Toxic, unproductive or problematical, or however you want to call those assets which were the ruin of the Spanish banks, are not easy to get rid of. Assets linked to the property bubble reached over 300 billion euros at the worst point of the crisis, between 2011 and 2012. But thanks to the lenders’ huge efforts, the last official figure from the Bank of Spain stands at 190 billion euros.
A report from the European Commission published on Monday said that Spanish households’ gross available income was still below 2008 levels up to the first half of last year, in comparison with other EU countries’.
Last October the Chinese investment fund Orient Hontai agreed to buy a majority stake in Spanish sports rights group Mediapro for $1 billion in order to change the Asian country into a global soccer powerhouse. Today the deal has been materialised and Orient Hontai officially become new owner of the Spanish soccer championship usually known as la Liga, Europe’s third-richest league.
In 2020, rail passenger traffic will be opened up to the competition in Spain. Looking ahead to this situation, Renfe will launch a new low-cost, intelligent AVE high-speed train. This will be called EVA and it will have all the new technologies, while tickets will be between 20% and 25% cheaper.
New generations favouring autonomy and independence are calling for a second transition: democratic or economic? Or a mix of both?
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.