Topic: Spain

The Spanish contestant in the pan-European singing show “Eurovision” has said her crisis-hit country would struggle to host the next event if she were to win the competition, according to various reports.

Many government and corporate workers in Spain  are  looking for safer havens for their money, transferring their spare cash to stronger euro zone countries like Germany “on a daily basis.” The NYT reports.

Shares in Spain's fourth-biggest lender Bankia SA were suspended on the Madrid stock exchange on Friday, ahead of an evening announcement when the bank is expected to ask the state for a rescue of more than 15 billion euros ($19 billion).

French President, Francois Hollande has cast himself as the European leader pushing hardest to forge a growth-oriented “new path” through the euro zone’s grinding debt crisis, pitting him against the austerity-minded German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the New York Times reports.

Ever wondered why European politicians appear so calm when attending summits in Brussels or G8 meetings despite all the talk of a “Grexit” and economic Armageddon?

"He is not in a confrontational mindset. He didn't arrive brandishing a
Kalashnikov and saying 'you must accept euro bonds'," one aide said. "It's a
different approach."

Spanish banks are likely to need more money from the government to make sure they are well capitalized, Moritz Kraemer, head of European Sovereign ratings at S&P, told CNBC on Wednesday.

The continuing decline in the European economy is a "concern" for Nissan but it is somewhat offset by growing markets in Russia, China, “and even in the United States,” Andy Palmer, Nissan’s executive vice president, told CNBC's 'Squawk Box' on Wednesday.

Europe is entering a new normal, where higher bond yields for peripheral countries like Italy, Spain, and Portugal are here to stay, according to David Nowakowski, director of fixed income strategy at Roubini Global Economics.

Germany dismissed a French-led call for euro zone nations to issue common bonds, a day before a European Union leaders' summit which investors are looking to for new measures to counter the bloc's debt crisis.

Spanish banking stocks saw some relief early on Tuesday after heavy continued losses on Monday on concern about the banks' property losses.

European stocks are likely to remain under pressure, and the euro is seen breaking technical support levels, as Greece's inconclusive election results look increasingly likely to push it out of the euro zone, according to market experts and analysts.

Despite efforts at official reassurance, no one really knows the consequences of a Greek exit from the euro zone, or how rapidly big countries like Spain and Italy, and their banks, will feel the effects, The New York Times reports.

World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalizing a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe's debt crisis.

Spanish bank bad loans rose in March to their highest in 18 years, figures from the Bank of Spain showed on Friday, underscoring the problems facing the government as it attempts to clean up the sector and get its economy back on track.