No comparison between Spain and Ireland, minister states

Individuals looking to buy property in Spain will be encouraged by recent comments from the country's economy minister.

Earlier this week Elena Salgado rejected any suggestion of a comparison between the Spanish economy and that of Ireland.

She explained that the country has "absolutely no" need to apply for a bailout and was taking sufficient measures to avert a debt crisis, Reuters reports.

Spain's borrowing costs have soared this year as investors worry that its high deficit and its banks' exposure to bad loans from a property boom and bust could eventually push it into a Greek or Irish-style debt crisis.

"The main thing when comparing with Ireland is that our financial sector is strong. Not only have the stress tests shown that, but we designed a fund to help merge savings banks, of which only 11 billion euros has been drawn," Reuters cited Ms Salgado as saying to RNE radio.

Meanwhile, the economic turbulence has meant that prices for new and existing homes in Spain have fallen dramatically over the past few years.

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