Spain's 1.58 Trillion Debt Reignites Bankruptcy Debate
Spain's debt hits 1.575 trillion euros, renewing fears of default and economic instability compared to 2017 levels.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Public debt nears 1.58 trillion: another bankruptcy warning
The discussion argues that Spain has received identical warnings for over a decade, yet reports fail to prevent the cycle from repeating. The latest episode antiestéticatures the Bank of Spain, whose risk alerts reopen a debate with significant traction: public debt, state spending, and the uncomfortable question of whether a country issuing its own currency can technically go bankrupt.
The thread notes that the cited piece is months old, fueling suspicion that the alarm is recycled. The underlying data remains constant. According to the cited figures, public debt was 1.183.412 million euros in 2017; by November 2022, it reached 1.575.475 million. One user calculates the debt at 32,600 euros per Spaniard. Dizzying figures. Yet the country remains standing.
The Bank of Spain's history of unfulfilled warnings
The Bank of Spain has years of warning about serious risks that never materialized, as noted in the thread. Cryptocurrencies, emerging economies' deterioration, the pandemic, a disorderly climate transition, or a capital control: the list of alerts is long, and the consequences, short. With this balance, it is no surprise that much of the analysis receives the new report with a shrug.
The underlying accusation is not that the regulator lies, but that it turns improbable scenarios into headlines. A serious risk is not a certain one. When you warn fourteen times of the wolf, the fifteenth loses force, even if the wolf exists.
State spending rises from 333 billion in 2004 to 637 billion in 2023
The debate becomes sharper regarding spending. Comparative series cited by a user show a sustained escalation:
Read cold, the numbers tell an uncomfortable story for everyone. The big jump occurs during the crisis years and has not been reversed since. That spending rises does not prove by itself that the country is sinking — roads, hospitals, and pensions cost money — but it does explain why debt does not fall: spending exceeds income.
The nuance matters. It is not the same to spend more because there are more people and services than to spend more without income keeping pace. The repeated criticism points to the latter and a public apparatus that grows without proportional improvements. There is the knot.
Risk premium at 7.71%: the precedent everyone returns to
The thread recalls that Spain's risk premium reached 7.71% and that a bailout, euphemistically called a banking rescue, was discussed. That episode is the proof used by those who believe the current warning is not rhetoric: we were already on the brink, and for less than what is owed today. The counter-argument is that this was overcome without leaving the euro or suspending payments.
Here coexist two readings of the same data. One argues that Spain has been technically bankrupt since 2008 and is only kept afloat because Brussels allows it. The other recalls that Brussels allows it, yes, and that this is also a fairly solid support.
Can a country that prints its own currency go bankrupt?
A state that borrows in its own currency has tools that an individual does not, and here enters the central bank's printer. The classic argument compares with the United States: stratospheric debt, but aircraft carriers to support it. Hence the recurring joke that printing money solves any bankruptcy.
The reverse is less friendly. Printing too much has a price, and this cuts the argument in half depending on who you ask.
Argentina, Greece, and Cyprus: the agitated mirrors
The repertoire of comparisons is broad: Argentina and its capital controls, Greece and its bailout, Cyprus and its bailout. Some recount cases of acquaintances who withdrew money from the country years before the Argentine capital control, and others directly plan the exit with capital safe in less than 48 hours. More imaginative schemes circulate as well, with urban tolls presented as an external condition for a covert bailout.
Underneath emerges a more ideological than economic thesis: that the ultimate goal is for the population to possess less and less and accept change without resistance. Sounds like a movie. What the cited data does show is that debt has grown between 2017 and 2022 and that state spending has risen since 2004.
If the warnings maintain the pattern of the last decade, this one will also end up diluted in the noise. The probability that the Bank of Spain is right is never zero, and that is the problem: no one wants to be the one who stopped listening just on the day it sounded true.
The discussion argues that Spain has received identical warnings for over a decade, yet reports fail to prevent the cycle from repeating. The latest episode antiestéticatures the Bank of Spain, whose risk alerts reopen a debate with significant traction: public debt, state spending, and the uncomfortable question of whether a country issuing its own currency can technically go bankrupt.
The thread notes that the cited piece is months old, fueling suspicion that the alarm is recycled. The underlying data remains constant. According to the cited figures, public debt was 1.183.412 million euros in 2017; by November 2022, it reached 1.575.475 million. One user calculates the debt at 32,600 euros per Spaniard. Dizzying figures. Yet the country remains standing.
