It is holiday time, but Madrid's streets are unusually busy for August. As fear grips Spanish consumers, one half of madrile-nos are hoarding euros and plan to stay at home to brave the cauldron of heat. Confidence has hit rock bottom, reflecting 25% unemployment and a double-dip recession that will drag on to 2013. Talk of an autumn bailout and worries that this might spark a wider euro-zone meltdown make Spaniards glummer. Spain's painful deleveraging process may last for years. Among mature economies, it has the third-highest total debt as a share of gdp-behind only Japan and Britain. Many Spaniards wish they had saved more and borrowed less before a property bubble burst four years ago.
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