by Calculated Risk on 5/25/2012 02:35:00 PM

From the NY Times: Spanish Lender Seeks 19 Billion Euros; Ratings Cut on 5 Banks

Standard & Poor’s slashed its ratings on the creditworthiness of five Spanish banks on Friday, just as one of them — Bankia, the nation’s largest real estate lender — requested an additional 19 billion euros in rescue funds from the country, far beyond initial government estimates.

From the Financial Times: Spain to inject up to €19bn into Bankia

Madrid’s biggest bank nationalisation will take the total amount of state aid pumped into Bankia to €23.5bn, and will give the government as much as 90 per cent control of Spain’s second largest bank by domestic deposits. ...
Artur Mas, president of Catalonia, [said] the region was running out of options to refinance its debts, and wanted assistance from Madrid.

The Spanish 10 year bond yield is up to 6.31%.