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| Spain's regions line up for central government bailout | Spain's regions line up for central government bailout |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Spain's regional governments have long made it clear that they cannot make it through the year without the help of a central government bailout. | Spain's regional governments have long made it clear that they cannot make it through the year without the help of a central government bailout. |
| Much of the €18bn (£14.2bn) on offer will end up on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast, with Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia at the front of the queue. | Much of the €18bn (£14.2bn) on offer will end up on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast, with Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia at the front of the queue. |
| They jointly need €9bn to cover deficit spending and the refinancing of existing debt this year. They may need a similar sum to tide them through 2013 and 2014. | |
| But several other regions may follow suit, with Castilla La Mancha – which posted the worst regional deficit of all last year – the most likely to need help. | But several other regions may follow suit, with Castilla La Mancha – which posted the worst regional deficit of all last year – the most likely to need help. |
| A political price must be paid. Regions that take bailout money but fail to meet a strict central government deficit target of 1.5% this year can have their finances taken over by the so-called "men in black" – finance ministry officials from Madrid. | A political price must be paid. Regions that take bailout money but fail to meet a strict central government deficit target of 1.5% this year can have their finances taken over by the so-called "men in black" – finance ministry officials from Madrid. |
| That would provoke outrage in Catalonia – a fiercely independent-minded region that already claims it pays too much into Spain's communal tax pot and that the bailout is simply a case of it getting its money back. | That would provoke outrage in Catalonia – a fiercely independent-minded region that already claims it pays too much into Spain's communal tax pot and that the bailout is simply a case of it getting its money back. |