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…
MADRID | Cesuras and Oza agreed this week the first merger between towns in Spain. The villages will become one local authority in a decision that was pushed by the need of public spending rationalisation, and that is likely to trigger a municipal restructuring in the region of Galicia. In fact, the president of Galicia’s province of A Coruña, Diego Calvo, admitted there are at least nine other towns currently…
Long term refinancing operation 2 or liquidity injections into Spanish credit entities via the European Central Bank rose in February to €152.432 billion from €133.177 in January. But, contrary to what most European banks seem to be doing, that is, parking capital in the central bank’s deposit facility, Spain’s banks prefer to take advantage of the rate gap and let slip in profits by purchasing sovereign debt. Bond holdings have…
MADRID | Privatisation of Canal de Isabel II, the company that manages water services in the autonomous region of Madrid, attracted this week one more potential investor. Insurance firm Mutua Madrileña has expressed its intention to officially bid for the water company. The insurer, chaired by Ignacio Garralda, has confided in Mediobanca to advise on the operation. Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Community of Madrid, and the Spanish capital’s mayor Ana Botella have…