Spanish consumer appliance giant Fagor files for protection

The Spanish consumer appliance company Fagor filed for protection from creditors on Wednesday to allow it time to refinance its debt.

The fifth largest European consumer appliance company has four months to reach a deal under Spanish bankruptcy rules. It’s total debt reportedly stands at 1.1 billion euros.

Fagor has suffered liquidity problems since 2009 when annual sales of 1.17 billion euros dropped by a third since 2007. This coincided with the sudden end of Spain’s 10-year real estate bubble, which triggered five years of economic recession.