Debt-ridden regions weigh on Spain

AFP: Debt-ridden regions weigh onSpain: "Spain's crisis-struck regions have rolled up a combined 105-billion-euro debt, heightening concerns about the prospects for the entire country's finances.
Senior members of Spain's Socialist government have stressed over past days that the Spanish economy is not the same as that of Ireland, which is being thrown a lifeline worth 85 billion euros (113 billion dollars).
'Of course we are not the same,' said the conservative daily ABC in an ironic commentary.
'Ireland has one state. One. Spain, 17. With all the insane multiplication of expenses that entails.'
The 17 Spanish regions have considerable autonomy, with the right to issue bonds to finance their expenses.
They account for around one-third of general government expenditures -- and just over half of the nation's total number of civil servants.
Now they are collapsing under a debt load of 105 billion euros."

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