Julián García Valverde founded Imathia and Consultrans, engineering, consultancy and construction companies. They form part of the consortium of 12 Spanish firms which won the contract for Mecca-Medina AVE high-speed train line. On December 31, it crossed for the first time the 453 kms that separate both cities at 300 km/hour in some parts.
Spain is the European country with the highest fibre to the home (FTTH) penetration rate in Europe, with 33.9%, after clocking up around 1.61 million new subscrbers between September 2016 and September 2017,
“Having board members who have experience of different environments, geographical or business, help the board to function better. On the boards in Spain where I am a member there is this international presence and there are members of different nationalities. But on a board of directors more importance shoud be placed on expertise than on nationality.”
What was a surprise in the IMF’s updated growth estimates was the correction made to the growth forecast for Spain this year (-0.1 pp to 2.4%) given “the impact of greater political uncertainty on confidence and demand.”
Bolsas y Mercados (BME) has published a report giving details of stock market trading activity in December, as well as a figure for 2017 as a whole. Some €651.466 million were traded in equities during last year, in line with the amount negotiated in 2016.
Probably the fact they came from Euskadi and were based there is what saved the former Basque cajas (savings banks) from the worst vices which destroyed hundreds of lenders throughout Spain, according to Xabier Sagredo, executive chairman of BBK.
Spain’s agricultural sector generated 46.8 billion euros in 2016, 12% of the total for the European Union (EU), making the country the fourth biggest producer, according to figures published on Wednesday by Eurostat.
The European Commission determined on Wednesday that the draft of Spain’s budget for 2018 sent by the Spanish government “complies in general terms” with the criteria established in the Stability and Growth Pact. Despite the fact the public deficit will exceed the target agreed on for next year.
Red Eléctrica de España (REE) plans to put into service in 2025 the underwater electricity link with France. This new electricity interconnection will allow the exchange capacity between Spain and France to increase to 5.000 MW compared with the current 2.800 MW.
Against a backdrop of unstoppable digitalisation, one of the objectives for the banks at the moment is to find a balance between their physical branches and this new digital approximation which clients want.