Briefings
Spain — too big to fail
From one crisis to the next
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Catalonia: A scale model of European implosion
2 October 201227451 Diário de Notícias Lisbon -
Catalonia: Artur Mas - the man with Spain’s future in his hands
2 October 201214387 Financial Times London -
Spain: Catalonia, a new headache for the EU
24 September 201259776 El País Madrid -
Spain: Madrid wants to speed up banking sector clean-up
29 August 2012434PresseuropCinco Días -
Spain: The German recipe
14 August 201212523 Le Monde Paris -
Eurozone: Spanish bailout is now inevitable
24 July 201229788 The Guardian London -
European Council: Monti and Rajoy sign away the sovereignty principle
2 July 201217942 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
Spain: Watch out for the Men in Black
5 June 20121208PresseuropABC -
Spain: Our hardest hour
5 June 201213813 El País Madrid -
Spain: Five hundred years of crisis
1 June 20121311208 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Banking crisis: Can Spain make a solo comeback?
29 May 201221243 El País Madrid -
Spain: Budgetary discipline will bear fruit
18 May 20125718 El Mundo Madrid -
Espagne: Banks confront the property bubble
9 May 20126129PresseuropEl País, ABC -
Spain: Mariano Rajoy loses some of his shine
10 April 201210276 El Mundo Madrid -
Spain: A record austerity budget
30 March 20121406PresseuropEl País -
Spain: We are building a “war economy”
28 March 201241550 El País Madrid -
Spain: The miracle that turned into a nightmare
1 August 20111013 El País Madrid -
Spain: Indebted regions demand stay of execution
27 July 2011PresseuropABC -
Spain: Madrid vs Barcelona in budget struggle
28 April 2011PresseuropEl País -
Spain: Green light for pension reform
28 January 20111PresseuropABC -
Spain: Madrid to part nationalise toxic cajas
25 January 2011PresseuropEl País -
Spain: Record unemployment - glimmer of hope
5 January 2011PresseuropABC -
Spain: And the next shock treatment goes to...
2 December 2010PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya -
Eurozone crisis: EU piles up pressure on Spain
26 November 2010PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
Spain: Dublin dunked, now make for Madrid
23 November 2010PresseuropEl Mundo -
Economic crisis: Madrid is not Athens (yet)
17 June 2010112 El Mundo Madrid -
Spain: Sick man of Europe not doing too badly
31 May 2010121 El País Madrid
The budgetary austerity zealously applied by Madrid has revitalised demands for independence in Barcelona. Engaged in a fiscal and economic power struggle with the central government, Catalonia is threatening to disrupt the social and regional equilibrium that underlies Spanish democracy. 
Not only is Spain in the midst of a devastating economic crisis, but it also faces the prospect of a constitutional one, after nationalist leader Arthur Mas, president of the autonomous Catalonia region, called an election widely considered as a plebiscite on independence. A profile. 
Catalonia, Spain's wealthiest and yet most indebted region is claiming the right not to pay for a central government brought low by debt, all the while brandishing the spectre of independence under Madrid’s nose. For Brussels this microcosm version of trouble the eurozone faces is the cause of much scepticism, as well as concern. 
Fighting back against the finanical crisis, Spain is adopting the German model and focusing on boosting its trade surplus through increasing exports. Its overseas sales have sharply increased, bringing a glimmer of hope – but only a glimmer as the country continues to wrestle with unemployment topping 5.5 million. 
Spain has a collapsing economy, an imploding property market, banks nursing colossal losses, and 10-year bond yields at 7.5%. It’s time to stop pretending that there won’t be a bailout, writes The Guardian’s economics editor. 
The agreement reached in Brussels on the initiative of Spain and Italy means one thing: three and a half centuries after its birth by the treaties of Westphalia, the nation-state can only survive by delegating sovereignty. 
The crisis afflicting the economy and the banking system have led Spain to the brink. But the country’s problems, like those of Europe, have the same origins: the dominance of national interests. The solution? New institutions built on political voluntarism. 
Spain has frittered away its chances for economic development for the second time. The first was after it discovered the Americas in 1492, and the second was after it joined the European Union in 1986. The anti-economic thinking that has dominated Spain is rooted in its history and culture. 
Assurances from the head of government cannot amount to much: victim of a severe banking crisis, Madrid will soon be forced to seek help in the EU. Like Ireland, it will then be placed on a drip-feed – and under guardianship. 
Faced with a further worsening of the financial crisis, Mariano Rajoy's government tries to give pledges to markets while demanding EU support. But when comparing his situation to those of Portugal and Greece, we realize that there is no alternative, says El Mundo. 
