Although the latest intervention from the European Central Bank may have opened a window of respite for Spain’s president Mariano Rajoy, economist Juan Pedro Marín Arrese alerts he should be wary of delaying decisions.
Foreign ownership of Spanish stocks in the last 13 years has reached 40 percent of total market value, according to data from BME, the company operator of Spain’s financial markets. But domestic investors’ purchases are higher than European average.
Israel Railways will activate a contract option with Vossloh España, the Spanish subsidiary of the German Vossloh Group, and purchase nine more train Euro3000 locomotives . Last year, Vossloh España provided 15 Euro3000 units and 14 Euro4000 ones. Israel Railways has already been delivered 73 locomotives designed and manufactured in Vossloh España’s factory in Valencia. The €100-million initial operation has now been extended at a further €30 million value. Israel Railways…
The divide between journalistic duties and pleasing the masses looks excessively thin in Spain. When news media from virtually every ideological branch come together only to relentlessly bash a government, it may be time for a reflection.
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…
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Very briefly: for those who have let themselves fall for the euphoria that unfolded after the European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi reported on unlimited short-term sovereign bond purchases, I would like to remind them of what happened during the last weeks of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. Back then, the ECB introduced its long-term refinancing operations, which were meant to inject liquidity…
By Joaquim Clemente, valenciaplaza.com | All finance activity planned at the autonomous government of the Valencia region must now be approved by the Spanish Treasury in Madrid before going ahead. If regions in Spain that have sought a bailout from the central administration follow the Valencia pattern, they would have seen their financial rights severely limited as a condition to tap loans from the state agency ICO, a Treasury’s credit…
LONDON/MADRID | President Mariano Rajoy should manage to take this week a breath, although it will probably feel too weak. A simple look at the curve of Spain’s government debt now shows a steep upward gap between the internal rate of return of two-year bonds and the cost of the medium and long-term credit for the country. Indeed, 24-month debt paper’s IRR has tightened by more than 450 basic points…
Community jargon shows how mere wishful thinking is turned into what seems a rock-solid reality-to-be. The EU is full of expectations that never materialize. Yet, this shortcoming does not deter officials from bombastically naming policies or mechanisms as if there was no chance they might derail. Just take the rescue label so often applied to Greece. One takes for granted that once you are rescued from peril you can consider…
José Luis Marco, CAPITAL MADRID | Although Spanish banks have little direct exposure in Greece, the country over which hangs the euro zone exclusion threat, something different happens with several European banks: they have a direct interest in the Hellenic country both with their branches in the country and with the assumption of Greek sovereign debt. Some of the biggest banks are partners or shareholders of several Spanish banks. Banco…