Austerity Is Breaking Spain Apart

TWO RELATED crises, with striking parallels, are gripping Spain at the same time. The first is familiar from daily international headlines. Madrid urgently needs substantial EU help to shore up its shaky banking system, and to reassure sceptical bond markets to lend to the country at viable rates. But it also desperately wants to avoid the harsh conditions that come with a full-scale EU-European Central Bank- International Monetary Fund bailout. The second crisis is less visible abroad, but could have equally far-reaching consequences. The “State of Autonomies”, the system whereby 17 autonomous regional governments administer key public services, including education, health and justice, has been the basic structural glue of Spanish democracy for the last three decades. It now appears to be coming unstuck.