Quote:

the Helsinki government would like shares in Spanish banks as a guarantee on funds it’s contributing toward their bailout

Quote:

Spain's economy minister, Luis de Guindos, has approved a new fund of up to €18bn to ease the regions' difficult funding situations:

Quote:

The fund will finance the autonomous communities on the basis of the funding costs of the Treasury plus a small spread. There is a guarantee that the regions will receive the funds (they need) but they keep the responsibility of paying them back.

The mechanism will be funded through a €6bn loan from the state lottery and the rest will come from the Treasury.

Quote:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/1....
Mon Jul 16, 2012

The IMF cut its growth forecast for the crisis-hit euro zone to 0.7 percent in 2013, while maintaining its projection of a 0.3 percent contraction this year. It said it now believes Spain's economy will shrink both this year and next....

Quote:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/1....
Tue Jul 17, 2012

(Reuters) - Europe's debt markets are not functioning properly due to the slow and complicated decision-making process in the euro zone, Spain's Economy Minister was quoted as saying in an interview with Spanish daily La Vanguardia.

"There are no (debt) operations between nations in the monetary union and practically the only demand for Italian debt comes from Italians," Luis de Guindos said.

"A similar thing is happening in France and Spain."

The minister added that investors outside the euro zone had no confidence in the euro.

"This renationalization of the capital markets is very negative," he said...

Quote:

GERMAN LAWMAKERS BACK SPAIN BANK AID BY 473 VOTES TO 97 VOTES

Quote:

Spain's protest movement grows, morphs as cuts bite

(Reuters) - A protest movement against the center-right Spanish government's latest austerity measures swelled on Thursday as public sector workers stepped up demonstrations in Madrid and around the country after more than a week of spontaneous action.

Quote:

With parliament, besieged for the last week, voting on a package of 65 billion euros ($79.38 billion) of spending cuts and tax hikes, civil servants stopped traffic and invaded ministries ahead of marches called by trade unions in more than 80 cities on Thursday evening.

Quote:

But since Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced the austerity steps last week there have been daily demonstrations drawing groups that have previously stayed away.

Quote:

On Thursday, policemen and members of the Civil Guard took the unusual step of joining the protests.

Quote:

we are preparing a huge march on Madrid, another one, to tell the government to make public reform and provide a more tolerable life, we are not going to tolerate them, what they want is to destroy us all, to destroy the country, we will not stand for this!!

Quote:

Huge protests against austerity cuts erupt in Spain

MADRID: Huge protests against crisis pay cuts and tax hikes filled the streets of Spanish cities Thursday evening as workers yelled in anger branding the crisis measures "robbery".

Unions called more than 80 demonstrations across the country, the latest and biggest in an almost daily series of protests this month, with workers yelling in anger at pay cuts and tax hikes.

"Hands up, this is a robbery!" protesters bellowed in Madrid, where a sea of demonstrators crammed the avenues of the city centre.

Quote:

"There isn't a shortage of money -- there are too many thieves,"

Quote:

Monti plans 'Greek-style' takeover of Sicily to avert default
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/finan....
18 Jul 2012

Mr Monti held an “urgent” meeting with the country’s president Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday to grapple with the constitutional issue after it emerged that the region faces a deficit of up to €7bn (£5.49bn) this year and is in danger of default without sweeping cuts.

Sicily’s regional councillor Andrea Vecchio warned that the island has run out of money. “I’m afraid we will soon no longer be able to pay civil servants’ salaries,” he said.

“The developments in Sicily are very serious,” said Prof Giuseppe Ragusa from Luiss University in Rome. “It is just the sort of negative shock we don’t want right now. Everything has to go perfectly for Italy to pull through.”

The full extent of Sicily’s crisis came to light just before Moody’s downgraded a string of Italian regions, cutting many to levels even lower than Sicily. Piedmont, Abruzzo, Calabria, Lazio, and Campania were all slashed. The City of Naples fell to junk status, plagued by “systemic pressure” from a deep social and economic crisis.

“We mustn’t let the disaster in Sicily infect Italy,’’ said Pier Ferdinando Casini from the liberal PDC party, leading a chorus of politicians and business leaders calling for a takeover along the lines of the EU-IMF troika operations in Greece....

Quote:

MIERES, Spain — Eight firemen posed in the nude in a Spanish town on Thursday to protest against sweeping new government austerity measures that include public sector wage cuts and tax increases.

The firefighters emerged one by one from their fire station in the northern town of Mieres near Oviedo wearing just their black helmets and boots and lined up side by side against a wall with their backs to the assembled press.
"With so many cuts we have been left naked," declared a banner on the wall above them.

Quote:

RISKS FOR THE GOVERNMENT

Messages on social networks like Twitter and mobile messaging service WhatsApp call for impromptu demonstrations that attract hundreds of people in various cities every day.

One message doing the rounds urges citizens to gather in the main squares of their cities on July 27 and says: "The Spanish people are sick of all politicians. Let's make history!"

The cabinet on Thursday approved a parliamentary motion categorizing "urban violence" as a specific crime, which could empower police to detain suspects preventively before being charged with the offence.

Quote:

Euro zone finance ministers approved an agreement on Friday to lend up to 100 billion euros ($123 billion) to Spain so it can recapitalize its banks, but the exact size of the loan will probably only be determined in September.

Quote:

As the government set out the spending limit for next year’s budget amid a surge in borrowing costs, Valencia said it would tap an emergency-loan fund created last week. Regions face about 15 billion euros of debt redemptions in the second half, with Catalonia and Valencia the most indebted states.

“Like other regions, Valencia is suffering the consequences of liquidity restrictions in markets as a result of the economic crisis,” the regional administration said on its website.

Spain created the 18 billion-euro bailout mechanism to help cash-strapped regions even as its own access to financial markets narrows.