The Spanish Prime Minister is bringing in one austerity measure after the other to stave off the economic collapse of his country. But after seven years in opposition, he is finding it difficult to be entirely credible and effective, three economists argue. 
In the midst of deep recession and massive unemployment, with a higher than expected deficit and a general strike round the corner, Spain - despite reforms and deep budget cuts - is struggling to emerge from the crisis and is causing new concern within the euro area. 
The flamboyant economy of the noughties failed to survive the explosion of the financial bubble — a setback that early general elections announced for November are unlikely to remedy. 
Rumours has been spreading all week: Spain might soon ask its partners for a helping hand in fighting its debt and fighting off speculators. The government is doing everything possible to dispel doubts, but the pressure is still mounting. 
Spain’s image sparkled and shone in the boom years – more than it deserved. Now, in the crisis, it’s unduly denigrated, argues El País. Europe steps in
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European Council: Spectre of Spanish bailout
19 October 20127775 El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona -
Spain: Catalonia joins the shipwreck
25 July 20128331PresseuropEl País, El Mundo, El Periódico de Catalunya, La Vanguardia -
Spain: ECB is making things worse
23 July 201212044 ABC Madrid -
Spain: High price for financial aid
11 July 2012274PresseuropEl País, El Mundo -
Eurozone: No relief for Spain yet
9 July 20123621PresseuropEl País -
Spain: Relief and concern in Europe
11 June 2012771PresseuropDe Volkskrant, Les Echos, Die Welt & 2 others -
Spain: Rajoy wins first hand in euro-poker
11 June 201210668 El País Madrid -
Spain: Our time is nearly up
6 June 2012162166 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
Spain: ECB steps into banking sector reform
16 May 2012505PresseuropCinco Días -
Eurozone: Euro firewall could melt with Greek fall-out
15 May 2012651PresseuropFinancial Times -
Eurozone: How do you say “basta” in German?
26 April 2012503108 El País Madrid -
Eurozone crisis: Schadenfreude, mon amour
13 April 2012303165 El País Madrid -
Spain: EU gives Madrid hardest time of all
26 March 2012691PresseuropEl País -
Eurozone crisis: Spain disappointed by Eurogroup deficit demand
13 March 2012528PresseuropEl País -
European Summit: Spanish banks punished
27 October 20111PresseuropABC -
Spain: Germany green lights “Golden Rule”
2 September 2011PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
Spain: IMF piles on the pressure
22 June 2011PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya -
Espagne: Brussels turns spotlight on regional deficits
7 June 2011PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya
The banking union agreed by European leaders on 18 October is just one of a set of measures that also includes supervision of national budgets and a greater role for the ECB. And the goal of these manoeuvres is to determine if, and how, Spain will ask for help. 
The request for financial aid addressed to Spain’s central government by the region of Catalonia will further compound the debt crisis for the entire country. The press in Madrid and Barcelona points out that it has also highlighted the budgetary excesses of Spain’s regions. 
What with market pressures, nationwide anti-austerity demonstrations and regional government on the brink of financial collapse: the Spanish government doesn’t have much room for manoeuvre. And the ECB seems to be doing everything to force a full bail-out with outside supervision, laments an ABC writer. 
For weeks the European press has been speculating, not about the possibility of a bailout for Spanish banks, but about the date when such an initiative would be announced. On 9 June, the government in Madrid finally submitted a request to the EU for assistance in recapitalising Spain’s financial sector, which is struggling to cope with bad property loans. 
After denying for weeks that the Spanish banking sector needed help, the Madrid government has gone to the EU with cap in hand. And to convince the Germans to go along, it played a clever bluff. 
Until this week, Madrid thought it would have to wait for the Greek elections before getting any help to solve its national bank crisis. But panic is now growing with no easy solution in sight. 
Notwithstanding its social and political consequences, the Bundesbank and Angela Merkel's government are still advocating the austerity, which has been in force in Europe for the last two years. It is high time we stopped the damage, argues Spanish political analyst José Ignacio Torreblanca. 
