Spain, Cyprus Request Bailout Aid

Spain and the small island of Cyrus formally became the fourth and fifth countries to request aid from the euro zone’s bailout funds Monday, extending a casualty list in a protracted regional debt crisis that is threatening to break up the 17-nation currency bloc. Spain struck an agreement this month with the 16 other euro-area members to ask for as much as 100 billion euros ( US$125.7 million) from European Union bailout facilities, specifically to recapitalize a number of regional banks that have been devastated by the explosion of a real-estate bubble. Neither Spain nor Cyprus specified Monday how much each will ask for, and Spain didn’t provide new details on conditions that are likely to be attached, according to a copy of the request sent by the Finance Ministry. However, it said it hopes to complete an agreement on terms by July 9.