Even as the Spanish (and Italian) sovereign bond market foundered in July, hitting record yields following stark realizations just how insolvent Spain is, a more sinister development was taking place: Spanish banks, completely disconnected from the funding needs of the sovereign, were receiving a daily bailout from the ECB to the tune of over €1 billion. As the Bank of Spain released hours ago, in July Spanish banks borrowed a record €375.5 billion from the ECB, a new record, and a €38 billion increase from June. Sadly, as the red line in the chart below demonstrates, the parabolic increase in Spanish bank borrowings ... (full story)