A Basque case

摘要

Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, is a man with many problems. Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, wants European funds intended to rescue Spain's banks to be funnelled through government accounts, meaning that they will increase the country's already mushrooming national debt still more. Next month he will face both a general strike and elections in Catalonia, where separatism is on the rise. And he must soon decide if Spain needs a politically damaging bail-out.