Last week the Spanish government presented its Tourism Promotion Plan, to which over 4.250 billion euros will be assigned, mostly in the form of credits. Of the total amount of aid earmarked for the tourism sector, one of the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, 93%, or almost 4 billion euros, will be granted via loans. A further some 275 million euros will be granted in the form of direct transfers.
Investment funds have €40 billion to spend in the Spanish real estate market in the short and medium term, according to a survey carried out amongst 200 funds and investors by Cushman & Wakefield. Of the total interviewed, 51% expect to maintain their investment strategy in the coming months despite the virus. This compares to 33% who are reconsidering their risk profile and 16% who are evaluating different asset classes.
Bankinter | The US giant NextEra, the world’s largest electricity company by market capitalization, has been victorious in its long, multi-million dollar arbitration process against Spain regarding subsidies’ cuts which took place years ago. The Ciadi, the World Bank’s arbitration body, has lifted the suspension on the execution of the favourable award NextEra obtained a year ago. The award obliges Spain to pay 290M euros in compensation for the damage caused by the cuts decreed in 2014.
The Spanish government is launching a recovery plan to help the sectors most affected by the coronavirus crisis. These include the tourism and automotive industries, which account for 12% and 10% respectively of the country’s GDP. The first of which have been known details is the the Plan for the Promotion of the Automotive Industry Value Chain. It has a budget of €3.750 Bn, of which €1.050 Bn will be earmarked for the renewal of the fleet of vehicles in Spain. The aid will prioritize the most efficient models.
Funcas | The number of doctors per 100,000 inhabitants (388) is higher than in the Netherlands (358), France (316) and the UK (281). But it falls well short of Germany (425), which also has almost 2.5 times more hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants than Spain.
Bankinter | The rating agency justifies its decision on financial and external resilience, strong GDP growth in recent years and structural reforms. It also considers that the recent deficit reduction gives some confidence that, once the COVID-19 crisis is overcome, public debt will maintain a downward trend. It estimates GDP will see a decline of 9.6% this year and will grow 4.4% in 2021.
On Tuesday, the Treasury launched its first 20-year syndicated bond for a minimum amount of 10 billion euros, with demand reaching 78 billion. So it continues to advance in its programme of issues for 2020. This is the third time during the pandemic that the Treasury has made a syndicated issue. On March 24th it made a syndicated placement for 10 billion euros with a 7-year bond, and another on April 22nd for 15 billion with a 10-year syndicated bond.
Feel Capital | Until September, the government will have pay out over €39.4 billion euros in benefits to the more than 9.8 million pensioners in Spain, as well as to people claiming widowhood, permanent disability, orphanhood and family favour benefits. As a result, it will be forced to take extraordinary measures this summer after the emptying of the pensions’ piggy bank.
The number of unemployed in Spain increased by 26,573 people in May, compared to 282,900 the previous month and -84,075 in May 2019. This is the worst May figure in recent years, but it is a vast improvement on previous months (up 282,000 in April and up 302,265 in March).This may be enough to raise some optimism in the Spanish labour market. The labour market data for May also reflects an increase of 97,462 people registered with Social Security compared to the previous month.
Last Friday, the Government approved the minimum living wage, which will guarantee an income of between 461 and 1,015 euros for 850,000 Spanish households. The measure aims to reduce extreme poverty in the country by 80%. The government had planned to promote this measure during its legislature. But faced with the serious economic emergency resulting from the pandemic, it has decided to bring it forward.