MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Spanish labor unions said Tuesday they will oppose plans by Japanese car manufacturer Nissan to lay off 581 workers at its Barcelona plants.

General Worker Union spokesman Jordi Carmona said the company unexpectedly had presented the layoff plan to Spanish labor authorities, ending several months of talks on ways to reduce staff.

Nissan said in October it wanted to cut the 3,600-strong staff at two Barcelona plants by 1,680 because of poor sales.

Following union protests, the company agreed to negotiate the reductions and managed to eliminate 1,099 jobs cuts through early retirements and incentive-based redundancies.

Carmona said the company apparently decided to ax the remaining 581 jobs directly. He said the union would stage protests in a bid to force the company back to talks.

No one from Nissan was available Tuesday for comment.

Nissan employs some 6,000 people in Spain.

Spain is Europe's third largest auto manufacturer, but the economic crisis has seen sales slump dramatically. Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have all announced job cuts in Spain in recent months.