The chip will be required by Visa and MasterCard on all EU credit cards by 2005 as part of anti-fraud measures. But this requirement was just delayed for Spain until 2008 since most Spanish banks were having trouble making the systems and plastics changes on time. It is a HUGE project and expense for banks.

For example, credit cards now typically cost a bank about 1E to issue (i'm talking the piece of plastic only, not all the marketing, postage, and other costs). A credit card with a chip is about 5E - meaning banks costs will go up 5x for just the piece of plastic - not to mention the operational changes required