THE EU / SPAIN / PORTUGAL : "Debt Denial" In Madrid, Lisboa As Bondholders Bet... Against EU Success.

GUARDIAN/ ANALYSIS / P. INMAN/

   "Spain is in deep trouble. Ahead of a planned refinancing of its banking sector, the ratings agency Moody's has downgraded the country's debt.
    As far as the markets are concerned, the entire Iberian peninsula is overburdened with debt. Portugal is already considered a sure-fire future candidate for a European bailout. Spain, which has considered itself too big to fail, could be closer than it thinks to a rescue."

AND: "The problem lies in Brussels, Paris and Berlin, where political leaders are fighting over plans to introduce a bigger and better bailout facility for troubled sovereign states coupled with more stringent measures that would force them to reduce their debts at a faster pace.
      European Commission officials have sent out the same message as they did last year before the Greek crisis: they say the market exaggerates the size of the problem. In an attempt to make a virtue out of the stalemate, they say only minor changes to the bailout mechanism need to be agreed at a final meeting on 25 March."