It’s undeniable that the latest information which has come out about the Bankia case reveals new areas of responsability. And in the front-line is the worst governor in the Bank of Spain’s history. The correspondence which the head of the Bankia inspectors’ team José Antonio Casaus sent to his superiors is definitive.
The latest figures from Spain’s airports manager AENA, reflecting the importance of the tourism industry, support the estimations given by the Secretary of State for Tourism, which point to a total of 74 million international tourists by end-2016. If the predictions are confirmed, there will be eight million more international tourists visiting Spain in 2016 compared to a year earlier, when there was a record number of 68 million. But can Spain’s tourism regions survive this widespread growth?
Up to what point is the lack of a government affecting Spain and its government? Spain’s Stock Market Regulator (the CNMV) now has no visible head. And the number of public sector jobs cannot be increased, nor AENA’s air fares. But perhaps this is due to other reasons which could have equally existed in a normal political situation.
Trump is not peculiar just to the US. There are Trumps in Austria, France, the UK and in every country. Except, surprise, surprise, in Spain!
The amount of government debt registered in the banks’ portfolios fell to 129.684 billion euros in August, over 5 billion euros below July levels. And it’s the lowest amount of public debt in their portfolios since July 2015.
ACS has recently agreed to sell its environmental services subsidiary Urbaser to Firion Investments, the investment fund participated by China Tianying, for between 2.212 and 2.463 billion euros. This operation will not only allow ACS to reduce its gearing, but it will also put Spain on the world map of Chinese investments.
The savings banks which were bailed out by the FROB continue to present problems for that institution and the government. The idea was that after they were restructured and their value had increased, they would find a buyer or incorporate a partner with a controlling stake or seek a stock market listing. So then they would give back at least a good part of the state aid received from the FROB. But these plans are turning out to be difficult to implement.
J.L. M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) |According to a survey by the Centre for Sociological Investigations (CIS), 71.6% of Spaniards see unemployment as one of the three main problems they face; 36.6% believe it is corruption and fraud; and 29.3% point to politics in general. Just 11.6% of Spaniards mentioned the country’s lack of government.
Would a Spanish housewife buy a hake without looking at its eyes and the colour of its gills beforehand? This question will soon be answered following the alliance reached between US e-commerce giant Amazon and the distribution chain Dia.
J.L.M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | The private sector in Spain is continuing to reduce debt. Financing for companies and households has fallen an annual 0.7% and 1.7% respectively, according to August data from the Bank of Spain. One might conclude from these figures that there is still restrictions on credit in Spain. But nothing could be further from the truth.