Figures released by the Bank of Spain show that the country's public debt soared to a record high at the end of 2011.
Public debt amounted to €734.96 billion, equal to 68.5% of annual economic output at the end of 2011, having risen from 61.2% at the end of 2010.
Spain's conservative government, which took power in December, has yet to announce a new public debt target.
Spain had agreed to cut its annual public deficit to 6.0 percent of GDP in 2011 but it overran that target by a wide margin and ended up reporting a deficit of 8.51 percent of GDP.
After winning a slight relaxation from Brussels in its goals for this year, Spain is now aiming for an annual deficit of 5.3 percent in 2012 and 3.0 percent in 2013.
