MADRID | July 8, 2015 | Fernando G. Urbaneja | Spanish bank Santander appointed a separate board of directors in Spain, independent from the Group board, which reports to shareholders and regulators. A new federal model that gives the eurozone’s largest lender by market capitalisation a structure in each one of the markets where it operates, in some cases under a local brand.
MADRID | July 5, 2014 | By Fernando González Urbaneja | It’s been one of the costs of the crisis: an internal wage devaluation. Over the last year and half of the economic recovery, with the country’ GDP growing more than one percentage point above the EU average, Spain managed to create almost a million new jobs, almost one-third of what was lost.
MADRID | June 15, 2015 | By Fernando González Urbaneja| Telefonica’s chairman confirmed the firm’s dividend strategy for the next two years at its recent AGM, subject only to the sale of its UK subsidiary O2.
MADRID | June 10, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Spanish unions and employers’ organisations signed a two-year-agreement this week to raise salaries, the first hike in three years. Both parties had been debating for months while the government, distant yet vigilant, recommended a raise combining purchasing power with productivity.
MADRID | June 2, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Executions of unpaid mortgages currently play a preferential role in Spanish politics.
MADRID | May 25, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | The conservative Popular Party has its worst election in two decades, losing a big chunk of power in cities and regions on Sunday. Corruption scandals and high unemployment resulting from the economic crisis severely punished traditional parties, which now need to form coalitions with emerging groups Ciudadanos and Podemos.
MADRID | May 19, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Telefonica’s first quarter results show a company which has reorganised over the last year, consolidating positions in its core markets of Europe and Latin America, where three benchmark countries Spain, Brazil and Germany account for two thirds of group income. It has a somewhat uneven presence in another 8 American countries, ranging from Mexico (4% of the business, without being market leader) to Argentina (9% of the business and market leadership).
MADRID | May 12, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | The show of confidence belies an economic weakness: half of Spain’s debt is in the hands of foreign investors. After the uncertainties leading up to the summer of 2012, they are once again stocking up their portfolios with Spanish securities.
MADRID | May 11, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | During the crisis, the Spanish state committed over € 50 billion to the country’s banks. Up to now it has recovered € 4 billion.
MADRID | May 9, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Spanish banks are still the central pillar of the Spanish stock market: seven lenders account for nearly 40 percent of the IBEX-35 index.