The financial crisis is at Spain’s doorstep, and all the other European countries can do is rejoice that this fate has not befallen them. This sentiment, so well expressed by the German word Schadenfreude, puts Europe itself at risk, warns a Spanish political scientist. Life in a time of crisis
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Spain: Grannies and grandads fighting the crisis
26 October 201229715 Le Monde Paris -
Spain: Eurovegas won’t hit the jackpot
21 September 20128791 El País Madrid -
Spain: Workers’ cooperative defies crisis
29 August 2012263925 Público Madrid -
Back to Spain (3/3): Pepe is not here any more
10 August 201235138 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Back to Spain (2/3): Storming Barcelona’s banks
9 August 201233220 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Back to Spain (1/3): Everything revolves around the crisis
8 August 201228843 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Spain: Looking for a new team spirit
20 July 20129657 El País Madrid -
Emigration: Indignado generation finds happiness abroad
19 April 2012104913 Polityka Warsaw -
Spain: A thousand euros – a dream salary
13 March 20125226 El País Madrid -
Spain: Post-fiesta hangover in Valencia
7 March 201247821 Le Monde Paris -
Eurozone crisis: Euro-refugees get cold reception in Norway
15 February 201234935 El País Madrid -
Emigration: Population slumps in crisis stricken Spain
17 January 201266PresseuropEl Mundo -
Spain: Low-cost life for all
9 January 201234014 El País Madrid -
Spain: Paying with pesetas in Salvaterra de Miño
6 January 20121945 Le Monde Paris -
Social crisis: Spain losing the roof over its head
2 December 20114049 El Mundo Madrid -
Spain: Wealth gap wider than ever
31 October 20112PresseuropEl País -
Latin America: The Spanish brain-drain
24 June 20112222 El País Madrid
Picking up grandchildren from school, donating cash to balance their children’s household budgets, and taking time to demonstrate against the austerity policies advocated by Brussels: Spain’s abuelos have emerged as a pillar of strength in a faltering society. 
In 2016, a “European Las Vegas” should open outside Madrid. In response, Catalonia is launching Barcelona World, a super-park attraction. In Europe, however, these entertainment venues imported from America rarely live up to their economic promises. 
Unemployment is non-existent in Marinaleda, an Andalusian village in southern Spain that is prosperous thanks to its farming cooperative. In a country in the grip of austerity, the village mayor, Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, heads a grassroots resistance movement. 
What is going on in Spain? In the last part of his journey, Der Spiegel reporter Juan Moreno reaches his parents’ village in Spain where he realises that the crisis has profoundly changed the life of Spaniards, and of his family too. 
What is going on in Spain? In the second part of his journey in his parents’ country, Der Spiegel reporter Juan Moreno discovers ruined people’s anger against the banks. 
“What is going on in Spain?” wonders Europe and above all Germany. A Der Spiegel reporter, who himself is a son of Spanish immigrants, went back to his parents’ country and find out the origins of the crisis. 
On July 19, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated against the austerity policies of the Mariano Rajoy government. Today, when a leap forward is needed, the trust between Spaniards and those who govern them has broken down, deplores sociologist Fernando Vallespín.
Thousands of young people, often educated, are leaving Portugal and Spain. Europe doesn’t need them while Africa and South America receive them with open arms. 
When “milleurista” was coined in 2005 - a term denoting someone living on €1000 per month - it highlighted the plight of young workers with insecure, low-paid jobs. Today, with one out of two young people on the dole, becoming a “milleurista” has become something to aspire to. 
Regattas, Formula One racing, theme parks... During the economic boom, the Mediterranean port came to symbolise Spanish success in all its splendour. Now faced with the financial crisis and budget cuts, it has come to represent all of the country’s disillusionment. 
Fleeing unemployment, hundreds of Spanish are migrating to idealised Norway in search of work. Few have had much luck. Many have found only unemployment, cold and despair. Another chapter in the great crisis afflicting Spain. 
With the crisis in full swing, and pay packages as low as 1000 euros gross per month, there's no lifestyle choice other than that of austerity. It's a trend that's changing consumer habits. 
In response to the crisis, shopkeepers in Salvaterra de Miño have decided to once again accept the former national currency. And the customers, attracted by prices at the same exchange rate that applied at the launch of the euro in 2002, are flocking to the Galician village. 
Victims of unemployment, the housing bubble and bank loans too easily offered, thousands of families have been forced to abandon their homes. A symptom of the crisis that has rocked Spain, but also the crisis of a system in need of reform. 
Faced with record unemployment and poor job prospects, a generation of young Spaniards is decamping to the economic boomtowns of Latin America
Editorial
The austerity measures launched under the socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and maintained by his conservative successor Mariano Rajoy have not been enough to contain the consequences of Spain's housing bubble collapse. Sunk by too many toxic assets, Spain's banks must be recapitalized. But the state, with an asphyxiated economy, is struggling to raise funds, while refusing foreign aid. And Europe fears that an eventual bailout could sink the euro project.
