The cultural center still has no bathrooms. The nursing home, a whitewashed building sits on the edge of town, still unopened. Together, they account for some $470,000 of debt owed to the bank. But the rest of the debt is mostly the unpaid bills of a town that was not keeping up with its expenses. It owes for medical supplies, for diesel fuel, for road repair, for electrical work, for musicians who played during holidays.

Image Much of the village's debt involves day-to-day expenses. Credit... The New York Times

Money comes in now and again, the mayor said, from taxes or from the central or regional government. But usually it has to be spent immediately. The last administration, for instance, used European Union money to offer adult education courses, he said. But the program did not attract enough participants. The town recently had to pay a $34,000 fine for that.

The town also took European Union money to expand the cafe at the local swimming pool. But the money was spent before the work was even begun, and the town has been fined for that, too.

Mr. García says he hears from suppliers every day, begging to be paid. A lot of them are barely surviving. “They say, ‘Please, please,’ ” he said. “They are our neighbors. We know them.

“If we don’t pay the oil guy, the school won’t have heat. There isn’t a lot of profit margin for that guy. If he is not paid, we are making him pay for our needs.”

Higuera de la Serena is not completely without workers. It still has a half-time librarian, two half-time street cleaners, someone part-time for the sports complex, a secretary and an administrator, all of whom are paid through various financing streams apart from the town. But the town once had a work force twice the size. And when someone is ill, volunteers have to step in or the gym and sports complex — open four hours a day — must close.

The volunteers wear badges while they work just so that no one thinks they are being paid. There is a lot of suspicion around the town’s finances, a sign of the times, some residents say. Scandals are popping up all over Spain. Even the king’s son-in-law is under investigation, accused of diverting public money for his own use.