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The agreement on the minimum wage and the relative success of the trip to Catalonia encourages the new government

Spanish Politics 13th February 2020

The Minimum Wage And The Trip Of Sánchez To Catalonia Encourages The New Government

Joan Tapia (Barcelona) | The PSOE-Podemos Coalition Government has not failed to confront its two main challenges: economic policy and Catalonia. However, now comes the most important issue: to approve the national budget for 2020 for which it needs a vote in favour of ERC. This time the abstention of ERC is not enough, as in the case of the investiture, which was achieved in exchange for the establishment of a dialogue between the governments of Madrid and Barcelona.

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Spanish Politics 11th February 2020

Open Letter: “Mr. Zapatero, Stop Embarrassing Spain And The European Union” Asks A Spanish MEP

According to Spanish press (Periodista Digital, etc.) Beatriz Becerra, vice-chair of the European parliament’s human rights sub-committee and a member of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE Group), has published an open letter against the former Spanish President, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, of the Socialist Party (PSOE) after reading the message Zapatero sent privately to Juan Guaidó and other leaders of the Venezuelan opposition.

Spanish tourism in the Mediterranean: the re-emergence of Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey altered the playing field

Spanish economy 10th February 2020

Spanish Tourism In The Mediterranean: The Re-emergence Of Egypt, Tunisia And Turkey Altered The Playing Field

CaixaBank Research | Spain’s boom in international tourism between 2011 and 2016 coincides with a long period of instability suffered by Egypt and Tunisia following the Arab Spring of 2010, as well as the episode of insecurity suffered by Turkey between 2015 and 2016. This reduction in competition for Spain helped its number of international tourist arrivals to rise at a considerably fast rate of 6.1% per year. This beneficial situation for the Spanish market came to an end in 2018 as we explain here.

Spain Catalonia

Spanish Politics 9th February 2020

The Talks On Catalonia’s Future Will Neither Fly Nor Sink

J.P. Marín Arrese | Both parties at the negotiation table are fully aware the bilateral talks will lead nowhere. Madrid cannot concede self-rule to Catalonia. Its independentist counterpart won’t accept anything short of that. Thus, discussions will become bogged in shallow waters, unable to provide the slightest chance to float. Yet, they will neither collapse nor sink, as long as the pragmatic ERC Party holds the line.
Spain tourism

Spanish economy 6th February 2020

Spanish Foreign Tourism Hits New Record With 83.7 M Visitors In 2019 And A Spending Rising 2.8%

Bankinter | According to INE (Spanish Statistical Office) 83.7 million foreign tourists visited Spain last year, an increase of 1.1% over 2018. Their spending also broke a record, rising 2.8% to €92.278 million. Among the main tourist destinations, the ones that did well were Madrid +7,0%, the Autonomous region of Valencia +3,9% and Andalusia +3,4% and the ones that didn’t were The Canary Islands -4,4% and the Balearic Islands -1,2%.

spain government now what

Spanish Politics 5th February 2020

Spain Has A government, Now What?

Rubén Segura-Cayuela (BofA Global Research) | Spain finally has a government, although with a razor-thin majority. This will be a coalition government comprised of the centre-left PSOE and the far-left Podemos, with the external support of several smaller parties, including Basque nationalists, and the implicit support (abstention in the government formation vote) of the secessionist ERC. The “easy”part of the job is done. The very challenging one, policy-making with thin parliamentary numbers, starts now.