SPAIN DECLARES BANKRUPTCY - OFFICIAL!

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SPAIN In  a move aimed at outmaneuvering  the banks and ratings agencies, which are on skeleton staff for the holidays, Spain's newly-appointed Secretary of State for Finance, Miguel Ángel González Alfonso-Díaz, made a surprise announcement last night - after the main newscasts - declaring that the country is officially bankrupt. The statement may not be a complete surprise to other members of the EU, but it comes in the wake of a tiny if significant glimmer of optimism in the world markets, which are expected to plunge once more following this announcement. Reaction has not been slow in coming, even in the early hours of this morning. One disheveled PSOE spokesperson (whose name we were unable to catch in time on the radio) said that her party was determined to>>>

Spanish bankruptcies reach record high

SPAIN (Agencies) The ongoing slump in the property sector and the persistent weakness of the economy after Spain's worst recession in living memory have driven a record number of households and companies to seek protection from creditors. According to figures released Monday by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, INE), the number of individuals and firms in bankruptcy proceedings climbed 5.9 percent in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier to 1,803, the highest figure since the INE began compiling the current series in 2005. The previous high was 1,762 in the second quarter of 2009, when the country was still in the throes of recession.>>>