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Business Over Tapas (17th  April 2014)

By Lenox Napier and Andrew Brociner

miércoles 22 de octubre de 2014, 11:21h

A digest of this week's Spanish financial, political and social news aimed primarily at Foreign Property Owners:  with Lenox Napier and Andrew Brociner - For subscriptions and other information about this site, go to businessovertapas.com - email:  [email protected]  - ***Now with Facebook Page (Like!)*** - Note: Underlined words or phrases are links to the Internet. Right click and press 'Control' on your keyboard to access.

Editorial:

It's nice to see that the banks are again offering 100% finance to home-buyers. Oh wait, only if they buy their homes from the banks' own portfolios. The pay-wall protected Wall Street Journal has a feature on this new practice ('Spanish banks have about €100 billion of repossessed real-estate properties on their books and are offering up to 100% financing to prospective borrowers to move them') and there's more on this at El Mundo, which notes that the banks also offer better facilities including lower rates and commissions to those who buy bank-owned property. Meanwhile, Andalucian banks are now being threatened by the Public Defender, the Ombudsman, with having to pay their debts in community fees on their empty properties or suffer an embargo (La Voz de Almería, here). Where will it all end?

Housing:

Mortgage news: 'The average amount for a loan to buy a house in Spain fell in February to 104,257 euros, the lowest figure according to the statistics handled by the 'Consejo General del Notariado', the General Council of Notaries. This amount is 47.2% lower than the 197,587 euros average figure lent as recorded in July 2007 – when the housing bubble was reaching its maximum size...'. From El Mundo. Things are moving forwards however, with slightly over 9,000 mortgages signed in February across the country, although only 216 of these were loans to build new homes.

Recent data provided by the Junta de Andalucía regarding the effectiveness of the decree to regularise the so-called 'illegal houses' is a 'failure' according to AUAN, the largest association of Britons affected. Only 75 properties in Almería have been regularised since the decree came into affect two years ago and only 177 across Andalucía as a whole. According to AUAN 'what we need is radical and basic legislative changes to take into account the reality that we face'. Found at La Voz de Almería. At this rate, it'll take many hundreds of years before the problem is resolved.

"The Junta has to ease the regulations; if there is no construction, villages die" An interview with Juan José Jiménez, Mayor of La Viñuela (Málaga) at the Sur in English.

Tourism:

'A total of 10.1 million foreign tourists visited Spain during the first quarter of 2014, representing an increase of 7.9% over the same period of 2013. This is according to data published in the Coyuntur report last week by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, which confirmed the upward trend in not only international but also in domestic tourism...'. Found at Kyero.

Finance:

Public debt has risen slightly according to figures published on Monday, and is now at 987,945 million euros –  96.5% of Spain's GNP. The February figure is a new record and is 0.8% up on January's numbers. More at El Mundo.

This past Saturday, '...the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, insisted on his upbeat message regarding the economy. "Everyone can see that Spain has emerged from the recession, it is coming out of the crisis," he said. However, the Research Department of the BBVA believes that the recovery of the Spanish economy will take at least a decade and warns that further growth will depend on how the way out of the crisis is managed...'. Story (decorated with the photograph of a green shoot, covered in ice) at El Huff Post.  '...Spanish workers earn 20%-40% less than those in other leading European countries, according to... the BBVA. The earnings gap is partly explained by very high unemployment, which BBVA said "derives from a labour market that functions substantially worse than in other countries"...'. The same story from The Guardian.

'Spain's trade deficit jumped by more than a third in February compared to the almost 20-year low it hit a year earlier, official data released on Wednesday shows. Spain's economy ministry said the country's trade deficit — the shortfall of exports to imports in goods and services — grew by €1.6 billion in February. Spain's trade deficit fell by almost half to €15.9 billion euros last year as exports hit a record high due to Spanish firms pushing into new markets outside Europe...'. From The Leader.

The Government is working hand in hand with the banks to help alleviate the acute cash-flow crisis suffered by innumerable businesses in Spain, according to El Confidencial Digital which leads with '80,000 companies across Spain can not pay their staff this month'.

'Spanish olive oil giant Deoleo said Thursday it has picked British group CVC Capital's takeover bid, which values the company at €439 million($605 million). The board "decided to proceed to finalize the terms and conditions from today with CVC Capital Partners of the offer at a price of €0.38 per share," the world's biggest bottled olive oil group said. The first phase of the takeover would see a purchase of 29.99 percent of Deoleo's shares by the British venture capital firm...'. Found at The Local. Other interests and holdings by CVC Capital Partners here.

'A report by the German newspaper Handelsblatt puts Spain top among 24 countries analysed in best handling advances in both energy practices and C02 emissions control in recent years. So far so good. But when the technicians who produced the report began to analyse the evolution of the increases in the price of electricity in Spain they stumbled across the harsh reality faced by domestic economies and businesses and industries.

