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Demonstrators protest on Calle Alcala during a march by thousands of people on Feb. 23, 2013 in Madrid. Public health workers, civil servants and disaffected citizens converged on central Madrid to protest against the austerity measures of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched through cities across the country on Saturday to protest deep austerity, the privatization of public services and political corruption.

Gathering under the banner of the "Citizen Tide," students, doctors, unionists, young families and pensioners staged rowdy but non-violent demonstrations as a near five-year economic slump shows no sign of recovery and mass unemployment rises.

"I'm here to add my voice. They're cutting where they shouldn't cut; health, education ... basic services. And the latest corruption scandal is just the tiniest tip of a very large iceberg," said Alberto, 51, an account administrator for a German multinational in Madrid, who preferred not to give his surname.

Protests in Spain have become commonplace as the conservative government passes measures aimed at shrinking one of the euro zone's highest budget deficits and reinventing an economy hobbled by a burst housing bubble.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has introduced some of the deepest budget cuts in Spain's democratic history in an attempt to convince investors the country can weather the economic crisis without falling back on international aid.

But, with more than half of the country's young people out of work and growth not expected until sometime next year, the measures have only scratched the surface of the budget shortfall which is expected to be more than double the target in 2014.

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Public workers, small political parties and non-profit organizations stage a protest against government austerity on Feb. 23, 2013 in Madrid.

Meanwhile, corruption scandals that have hit the ruling party as well as the once-popular royal family has left many Spaniards disenchanted with their leaders on all sides of the political spectrum.

In Madrid, under a clear, cold winter sky, Saturday's marches convened from four different points by early evening in Neptune Square, between the heavily policed and barricaded parliament, the Ritz Hotel and the stock exchange.

Carrying placards that condemned everything from cuts in the health sector to massive bailouts granted to Spain's banking system, crowds banged drums and chanted, while dozens of riot police stood on the sidelines.

The march coincided with the anniversary of a failed coup attempt in 1981 by Civil Guard officers who stormed Parliament and held deputies hostage until the next day.

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Nestor Perez / EPA

A rescue vessel (bottom L) is seen next to the overturned lifeboat (bottom R) of the 'Thomson Majesty' cruise ship (behind) at the pier where 'Thomson Majesty' cruise ship is docked at Santa Cruz de la Palma, Canary Islands, Spain on Feb. 10.

MADRID — Five crew members died in an emergency drill on a cruise ship in the Canary Islands on Sunday, police said.

Cables snapped on a lifeboat and it plunged 65 feet to the ocean and fell upside down, killing the five and injuring three others aboard, during the mock rescue exercise on the Thomson Majesty, operated by British travel group TUI Travel. It was in the port of La Palma.

TUI, Europe's largest tour operator, did not respond immediately to telephone calls or email requests for comment.

Three of the dead were Indonesians. The other dead were a Filipino and a Ghanaian.

The Thomson Majesty, with five restaurants and two swimming pools, cruises to the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, according to Thomson's website.

Bernandino Hernandez / AP

Police patrol on the beach near a home in Acapulco, Mexico, where masked and armed men broke in and raped six tourists.

A gang of masked men entered a vacation home near the resort city of Acapulco and raped six Spanish tourists, Mexican authorities said Tuesday.

The assailants, brandishing guns, first tied up the men with phone cords and the straps of bathing suits and then raped the women, The Associated Press reported.

A police report, obtained by Prensa Latina, a Cuba-based Latin American news service, said that 15 subjects with ski masks sexually abused the Spanish women, and also stole the belongings of a Mexican national and six Spanish men. 

The assault took place Monday in the town of San Andres, Barra Vieja, in the Diamante area of Acapulco.

Acapulco Mayor Luis Walton and the state prosecutor for Guerroro said Mexican federal police were involved in the hunt for those responsible, CNN reported.

"It's a very delicate situation," Walton said at a news conference on Tuesday in which he condemned the attacks. "We are going to have the full weight of the law against those responsible."

Walton admitted the attacks would likely tarnish Acapulco’s image. The Pacific Coast resort city and its beaches are a popular destination for tourists, including American college students on spring break.

Though the number of rapes in the area is unclear, in one weekend in March 2010, at least 13 people were killed in and around Acapulco in apparent drug-gang violence, including four victims found beheaded. And, according to Reuters, some 70,000 people nationwide have been killed in drug-related violence since 2006.

Though millions of people travel to Mexico each year without incident, the U.S. State Department has issued a warning to travelers visiting the country. It says travelers to Mexico should be aware that “crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country and occur anywhere." Travelers to the Acapulco area are urged to exercise caution and stay within tourist areas. 

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Current President of Catalonia and leader of the CiU (Catalan Convergence and Unity) party Artur Mas casts his ballot for regional elections in Barcelona on Sunday.

UPDATED at 7:50 p.m. ET: BARCELONA, Spain -- Separatists in Spain's Catalonia won regional elections on Sunday but failed to get the resounding mandate they need to push convincingly for a referendum on independence. 

Catalan President Artur Mas, who has implemented unpopular spending cuts in an economic crisis, had called an early election to test support for his new drive for independence for Catalonia, a wealthy region in northeastern Spain.

Voters handed almost two thirds of the 135-seat local parliament to four different Catalan separatist parties that all want to hold a referendum on secession from Spain.

But they punished the main separatist group, Mas's Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, cutting back its seats to 50 from 62. That will make it difficult for Mas to lead a united drive to hold a referendum in defiance of the constitution and the central government in Madrid.

