Bankruptcies soar in Spain

Madrid, Feb 8 (IANS/EFE) The number of Spanish firms and individuals declaring bankruptcy rose 13.3 percent last year to 6,755, the highest total since the country's bankruptcy law took effect in 2004, officials said Tuesday.

One in every three companies that went bankrupt in 2011 was in the construction or property business, according to a report from the National Statistics Institute.

Bankruptcies in Spain declined by 7.2 percent in 2010 after skyrocketing 80 percent the previous year as the economic crisis deepened.

More than 5,800 firms filed for bankruptcy last year, an increase of 16.7 percent over 2010, while individual bankruptcies dipped 3.9 percent to 934.

The 2008 global financial meltdown came as Spain was struggling to contain the damage from the bursting of a decade-long real estate bubble. The ensuing slump has led to numerous business failures and pushed the country's jobless rate to nearly 23 percent, representing 5.2 million people out of work.

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