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Editors: This is the latest installment in Class of 2012, an exploration of Europe's financial crisis through the eyes of young people emerging from the cocoon of student life into the worst downturn the continent has seen since the end of World War II.
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Oviedo is set to join a growing number of young Spaniards giving up on Spain, a nation that had visions of grandeur during a decade-long property boom but which is now teetering on the edge of financial collapse.
"I don't want to go away forever, but looking at the situation how it is now, maybe that will happen," said Oviedo, who heads to every Madrid anti-austerity protest he can fit in with his studies. He blames politicians for immersing Spain in its misery.
In addition to education spending cuts, Spain last December eliminated its Ministry of Science and Innovation to save money, making it a division of the Economy Ministry. In May, the country saw a tide of protests against the education squeeze by university students and teachers, some of whom clashed with police.
"Science isn't a priority now in Spain," Oviedo said. "The economy is terrible. A couple years ago we had a really good public health and education system, but now they are destroying it all. When I have children, I don't want them to live here if they don't have the things I have enjoyed."
Oviedo's fears mirror those of Spanish architecture student Rafael Gonzalez del Castillo, one of the five European students whose lives The Associated Press is tracking in the Class of 2012 project.
"I see myself working abroad," said Gonzalez del Castillo, as do many of his 25 architecture classmates at his elite Madrid university. "I don't know where. It doesn't matter where."
The long-term toll could be sinking competitiveness as crisis-hit countries lose many of their best and brightest amid already falling birth-rates - a potential formula for a vicious circle of economic agony. But countries like Spain could benefit if young emigres return because they would bring back better work and language skills that would help fix low productivity, said Gayle Allard, an economist with Madrid's IE Business School.
"If they come back it will be for the good of the country," said Allard. "If they don't come back, this is a tragedy."
Across the border from Spain, the number of Portuguese heading to former colonies Brazil and Angola for work has increased sharply since 2008. The trend has accelerated since last year when Portugal got a bailout of its public finances, according to statistics based on consulate and embassy registrations. Portugal's prime minister suggested last year that unemployed teachers should consider heading to former colonies for work. The country doesn't track youth emigration, but researchers say it is rising.
One of Gonzalez del Castillo's friends is a 26-year-old Spanish civil engineer who graduated last October, and moved to Brazil last month after a six-month job hunt in Spain that netted not a single job interview. She represents a sharp reversal for countries like Spain and Portugal, which for decades were on the receiving end of migrants from Latin America.
She has already had better luck in the booming business hub of Sao Paulo, getting an interview within two weeks of arriving. The woman did not want her name revealed because she entered Brazil on a tourist visa and fears she could be deported if caught seeking work.
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