"Mas clearly made a mistake. He promoted a separatist agenda and the people have told him they want other people to carry out his agenda," said Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, head of the European Council on Foreign Relations' Madrid office.

The result will come as a relief for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is battling a deep recession and 25 percent unemployment while he struggles to cut high borrowing costs by convincing investors of Spain's fiscal and political stability.

Mas, surrounded by supporters chanting "independence, independence", said he would still try to carry out the referendum but added that, "it is more complex, but there is no need to give up on the process."

Resurgent Catalan separatism had become a major headache for Rajoy, threatening to provoke a constitutional crisis over the legality of a referendum just as he is trying to concentrate on a possible international bailout for troubled Spain.

Frustration over the Spanish tax system, under which Catalonia shares some of its tax revenue with the rest of the country, has revived a long-dormant secessionist spirit in Catalonia. Catalans believe if they could invest more of their taxes at home their economy would prosper.

Mas had tried to ride the separatist wave after hundreds of thousands demonstrated in the streets in September, demanding independence for their region, which has its own language and sees itself as distinct from the rest of Spain.

In a speech to supporters on Sunday night, Mas recognised that he had lost ground and though CiU is still the largest group in Catalan's parliament, he said would need the support of another party to govern and to continue pushing through tough economic measures.

"We've fallen well short of the majority we had. We've been ruling for two years under very tough circumstances," he said.

Traditional separatists the Republican Left, or ERC, won the second biggest presence in the Catalan parliament, with 21 seats. The Socialists took 20 seats. And Rajoy's centre-right People's Party won 19.

Three other parties, including two that want a referendum on independence, split the remaining 25 seats. ECFR's Torreblanca said the Catalan elections were similar to those around Europe in that economic woes have benefited marginal political groups, while larger, traditional parties have lost ground.

Mas's bet on separatism may have helped out the big winner of Sunday's election, the Republican Left, which more than doubled its seats in the Catalan parliament to 21 from 10, 

Emilio Morenatti / AP

Supporters of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) leader, Artur Mas, wave their pro-independence "estelada" flags during the last day of campaigning in a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, Friday.

"He talked about it so much that he ended up helping the only party that has always been for independence, which is the Republican Left," said political analyst Ismael Crespo at the Ortega y Gasset research institute.

A legal referendum would require a change to the constitution, and Spain's main parties in the national parliament, the Socialists and Rajoy's People's Party, have shown no appetite for that.

Mas's CiU had traditionally been a pro-business moderate nationalist party that fought for more autonomy and self-governance for Catalonia without breaking away from Spain.

Mas broke with that tradition in September when he made a big bet on a referendum.

Catalonia, with 7.5 million people, is more populous than Denmark. Its economy is almost as big as Portugal's and it generates one fifth of Spanish gross domestic product.

After a decade of overspending during Spain's real estate boom, Catalonia and most of the country's other regions are struggling to pay state workers and meet debt payments. Unemployment has soared and spending on hospitals and schools has been cut.

Mas was one of the first Spanish leaders to embark on harsh austerity measures after Catalonia's public deficit soared and the regional government was shunned by debt markets.

Josep Freixas, 37 and unemployed, voted for CiU but recognised the party had lost seats "because people have been really affected by the spending cuts and by the crisis."

At CiU headquarters on Sunday night Freixas carried a rolled up pro-independence flag - a single star against yellow and red stripes - that has become a symbol of the separatist movement.

Turnout was very high in the election, 68 percent, 10 percentage points higher than in the previous vote two years ago.

Many Catalans are angry that Rajoy has refused to negotiate a new tax deal with their largely self-governing region. Annually, an estimated 16 billion euros ($21 billion) in taxes paid in Catalonia, about 8 percent of its economic output, is not returned to the region.

Home to car factories and banks and birthplace of surrealist painter Salvador Dali and architect Antoni Gaudi, the region also has one of the world's most successful football clubs, FC Barcelona.

Wary that separatism could spread to the Basque Country and beyond, Rajoy said this week that the Catalan election was more important than general elections. 

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An Oct. 20, 2011, photo shows three ETA militants making a declaration in an undisclosed location. Spain's armed Basque separatist group, ETA, says it's ready to discuss disbanding.

MADRID -- Basque separatist group ETA said Saturday it wanted talks with the Spanish and French governments to negotiate a definitive end to military operations and a handover of its arms.

Basque newspaper Naiz published an advance summary of an ETA statement, which said the group wanted talks over the return of ETA prisoners to the northern Basque region, an end to its military structure, and a full disarmament. The paper said the full statement would be published on Sunday.

ETA said in the statement that successful talks over those three areas "would bring about a definitive end of the armed conflict."

Just over a year ago ETA announced an end to a four-decade armed struggle for independence in which more than 800 people were killed, but did not fully end operations, nor turn over its weapons. ETA has broken ceasefires in the past.

Spain's Interior Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday.

The government has repeatedly said it would not negotiate with ETA, and has called on the group to disarm and disband.

ETA said in the statement that it would listen to proposals from both the Spanish and French governments over an end to the conflict.

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The group has lost support in the Basque country and been crippled by numerous arrests and discoveries of arms caches in recent years, mostly in Spain and France.

Earlier this month British police arrested a suspected ETA member in Liverpool linked to several murders, while its military head was arrested in France in October.

The statement came four days after discussions were held between Basque political parties, labor unions, the Catholic Church, and French Socialists in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian. After that meeting the groups said an end to ETA was close.

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