With the Financial Times reporting that the European Union is in discussion with Spain about a bailout, CNBC discusses the ways in which Spain differs from the nations the EU has helped out to date, Ireland, Portugal and Greece.

For starters, Spain is much bigger, with a GDP larger than the combined GDPs of Ireland, Portugal and Greece. And its problem isn't an overhang of sovereign debt – in fact, its ratio of debt to GDP is lower than Germany's – but its troubled banking sector.

CNBC cites analysts suggesting the EU is giving Spain time to announce government cutbacks before a bailout is announced, so it doesn't seem as though the EU is telling it what to do. And it cites a Reuters story that says Spain's government is looking at freezing pensions and raising the retirement age.