William Chislett | Spain has moved from a labour market characterised during the Franco regime by heavy state intervention, no free trade unions, the prohibition of strikes and lock-outs, a low female participation rate and paternalistic legislation to one that is flexible, but marked by consistently high unemployment.
Andy Mok via Caixin | President Xi Jinping’s visit to Spain on his way to Buenos Aires at the end of this month will result in the usual and necessary flurry of declarations about strengthening bilateral relations centered on trade as well as discussions on how Spain might support China’s diplomatic initiatives in the EU.
Spain has gone almost three years without a government with a parliamentary majority. The worst part is that there is nothing on the horizon that would guarantee more stability. To this already very complicated panorama must be added that the Supreme Court has been incapable of arbitrating a solution acceptable for Spanish society about who should pay mortgage stamp duty.
William Chislett | EU and euro zone membership have been hugely beneficial. More than 30 years after joining the EU, Spain was still a net recipient of EU funds. Between 1986 and 2016, the country received €95 billion more than what it contributed (excluding co-funding of EU projects).
The Spanish economy is entering a more mature phase of the cycle and, therefore, its growth is gradually slowing down to levels that are more sustainable in the long term. In this context, CaixaBank Research wonders what trends can be expected in the main driver of the economy: private consumption. Following are their conclusions.
Following the series of articles by William Chislett which The Corner is going to publish on the 40th anniversary if the Spanish Constitution, today we are dedicating to know the intricacies of Spain’s political life during these years of democracy. Between 1982-2015, this was dominated by two parties, the conservative Popular Party (PP) and the Socialists. They alternated in power until two upstart parties, centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens) and the populist-left Podemos (We Can) won a significant number of seats in parliament.
Solar energy will mobilise investments of 60 to 70 billion euros to achieving the objective of 35% of renewable energy by the end of 2030. This coincides with the recent approval of the Law Proposal on Energy Self-Consumption, which bids definitive farewell to the tax on solar power.
“Never again Spaniards will have to pay the mortgage stamp duty”. With these words the Spanish president Pedro Sánchez announced a decree law and gave a new twist to the story of who should be responsible for this tax, just a few hours after the Supreme Court decided that it will be the customer’s duty. The way in which the highest court has managed the decision making process puts into question its credibility.
Miguel Navascués | Still maintaining pensions reforms, given fairly benign assumptions on productivity, growth, employment and immigration, would have to result in the apparition of a significant systemic debt, but the no-reform is therefore today the least bad solution. A rigorous study by the Foundation FEDEA focuses on precisely this point.
William Chislett | By the time General Franco died in 1975 Spain had undergone profound economic and social change, which laid the foundations for an even greater transformation over the next 40 years, but it was a long haul. The new constitution, drawn up by all the main political parties and approved in a referendum on 6 December 1978 by 88% of voters on a turnout of 67%, sealed the transition to democracy.