Why did Spain need financial assistance?

The disproportionate growth in the real estate sector, along with the expansion of credit to finance it, were the main reasons behind Spain’s economic imbalances. In the real estate sector, a spiral of growth in demand, prices and supply caused a major bubble, which burst when the impact of the international financial crisis was felt in Spain. The massive scale of loans for construction and property development caused an excessive exposure of the banking industry to those sectors. In particular, Spain’s savings banks (Cajas de Ahorros) were affected by solvency problems.

A restructuring process was started by the Spanish authorities in 2010. However, the economic downturn turned out deeper and longer than expected. The funding costs for Spain as well as Spanish banks significantly increased. These market conditions raised widespread concern that private and public resources would be insufficient to support the banking system with capital.