The government took too long to create Sareb, the bad bank that bought toxic real estate assets from struggling banks. In other countries, real estate bubbles burst. In Spain, the Sareb was created in December 2012, and it named Belén Romana president. The tool was part of a set of conditions that the EU imposed on Spain before supporting the nation's financial sector bailout.
In its first year, Sareb met its goals because the overall economy improved, not because individual management was effective. In fact, the troika has questioned Sareb management and believes it is full of internal discord. The Sareb second in command, Walter Luna, just resigned. Romana has worked hard to cultivate a positive image instead of attracting investors. Ultimately, the Sareb's misguided management strategy makes sense, because its leaders were chosen based on their political ties and not their professional qualifications and were destined to forget that the tool's purpose is to recover the money that taxpayers gave to save the real estate sector.
