Local politicians, who have a big say in their cajas, do not want to lose power.
The people who set up the failed cajas are now in prison for fraud.
Any sign that the cajas can raise money without government support would also help.
The market shutdown reflects uncertainty over the extent of restructuring needed for the cajas.
Spain's savings banks, the cajas, can buy other banks, but are themselves protected from takeover.
The delay in sorting out the cajas adds to the sense of drift.
But with listed Spanish banks already cheap, cajas would have to sell shares for a song to attract interest.
The problems of the Spanish cajas show that a financial system with lots of small banks is not necessarily safer.
Savings banks (cajas) are undergoing a thorough restructuring: complex mergers to cut costs have shrunk their number from 45 to 17.
Many banks in Europe also needed to be bailed out, including Commerzbank in Germany and the local "cajas" (savings banks) in Spain.
Some cajas (savings banks) are heavily exposed to construction and housing loans.
All cajas are to be grouped into federations, to make regulation easier.
The cajas first appeared in 1951, the idea of two brothers, both Catholic priests, who were inspired by a similar system in Quebec.
Restructuring of the cajas is prone to hiccups, as the recent break-up of Banco Base, a planned merger of four savings banks, shows.
When the big two banks put the brakes on in 2006-07, the cajas continued lending more keenly, tapping wholesale debt markets to fund themselves.
Another worry is that, although the big Spanish banks look strong and well-capitalised, the same cannot be said of the savings banks or cajas.
If more Mexicans are brought into the financial system, and if the cajas shed their whiff of corruption, then both cajas and customers will benefit.
Most bankers expect the cajas will have to go through another round of consolidation in the next few months, perhaps helped by more government money.
Those who believed the 2010 merger of seven savings banks, or cajas, laden with toxic property would transmute into a solid new bank were wrong.
Bansefi will provide the cajas with professional training and technical help.
Stronger banks and cajas have also been able to borrow from the wholesale markets, even if only at high rates and, in some cases, using state guarantees.
Spain's cajas are mutually owned and controlled by a mix of depositors, employees and local politicians, and they distribute a big chunk of their profits to local causes.
"En mi casa trajeron cuarenta cajas para empacar", dijo otro.
One older partner in Ahualulco thinks some of this spirit might go once the cajas come under central control and the biggest offer much the same services as banks.
But a number of cajas, representing as much as 12% of the financial system by assets, are shut out of the markets, according to Analistas Financieros Internacionales, a consultancy.
Recent frauds, although few, have stained the cajas' reputation.
Although there may be some deals among Spain's smaller banks or the cajas (savings banks), which are owned by local governments, these are small and, on an international scale, of little significance.
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