MADRID | A frozen fish processing company from Galicia, in the north of Spain, was recently awarded the Green Card by the US’ Food and Drug Administration. The FDA isn’t exactly easy-going, but the Spanish firm has already access to the US market and extensive presence in Europe, including Russia. The news isn’t a surprise, of course: the Spanish food industry is successfully competitive, its exports have risen by 8.4…
Unless the Spanish government tackles the reform of the State administration, it is bound to follow the fate of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Any positive impact of hints coming from the European Central Bank about lending a hand to maintain the country’s access to the markets will eventually fade away. Indeed, it is happening again. Most analysts in the financial City of Madrid said so in as many words in…
NEW YORK | Their outlook remains negative, but there is some brightness in the horizon, the agency reckons. Standard and Poors will not cut Spain’s rating because it believes the country has done its homework, showing a strong commitment to economic and fiscal adjustment. It will continue to receive support from its European partners and the ECB and therefore its debt will remain below 80 percent of GDP beyond 2015….
MADRID |Fernando G. Urbaneja| Premier Mariano Rajoy did not expect the economic picture to be that overwhelming, although it was predictable, nor former premier Mr Zapatero could believe in May 2010, that he was meant to play the role he so reluctantly played. Both of their reactions are part of Spain's problem: government leaders, alleged leaders dragged from the events who have to act against their beliefs. Ms Rosa Diez (former…
MADRID | The Spanish government has adamantly refused to accept any macro conditioning that might portrait it as falling under a full-fledged intervention. Markets hold a different view witnessing how recommendations advanced by the Brussels bureaucracy are taken to the line. VAT increase stands as the paramount example of an ill-judged proposal Spain is implementing under euro-pressure. Wasn’t the party now in power forcefully opposed to a similar measure not so…
B. Toribio and R. Ugalde (lainformacion.com) | Fasten your seat-belts! This week we will see a new wave of cutbacks that will affect Spaniards'pockets. The president of the Spanish government Mariano Rajoy, and his team, have been warning the country for the last weeks, and here we explain how, when and why those measures will be carried out. Next Friday July 13 is the beginning of many more austerity announcements…
MADRID | University students in Spain who fail more than half of the subjects they enrolled for will have to return the full amount of their awarded scholarship. A royal decree that sets the thresholds of income and family assets and the amounts of grants and financial support for the 2012-2013 academic year came into effect Monday after its approval by the Spanish cabinet. Before the changes, it was required that…
text your ex back MADRID | For the first time since the crisis unfolded, Germany is starting to cast serious doubts on the euro zone sustainability. Acting as paymaster general involves such a woeful toll as to think twice before continuing to foot a growing bill likely to snowball out of control. It is under the uneasy impression that money spent on saving others is simply burned off. The temporary…
MADRID | You can fool someone for a long run. You may fool many people for a while. But you cannot pretend to fool everybody forever. Claims on Saturday that the deal only amounted to European lending for Spanish banks did not stand up to the week-end erosion. It was clear from the start that the money was to be channelled through a public body and fully covered by a…
LONDON/MADRID | Ratings agency Standard & Poor's had already added an injection of €80 billion to €120 billion of public money into the banking sector when it downgraded Spain last April 26 to BBB+ with negative outlook. The agency stated this week that even using the total amount of €100 billion, the country's debt per GDP ratio would be 76.6 percent in 2014. S&P said there would be no further…