9. Wide of trading hall