Disillusionment was spreading in Spain today over the state of the country's economy, after the government and opposition failed to reach a wide-ranging agreement to prevent Spain from drifting towards a Greek-style debt crisis, dpa reported. The Madrid stock exchange recovered from an earlier two-day plunge, with the Ibex 35 index going up 1.3 per cent by the early afternoon, but citizens' confidence in politicians remained low. Zapatero and Rajoy agreed to speed up the restructuring of savings banks to ease the credit flow to businesses, and backed the European Union's bailout measures for Greece. That was an "insufficient" result, as a wide-ranging agreement is needed to revive the economy, the daily El Pais wrote. The daily El Mundo accused the government of avoiding necessary budget cuts for fear of trade-union protests, warning that Spain was at risk of drifting into a Greek-style "dramatic situation." Politicians meanwhile continued trading accusations, with Third Deputy Premier Manuel Chaves accusing Rajoy's People's Party (PP) of trying to profit politically from the crisis. The PP's Esteban Gonzalez Pons slammed Zapatero as an "ingenuous boy scout" who "whistles while the economy collapses." -- SPA
