For a man used to pomp and paparazzi, King Juan Carlos of Spain looked shaken, emerging from a hospital in Madrid Wednesday after hip surgery.

"I'm very sorry," he said, blinking into the cameras, sheepish, and leaning on his crutches. "I made a mistake, and it won't happen again."

As Spaniards grapple with severe austerity measures and 24 percent unemployment, their king is dealing with a different kind of pain — extreme embarrassment over public outrage upon his return from an elephant hunt in Africa that cost nearly $60,000, or more than twice the average salary in Spain.

And the Spanish public only found out about the trip because he broke his hip — hence the recent surgery — and had to be airlifted home.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy visited Poland last week and tried to assure international markets that Spain would not join the list of European nations needing a bailout.

"Spain will not be rescued," he said at a news conference. "It's not possible to rescue Spain. There's no intention of it, and we don't need it."

However, Spain's borrowing costs are nearing levels that were followed by bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Spain did get a bit of good news Tuesday as investors showed strong interest in short-term Spanish bonds, which helped global financial markets rally.

Spain's latest troubles are coming after Rajoy slashed $35 billion from his budget in a single year, says Gayle Allard, an economist at Madrid's IE Business School.

Spain's austerity measures have begun to spark clashes, and a high school in Valencia — Spain's most indebted province — has become a flash point for nationwide rallies.

Last month, police arrested 25 demonstrators there, where cellphones captured video of heavy-handed beatings and parents were shocked to see their children on TV, pinned down by police.

The skirmish was a possible sign of what's to come as the conservative government pushes through more spending cuts and people settle into a period of sacrifice in hopes of economic recovery.

The sacrifices have already begun for students at Lluis Vives high school. By day, they play street hockey for gym class in a 19th century plaza next to the school. But by night, they hold angry protests.