But the immediate rush to trim deficits, some analysts now suggest, may be diverting attention from politically difficult structural decisions needed to clear the way for growth. These could include selling off public companies in Greece and consolidating Italy’s millions of small firms into more efficient enterprises. In Spain, it could mean curbing the power of trade unions.

“Spain’s is not a fiscal problem,” said Gail Allard, a professor of economics at Spain’s IE Business School. Like many analysts in Spain, Allard noted that the country’s overall debt level remains below the average for euro-zone nations.

But the financial crisis, which started in 2007, and the subsequent recession hit Spain’s banking industry hard. Real estate tax receipts, a major source of government revenue, fell sharply, and annual budget surpluses turned to deficits in excess of 10 percent of annual economic output. The overall debt level, which had been considered reasonable, began to increase fast.

Allard and other analysts agree that the government needed to take action. But they say the focus should have been on restoring growth by, for instance, revising labor policies that hamper investment and hiring, rather than on cutting deficits in an economy that was already reeling.