AVILA, Spain: In a desperate attempt to become candidates for just 50 jobs available with Spain's National Police, nearly 3,000 college graduates are taking rigorous physical ability workout tests at a police academy to try to get to the next stage of the selection process.

About 800 candidates were going through the workouts Monday at a police academy in Avila, about an hour's drive from Madrid. All candidates must have college degrees and hundreds more will be tested in coming days.

Spain is in the midst of a brutal financial crisis with unemployment of 26 percent. The rate is much higher - more than 50 percent - for those under age 25, and many college graduates are seeking work abroad because they have lost hope of landing decent jobs in Spain.