Spain ended 2017 with a loss of price-competitiveness at an accumulated level in comparison with the EU (0.8%), as well as with the OECD (1.5%) and the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – (0.5%), according to the Index for the Trend in Competitiveness (ITC).
Talgo confirmed that Renfe has awarded it a 101 million euros contract to convert three of its ‘hotel trains’ currently not in use into High Speed AVE trains. These will be capable of travelling at 330 kilmotres per hour.
The cuts which the Economy Ministry want to implement in the distribution of gas to networks could amount to over 1 billion euros in three years. And this has set off the alarm bells amongst the big financial institutions and international funds, which have invested a lot in this sector in Spain
For the past eight years, Spain’s Social Security has been in the red: while revenue has increased by just 1.8% vs 2009, retirement pension spending is 54% higher than in 2009. Given this, “it is vital to define a new intergenerational social pact”, says CaixaBank’s experts.
Mapping out a horizon for Spain, and recovering a common project for the country, is just what the Círculo de Empresarios (Businessmen’s Association) is trying to do with its latest working documents. The Circulo has 225 members and celebrates its 40 anniversary this year.
The new upward cycle in the property sector seems to be consolidating. Positive proof of that is the fact that housing prices have been increasing for the last two years.
Spanish exports have seen solid growth over the past few years. Moreover the range of destinations has broadened and the products exported diversified. However, CaixaBank Research points that there is still one important issue to resolve: the complexity of exports.
Spanish households reduced their savings efforts marginally in the third quarter of 2017. Despite the Spanish banks’ attempts to offer positive returns on deposits against a backdrop of negative interest rates from the ECB, families are looking for greater returns from other kinds of financial assets like investment funds.
Nick Ottens via Atlantic Sentinel | The liberal Citizens party has risen to the top of the polls in Spain, receiving 26-27 percent support in two recent surveys against 23-25 percent for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative People’s Party.
An average user’s electricity bill rose 10.8% in 2017 from a year earlier, according to Facua-Consumidores en Acción (Consumers in Action). Whatsmore, Facua denounces the “brutal” 16% increase in tariffs for energy consumed.