Protracted crisis in Spain - The real estate crisis in Spain continued in 2012, as illustrated by the new fall in prices and numbers of properties sold. According to data from the Spanish National Institute for Statistics, the number of housing units sold fell by 11.3% in 2012, following the 17.7% fall in 2011. This fall, however, is the most moderate experienced over the past four years, after the real estate bubble burst in 2008 (falls of -24.9% in 2009 and -28.6% in 2008). 2010 was the...