The indebtedness of the autonomous regions has been constantly increasing since 1995, reaching record levels each year. This is despite the commitments to budgetary stability being frequently made in recent years.
In the first quarter of this year, Cataluña remains at the top of the list with debts of €42 billion. Next is Valencia with €21 billion, followed by Madrid with €16.5 billion and Andalucia with €15.3 billion.
The total debt of all the communities in the first quarter of 2012 is €145 billion. The Central Government owes €592 billion and the local authorities owe nearly €37 billion.
No community has reduced its debt from last year and there have been some big increases, such as Navarra up by 45%, the Basque Region up by 35.1% and Murcia up by 30.1%.
Even the least indebted region, La Rioja, owes nearly one billion euros.
Cataluña’s debt represents 21% of its GDP, Andalucia’s represents 10.6% of GDP. The average debt/GDP percentage is 13.5%.