Spain's five-year borrowing costs surged as the government braced for protests against spending cuts, while France paid record-low yields of less than 1 percent to sell similar securities.

Spanish five-year notes yielded an average 6.459 percent at auction today, compared with 6.072 percent a month ago. French yields for the same maturity fell to 0.86 percent, almost half of last month's level. Spain sold debt as lawmakers debated spending cuts in Parliament, where police erected barriers and stood guard.

Spain, which asked other euro nations for 100 billion euros ($123 billion) of aid last month to bail out its banks, is fighting to maintain enough market access to be able to fund its budget deficit. Lawmakers in Germany, where borrowing costs have turned negative as investors opt for the safest assets, are set to vote on the Spanish bailout agreement today.