MADRID (AP) — Union leaders told King Juan Carlos on Tuesday they opposed an international bailout for Spain and said government austerity measures to reduce the bloated deficit are suicidal for the country.

Conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy last week admitted that Spain might ask for outside help but said he first wanted to know what its European partners and the European Central Bank would demand in return. The government has already admitted it needs help by asking for a loan from its eurozone partners of up to €100 billion ($124 billion) for a handful of its banks burdened by toxic assets following the collapse of the a real estate bubble in 2008.