The Bank of Spain's history of unfulfilled warnings
The Bank of Spain has years of warning about serious risks that never materialized, as noted in the thread. Cryptocurrencies, emerging economies' deterioration, the pandemic, a disorderly climate transition, or a capital control: the list of alerts is long, and the consequences, short. With this balance, it is no surprise that much of the analysis receives the new report with a shrug.
The underlying accusation is not that the regulator lies, but that it turns improbable scenarios into headlines. A serious risk is not a certain one. When you warn fourteen times of the wolf, the fifteenth loses force, even if the wolf exists.
State spending rises from 333 billion in 2004 to 637 billion in 2023
The debate becomes sharper regarding spending. Comparative series cited by a user show a sustained escalation:
- 2004: 333.000 million euros
- 2010: 493.000 million
- 2017: 480.000 million
- 2023: 637.000 million
Read cold, the numbers tell an uncomfortable story for everyone. The big jump occurs during the crisis years and has not been reversed since. That spending rises does not prove by itself that the country is sinking — roads, hospitals, and pensions cost money — but it does explain why debt does not fall: spending exceeds income.
The nuance matters. It is not the same to spend more because there are more people and services than to spend more without income keeping pace. The repeated criticism points to the latter and a public apparatus that grows without proportional improvements. There is the knot.
Risk premium at 7.71%: the precedent everyone returns to
The thread recalls that Spain's risk premium reached 7.71% and that a bailout, euphemistically called a banking rescue, was discussed. That episode is the proof used by those who believe the current warning is not rhetoric: we were already on the brink, and for less than what is owed today. The counter-argument is that this was overcome without leaving the euro or suspending payments.
Here coexist two readings of the same data. One argues that Spain has been technically bankrupt since 2008 and is only kept afloat because Brussels allows it. The other recalls that Brussels allows it, yes, and that this is also a fairly solid support.
Can a country that prints its own currency go bankrupt?
A state that borrows in its own currency has tools that an individual does not, and here enters the central bank's printer. The classic argument compares with the United States: stratospheric debt, but aircraft carriers to support it. Hence the recurring joke that printing money solves any bankruptcy.
The reverse is less friendly. Printing too much has a price, and this cuts the argument in half depending on who you ask.
Argentina, Greece, and Cyprus: the agitated mirrors
The repertoire of comparisons is broad: Argentina and its capital controls, Greece and its bailout, Cyprus and its bailout. Some recount cases of acquaintances who withdrew money from the country years before the Argentine capital control, and others directly plan the exit with capital safe in less than 48 hours. More imaginative schemes circulate as well, with urban tolls presented as an external condition for a covert bailout.
Underneath emerges a more ideological than economic thesis: that the ultimate goal is for the population to possess less and less and accept change without resistance. Sounds like a movie. What the cited data does show is that debt has grown between 2017 and 2022 and that state spending has risen since 2004.
If the warnings maintain the pattern of the last decade, this one will also end up diluted in the noise. The probability that the Bank of Spain is right is never zero, and that is the problem: no one wants to be the one who stopped listening just on the day it sounded true.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (219 replies).
More summaries
-
Woman's Face Burned by Homemade Flamethrower in France
An elderly woman in France was attacked with a homemade flamethrower. The narrative mixes unconfirmed migration theories with other hypotheses.
-
Madrid's 'jaranafilia': Four-hour queues for burgers
Four-hour waits for burgers and 200-meter lines for fritters turn Madrid into a mass phenomenon dividing locals and visitors.
-
Spain's Driving License Costs Range From €1,000 to €2,250
Getting a Category B license in Spain costs between under €1,000 in Oviedo and €2,250 in Palma. Madrid averages €35 per lesson.
-
Spain's police remove anti-Sánchez banner in minutes, squatters wait years
Spanish police swiftly removed an anti-Sánchez banner while property owners wait years to evict squatters, highlighting a perceived double standard.
-
Iranian driver without license kills two in Fuengirola crash
An unlicensed, intoxicated Iranian woman plowed into a restaurant terrace in Fuengirola, Spain, killing two and injuring ten.
-
Spain's solar surplus may face negative prices during grid saturation
In Spain, solar users report that exporting excess energy can incur costs during peak production hours, challenging the assumption of guaranteed savings from photovoltaic installations.