Spain's "babysitter" grandparents have been called on to take part in a general strike against the human cost of austerity.

Spanish grandparents, who give a big, unpaid boost to Spain's economy by taking the strain of deep cuts with free childcare for their grandchildren, have been called on to down tools this Wednesday.

Manuel Pastrana, the Andalusian leader of the UGT general workers' trade union, the country's biggest, said: "We want grandparents to strike to prove they are a key part of the way this country functions."