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Spanish economy 9th November 2021

Hotel Recovery Consolidates In Spain As Madrid And Barcelona Exceed 2019 Booking Figures

For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Spain’s two largest cities, Barcelona and Madrid, have generated more hotel bookings than during the same period two years ago, reaching 111.68% and 102.03% of 2019 figures respectively, as of 24 October 2021, SiteMinder’s World Hotel Index reveals. These figures show the strength of Spanish destinations, beyond the coastal cities of sun and beach tourism, where travellers have already…

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Spanish economy 26th July 2021

Madrid Finally Has A Site Inscribed As World Heritage: The ‘Landscape Of Light’

The ‘Landscape of Light’ in Madrid, which includes, the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro will be inscribed in 2021 as World Heritage by Unesco. The decision has been communicated in the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of Unesco from China. It is the first time an urban green space had been nominated. With yesterday’s ‘yes’ the city manages to settle a historical debt because it is currently the only capital of Western Europe without any property inscribed as World Heritage.

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Spanish Politics 5th May 2021

Madrid, Fed Up With “The Left”

T.C. | Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the PP president of the Community of Madrid, swept to victory in the elections to the Madrid Assembly and will be able to govern alone. With her 65 deputies (the absolute majority is 69), she will only need the abstention of Vox (13 deputies), the party to her right, to form a government. With a historic turnout of 76%, the highest in the history of…

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Spanish economy 12th October 2015

Can Madrid survive without rating?

Fernando Barciela | Madrid leftwing Mayor Manuela Carmena (Ahora Madrid) upset the markets and the media last week with her decision to fire credit rating agencies Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch, effective from 2016.

Santander, the first European bank that will not redeem its issue of CoCos

Spanish economy 8th October 2015

S&P raises Santander rating above Spain sovereign

After recently raising Spain’s sovereign ratings to ‘BBB+’ from ‘BBB’, S&P has also improved its stance on some of the country’s top banks. S&P’s upgrades comes in the same week as the Madrid local authorities said they could not renew the contracts with that agency.

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Companies 11th September 2012

EuroVegas gambles on Spain’s recovery

Negotiations must be already under way, but it looks as though the regional government of Madrid has somehow begun to surrender to the seduction and glitter of Las Vegas Sands Corporation’s much awaited arrival. Indeed, a deal that involves €18 billion of investment and 12 hotels, six casinos and three golf courses built by 2022 sounds appetising in the economically depressed surroundings of southern Europe. Esperanza Aguirre, president of the autonomous…

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In Europe 6th June 2012

Madrid speaks up in arm-wrestle with Brussels, Moody’s adds pressure

I Want To Get Back With Him MADRID | An Spanish offensive seems to have been deployed in all fronts. Spain's King Juan Carlos in Brazil called on the European Union to advance its integration because the problem, he said, rather than economic, is political. Meanwhile, president Mariano Rajoy introduced in a Senate session what the Spanish position will be in the next European summit: Europe needs a horizon, make…

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Spanish economy 1st May 2012

Sweeping U-turns undermine Madrid’s credibility

MADRID | No one expects incoming governments to keep promises entered while campaigning to cajole voters. But Rajoy’s performance does merit a place in the Guinness record book. Didn’t he adamantly bind himself never to facilitate lay-offs? Didn’t he commit himself never to increase taxes? People can understand he may break pledges when confronted with a dismal economic scenario. But they have good reasons to feel frustrated at the hectic way…

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Spanish economy 14th March 2012

Bidders welcome Madrid’s push for privatisation of water services

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…