The company did not detail how many of the more than 1,300 employees in its Spanish construction business would be affected by the cuts. Sacyr has about 30,000 staff worldwide.

Spain has emerged from a double-dip recession in the past two years, and though construction activity is slowly picking up again, especially in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, the sector is still suffering after a property crash in 2008.

Sacyr said in a statement that prospects for Spain's construction market were still subdued, forcing it to cut costs.

(Reporting by Sarah White, editing by David Evans)