Fear that Spain's house price bubble is about to burst.

The Financial Times says that according to rating agency Standard & Poor's, Spanish corporate debt is at an historic high point, totalling 106 per cent of gross domestic product last year compared with a Eurozone average of 70 per cent. The surge follows a credit-driven acquisition spree at home and abroad. But banks that extended credit freely into the boom are now encountering problems in syndicating some of the riskier loans.