By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | Activity levels had lately improved, in the private sector although productivity has since 2007 recorded a slowdown, as evidenced by lower growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) of companies, whose figures began to fall in that same year (6.6% versus 8% in 2006) and contracted in 2008 (-2.7%) to drop sharply in 2009 (-7.7%). In 2010 companies’ GVA recorded a recovery in produccion activity…
LONDON | Asset manager company AXA Real Estate said Monday it signed 68 leases on behalf of its clients representing a total of 113,350 sqm of space across its Spanish portfolio in 2011. This marks an increase of around 90% compared to 2010, when 60,855 sqm of space was let across 42 leases. Of the 68 lettings, 23 representing 10,707 sqm, were new leases, while the remaining 45, accounting for 102,643 sq m of space, comprised lease…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese | Day after day, political scandals over public funds mishandling and utter corruption hold the front page. They severely undermine Spain’s reputation and call into question its ability to enforce a proper control of resources. Squandering taxpayers’ money in profligate and inefficient expenditure has become a firmly entrenched habit. Regional and local authorities openly challenge debt limits by piling up unpaid bills. Even early retirement benefits…
The slowdown in the European cycle begins to appear on the figures about tourism in Spain. The drop in flow of foreign tourists from Germany and the UK, with a share of above 35% of the total, weighs down in part the evolution of total inflow of tourists during the first two months of the year. Yet, until now, we are only witnessing a containment in the growth rate after a exceptionally good 2011, considering it is a period of crisis, analysts…
By Carlos Díaz Guell, in Madrid | The second stage of Spain’s financial reform is going through a foggy tunnel in which stable entities have been left in a state of perplexity and confusion. The entities that aspire to be absorbed are too weak even to attract deals, the governor of the Bank of Spain is about to end his mandate and does not have the government’s trust, and the road…
Jaume Matas, who was regional president of Balearic Islands, became Tuesday the first former autonomic premier and the second former national minister to face a prison sentence. The Provincial Court of Majorca condemned him to 6 years in prison for an offence of management fraud, a crime of falsifying an official document, a crime of commercial document forgery, a crime of malfeasance in competition with an offence of embezzlement and…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | Spain’s government has pledged to close down 80 publicly owned enterprises, an impressive figure at face value. But most of the adjustment is grounded on the simple recipe of merging subsidiaries into mother companies. Thus the only tangible savings amount to allowances paid to suppressed Boards of Directors. A negligible €1 million cut off that will add very little in terms of budgetary…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | The Spanish government publicly claims success in limiting damage after having boldly taken the step to revise upwards the deficit target. But privately, it recognises that being forced by partners in the Eurogroup to trim it down came as a nasty surprise. Overconfidence had led Madrid to believe that the understanding attitude shown over Spanish budgetary problems would be enough to shore up…
Before someone else sets sight on this graph and rolls out the Armageddon tale about the fall of the euro empire because of Spain’s disgrace, we would like to make available this explanation, which came via Madrid-based Link Securities. Is this chart indicative of a trend change in terms of buyer appetite of investors? “We think not. The abundance of liquidity in the system and its channelling by the banks (mainly residents) into assets with a profitable spread, should serve to maintain the strength of demand in future Spanish…
MADRID | Spanish Finance minister Luis de Guindos bears the unpleasant task of playing the wet blanket, being realistic, not promising anything but selling a future. His role is that of the victorious Caesars’ companion, who had to whisper in their ears: “remember you are mortal”. In the government and in front of the citizens, he is the one who spoils the fun. For that he needs a great deal of…