Madrid's central banker blamed for woes Spain's ruling party attacked the country's central banker on Thursday, accusing him of failing to manage the forced consolidation of Spain's banks in response to the financial crisis. The remarks follow the €4.5bn partial nationalisation of Bankia on Wednesday, and sparked claims that politicians were seeking a scapegoat for the banking crisis. Vicente Martinez-Pujalte, economy spokesman for the ruling Popular party, criticised Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez, governor of the Bank of Spain, for failing to identify the problems among Spain's banks in his role as their supervisor. "There is a governor of the Bank of Spain that, despite being able to count on some magnificent professionals, has not done a good job," Mr Martinez-Pujalte said in an interview with Madrid regional television. He accused the Bank of Spain of forcing inappropriate mergers, resulting in Bankia's nationalisation. "The Bank of Spain obliged Rato [former Bankia chairman] to take charge of Bancaja with data that at best were not exact," Mr Martinez-Pujalte said, referring to the merger between Caja Madrid and the troubled Valencian savings bank Bancaja that formed the bulk of Bankia. Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Madrid region for the PP, echoed the criticisms, saying the bank mergers that resulted in Bankia were "badly done" and raised "big questions" about the central bank governor. The criticism of Mr Fernández Ordóñez comes as officials and bankers have noted that Spain's central bank had become increasingly sidelined by Luis de Guindos, minister of finance and the former head of Lehman Brothers in Spain who was the driving force behind this week's Bankia intervention. A senior Spanish banker accused the Popular party of targeting Mr Fernández Ordóñez for political reasons.The PP had strong ties to Bankia, where Rodrigo Rato, a former PP economy minister, was chairman until this week. "The stakes are so high right now that the politicians need to look for guilty parties," the banker said. Yes, you can blame the Bank of Spain, but they are opening a Pandora's box. The market regulator, investment banks and many others can all be labelled as culpable. Mr Fernández Ordóñez, in charge since 2006 and due to stand down this year, was an appointment of Spain's previous socialist government and a member of the Socialist party. He has praised the progress in tackling Spain's banking crisis so far, which has involved reducing the number of banks and savings banks from more than 50 to 11 in less than three years, and forcing the sector to set aside €88bn of provisions, excluding those expected to be announced on Friday.