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Articles by Ana Fuentes

About the Author

Ana Fuentes
Columnist for El País and a contributor to SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), was the first editor-in-chief of The Corner. Currently based in Madrid, she has been a correspondent in New York, Beijing and Paris for several international media outlets such as Prisa Radio, Radio Netherlands or CNN en español. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master's in Journalism from Spanish newspaper El País.
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World economy 19th March 2014

Fiware: EU’s challenge to build the future Internet

SEVILLE | By Ana Fuentes | When it comes to innovation and data management the U.S. is the absolute global leader. But Brussels wants to make up for many years of sitting on its hands: the cake is too yummy to allow Amazon or Google to eat it all. Fiware, a tech platform born from a public-private partnership, aims to finance an open ecosystem for SMEs to develop innovative projects. The budget for the best ideas is 100 million euros, way less than the American big firms are investing. But Spanish entrepreneurs eager to leave the crisis mood behind insist it’s worth to give it a try.

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In Europe 12th March 2014

Soros: “German Parliament Imposed Wrong Discipline On Spain”

MADRID | By The Corner Team | Greek billionaire, investor, philanthropist and speculator Geoge Soros is well known for his pessimissm towards the euro and his enthusiasm for getting headlines. During a visit to London for his book tour, he made a case against the excess of austerity in the eurozone and critizised the recipes imposed by the German Parliament on its neighbours like Spain.

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World economy 10th February 2014

“The risk of a tech stocks bubble is greater but there are pockets of opportunity”

NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Is there a risk bubble in the tech stocks? For Jonathan Cohen, CEO of TIIC Capital, a company focused on corporate debt investments, there is indeed, and it’s greater than before. However, one can still get very lucky since there are real businesses making real profits. He gives us his recipe for picking stocks and debt issues, although he confesses their “forecast for 2014 is uncertainty.”

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In Europe 7th February 2014

Royal Drama and Gürtel Case Stir Debate Over Corruption In Spain

MADRID | By Ana Fuentes and Julia Pastor | It’s been five years since the Gürtel case, the major corruption scandal that has rocked Spanish politics -187 people, 78 of them political figures and 61 businessmen targeted- . The same week, and for the first time in the country’s history, a direct member of the Royal family will testify before a judge on Saturday, over accusations of tax fraud and money laundering. Is Spain a more corrupt country than its neighbors or transparency is reigning at last? An interesting question as two major media moguls (El Mundo and La Vanguardia) known for speaking up have been relieved from their posts.

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World economy 5th February 2014

Italy Accuses Rating Agencies of Ignoring Its Patrimony- Should Spain, Greece Join In?

OP-ED By Ana Fuentes | Italy’s Corte dei Conti has opened an investigation against rating agencies for unjustified downgrading of the country in 2011 and 2012. S&P, Fitch and Moody’s face a potentially huge claim of €234bn for not considering Italy’s contribution to the world’s cultural patrimony. Will other countries follow Rome? Should the Parthenon or the Alhambra be taken into account when deciding Greece or Spain sovereign debt value?

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World economy 13th January 2014

Spanish Economic Recovery Gets Credit in Washington

NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | In an eagerly awaited meeting for the Spanish government, PM Mariano Rajoy made his first official visit to the White House on Monday. As expected, Barack Obama praised the progress and reforms made by the Southern European economy, although both leaders agreed unemployment rate is still posing a major challenge. Later, Mr Rajoy also met IMF’s Head Christine Lagarde. After two hard recession years, and even more painful austerity measures, Spain is looking to restore international investors’ confidence.


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Spanish economy 10th January 2014

JPMorgan: “Spain is Back”

NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Spain is coming back stronger the playing field, according to JPMorgan. In a report titled ‘Spain is back’, released on Friday, the financial institution predicts that the Southern European economy will grow by 1 per cent on 2014, based on “encouraging” results in industrial production, exports and consumer spending and confidence.That is 0.3% more than what the Spanish Government itself expects, 0.5% more than both S&P and the European Commission forecast and 0.8% more than the IMF experts said in October.

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World economy 10th January 2014

Is France the Euro Zone’s New Bashing Victim?

Op-ed by Ana Fuentes | We no longer hear about ‘Spailout’ nor ‘Grexit’, but there seems to be a euro zone’s new victim: France. A Newsweek magazine article called ‘The fall of France’ wondered about the Hexagone’s economic health and how it may be a burden for the EZ’s recovery. The problem is, some of the stated facts were wrong. French media are striking back.