As part of the dreaded PIIGS faction, Spain and its stocks have been beaten up pretty badly in recent months. Year to date, the iShares MSCI Spain Index ETF (NYSE: EWP) has dropped by about 26%, much more than the 11% that iShares European Financials ETF has dropped as a whole.

However, European leaders announced that they would be publishing the results of bank stress tests to increase transparency, and to illustrate that the current debt crisis won't spiral out of control.

According to Bloomberg:

"European Union leaders agreed yesterday to disclose how banks perform on stress tests, seeking to show investors that the financial system can withstand shocks. The decision came after Spanish officials unexpectedly pledged to publish results on individual banks, the first European government to do so."

And on that note, Spanish shares traded on the American exchanges rebounded: Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) is up more than 3% in early trading, and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE: BBVA) is up more than 5%. Don't get me wrong; performing stress tests is a great thing. But let's hold back the applause until the results are in.