A request will be made for a package to prop up Spain's troubled banks, according to European Union officials.

With the banking sector under severe pressure, and a prime minister giving his clearest indication yet that Spain may need to call on its European neighbours for help to get out of the crisis, the Fitch Agency has downgraded Spain's credit rating on estimates it will need a larger bailout than first thought.

Estimates suggest propping up the sector could cost between $40 bn and $100 bn.

The Spanish government is running out of cash, and a wider EU bailout could stretch the region's resources.

Al Jazeera's Emma Hayward reports.