A collection of secondhand self-propelled aerial platforms, at the Ritchie Bros. auction sale of heavy construction equipment in Ocana, Spain, on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has been calling for central bank purchases of government bonds since taking office in December, has spent six weeks hesitating since ECB President Mario Draghi said Aug. 2 that any aid would have conditions attached.

Photograph by Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg