Pedro Solbes, the Spanish finance minister, and the Bank of Spain, the central bank, moved to calm financial markets on Monday, saying no Spanish banks had sought emergency financing from the European Central Bank.

Spanish bank shares fell sharply on fears that an international credit squeeze might damage the lending activities and profitability of financial groups.

The share sell-off followed a British press report quoting Adam Applegarth, chief executive of Northern Rock, the beleaguered UK mortgage lender, as saying that three Spanish banks had sought ECB help last week.