I must recognize I've had some fun with this thread. I was waiting to see the blame for the bail-out put on the Spaniards love of family or something like that, but I've been surprised by what I've found: my country labelled as Socialist!
Socialist (Social-Democrat) was my great-grandfather and he spent seven years in prison and forced labour as a result; Socialism was wiped out by 40 years of foreign-imposed dictatorship. Today, the central government is Christian-Democrat, as well as 14 out of 17 regional governments. And the only party in Parliament opposed to the bail-out has been... the Communist Party.
Actually, Government spending in Spain is quite low, 41.1% of GDP (USA: 38.9; UK: 47.3; Sweden: 52.5; France: 52.8); and social spending is the lowest in Western Europe.
You must take into account the peculiarities of the Spanish banking system: the bail-out is going mainly to the savings banks, not the commercial banks. The provincial savings banks have acted as the financial arm of the local elites, and they've financed lots of real estate developments; when the real estate bubble exploded, they were caught with their pants down.
Spain's future is gloomy. The euro has acted as a killer of the local industry, unable to compete with the Germans (as our only defense in the past was the devaluation of local currency). The local elites are acting more and more like 3rd world elites: they base their power on collaborating in the plundering of the country by foreign companies, rather than in developing it.
I leave an article in case someone is interested:
The crisis and fiscal policies in the peripheral countries of the eurozone: http://www.vnavarro.org/?p=6433&lang=en
Socialist (Social-Democrat) was my great-grandfather and he spent seven years in prison and forced labour as a result; Socialism was wiped out by 40 years of foreign-imposed dictatorship. Today, the central government is Christian-Democrat, as well as 14 out of 17 regional governments. And the only party in Parliament opposed to the bail-out has been... the Communist Party.
Actually, Government spending in Spain is quite low, 41.1% of GDP (USA: 38.9; UK: 47.3; Sweden: 52.5; France: 52.8); and social spending is the lowest in Western Europe.
You must take into account the peculiarities of the Spanish banking system: the bail-out is going mainly to the savings banks, not the commercial banks. The provincial savings banks have acted as the financial arm of the local elites, and they've financed lots of real estate developments; when the real estate bubble exploded, they were caught with their pants down.
Spain's future is gloomy. The euro has acted as a killer of the local industry, unable to compete with the Germans (as our only defense in the past was the devaluation of local currency). The local elites are acting more and more like 3rd world elites: they base their power on collaborating in the plundering of the country by foreign companies, rather than in developing it.
I leave an article in case someone is interested:
The crisis and fiscal policies in the peripheral countries of the eurozone: http://www.vnavarro.org/?p=6433&lang=en