Spain news stories on Newser

Spanish Bank on the Brink as Run Fears Grow

Mark Russell — Sat, 26 May 2012 05:38:20 CDT

Spain's banking crisis grew sharply worse yesterday, as officials at Bankia, the country's leading mortgage lender, said it would need an additional $24 billion, reports the New York Times . The move effectively nationalizes the troubled bank, just two weeks after the government took over 45% of Bankia , and single-handedly would...

Christopher Columbus: Secretly Jewish?

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:03 CDT

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer from Genoa, right? Not according to a recent round of scholarship, which portrays him as secretly Jewish and seeking a new land for his people during the Spanish Inquisition, CNN reports. Evidence suggests that Columbus was a "Marrano," meaning he secretly practiced Judaism to...

Rumors of Bank Run in Spain Trigger Stock Plunge

Rob Quinn — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:09:22 CDT

These are nervous times in Europe. Shares in Bankia, a Spanish bank partly nationalized by the government last week , plunged 30% at one point yesterday following reports that customers had withdrawn more than $1.3 billion over the last week, reports Reuters . Bankia shares recovered some ground after the government...

Spain's Queen Sofia Snubs Brit Jubilee Over Gibraltar

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:14:04 CDT

Spain's Queen Sofia is dumping her planned trip to Britain to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in a long-simmering snit over Gibraltar. It's "hardly appropriate" for Sofia, 73, to attend lunch at Windsor Castle tomorrow in light of the two nations' tensions over the territory, noted a statement from the...

As Thousands Protest, Spanish PM Backs Austerity

Sun, 13 May 2012 09:51:08 CDT

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy today defended his government's harsh austerity measures aimed at correcting Spain's grim economic forecast, one day after tens of thousands of Spaniards took to the streets in protest of his handling of the country's worst crisis in decades. Rajoy said the measures were "necessary" given Spain's...

Spain Takes Over 'Poster Child' Bank

Rob Quinn — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:18:05 CDT

Merging seven struggling banks in Spain appears to have created a big, struggling bank instead of the healthy institution authorities were hoping for. The Spanish government is now grabbing a controlling 45% stake in Bankia, the nation's fourth-largest lender and the one with the most exposure to the country's shell-shocked...

Cops Track New Maddy Clue

Polly Davis Doig — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:29:24 CDT

On the heels of its announcement that Madeleine McCann could still be alive , Scotland Yard is following up on a report that a child matching her description was spotted by a tourist at a Spanish campsite a few days after her 2007 disappearance. Accompanied by a German couple and two...

Spain Sinks Back Into Recession

Mark Russell — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:47:05 CDT

Hot on the heels of Britain's slide back into recession , now Spain is officially in its second recession in three years, reports the BBC . Spain's National Statistical Institute said the economy shrank 0.3% last quarter, following a 0.3% contraction in the fourth quarter of 2011. As bad as...

Nun, 80, Charged in Church-Linked Baby-Snatch Ring

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:48:46 CDT

An 80-year-old nun has been busted in Spain for her role in a massive Catholic church-linked baby-theft ring, according to investigators. The ring took babies from hundreds of poor or unwed mothers dating back to the 1980s and sold them into adoption, say officials. Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena, the first...