One of Spain's largest property groups, Sacresa, said Monday it has filed for protection from its creditors faced with debts of 1.8 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars).

Spanish media said it was the third largest such filing in the real estate sector, which collapsed in 2008 after a decade-long boom, following those of Martinsa and Habitat.

Sacresa, based in the northeastern region of Catalonia, said it took the action after its 15 creditor banks rejected a debt restructuring plan put forward by the group.

The bursting of the property bubble plunged the Spanish economy, Europe's fifth-largest, into its worst recession in decades and has sent the unemployment rate soaring to more than 20 percent.