The power companies in Spain have around 25 million customers, and they have suffered in the last five years, precisely in the period of the economic crisis, the highest rises in prices of the 24 countries analysed...'. The report says that the hike for home-owners in the past five years is greater than 60%. More at Vozpópuli.

An interactive map of Europe's unemployment here from Eurostat. According to information from the same source, the five highest areas within Europe (end of 2013) for unemployment are all in Spain: Andalucía (36.3%), Ceuta (35.6%), Melilla (34.4%), Canarias (34.1%) and Extremadura (33.7%).

'The President of Endesa, Borja Prado, earned a total of 2.37 million euros in 2013, up from 2.24 million in 2012, an increase of 5.3%, according to the report of the salaries of the company's directors sent on Tuesday to the National Commission for the Securities Market (CNMV)...'. Found at Público.

'The Junta de Andalucía announced, this week, the definitive end to its project to run a direct high speed or AVE train line between Antequera and Seville, which was going to connect the Costa del Sol with the capital of Andalucía in less than an hour...'. From Sur in English, adding that the project has already cost 280 million euros and would have required a further investment of 800 million euros.   

'Confused about Spanish tax returns? Don't stress: there's help at hand. The Local spoke recently Paul Greene of Spain Accountants to get the low-down on who needs to file and what sort of deductions are available'. All is explained here.

Corruption:

The Olive Press updates the Luis Bárcenas story: '...Every regional branch of the PP party around Spain had a separate secret cash accounting system, controlled by Barcenas. And Judge Pablo Ruz declared that he and his wife amassed their personal fortune through the secret slush fund he controlled on behalf of the party. Ruz, who has been investigating Barcenas and his secret ledgers detailing the payments, has issued a writ that states he diverted money from PP accounts to his own. Swiss bank accounts holding more than €48.2 million were discovered in his name. Barcenas has been in custody since June 27 for arranging illegal payments to politicians from the slush funds. The funds were made up with donations from corrupt businessmen given in exchange for bumper contracts...'..

'Seville businessman José Antonio González, currently turned witness for the prosecution in exchange for leniency in the ERE slush fund case rocking Andalucian politics, has submitted evidence to Judge Alaya, in charge of rooting out the truth in this billion euro corruption case, showing that over the years he paid around €700,000 in bribes to politicians of all colours in exchange for lucrative business deals around Seville...'. From David Jackson.

Now there's potentially an even bigger fraud in Andalucía than the giant ERE Inquiry being investigated by Judge Mercedes Ayala. The new investigation brought by the UDEF national police anti-corruption prosecutor is to do with specialised 'phantom' companies, hired by the Junta de Andalucía to give instruction, cursillos, to the unemployed using European funds. There could be as much as two billion euros in short-payments and commissions. So far, over 200 people have been interviewed in Málaga province, although the investigation will expand to cover the whole of Andalucía in the coming months. More at El Mundo. Further details from a (political) site called Hartos.org note that the fraud, if confirmed, would be the gravest ever uncovered in Spain, dates from 2009 to 2011, and points the finger at the 'Servicio Andaluz de Empleo', two unions, a foundation and a confederation.

But, hold on! Is there a sinister Government plot going on against Andalucía? The Secretary for Education, Culture and Sport in the Junta de Andalucía, Luciano Alonso, thinks so.

Politics:

The breach between the PSOE and their IU partners in the Andalucian Government, which followed from the IU-controlled housing department finding homes for some okupas (in preference to some 12,000 people in the Seville area who are also looking for council-owned homes), lasted only one day, and by Thursday last week, Susana Díaz had returned competencies to Elena Cortés and her department. 'leaving the autonomy once again hijacked under the control of the Radicals', according to the Andaluz PP's Secretary General María Dolores López Gabarro. More at El Mundo.

Could there be early elections in Andalucía? Susana Díaz would like to show that she could win an election on her own merits (she became President thanks to the influence of outgoing José Antonio Griñán) and to hold a government without having to suffer a coalition with the always volatile IU (a sometimes uneasy federation of some fifty different minor left-wing groups, dominated by the Communist Party). The PP are keen to exploit the current problems in the coalition government (plus the increased reports of corruption coming out of Seville) but, in general, they are hoping for more time to introduce their new leader Juan Manuel Moreno. An analysis in El Ideal here.

Miguel Sebastián was a minister in the Zapatero Government, and has just made a sensible proposal which, inevitably, has upset half of Spain. His suggestion is to leave the three 'traditional' autonomies – Galicia, Catalonia and Euzkadi – and to 'dilute' the rest of them by passing more competences back to Madrid. Furthermore, to reduce the number of town halls (8114) and their councillors (68,230), as has been done in both Italy and France. However, 'There's no one who thinks like this in either of the main parties' admitted Sebastián ruefully.

The President of the Valencian Region, Alberto Fabra, knows that advertising pays, and 'institutional advertising', with a major (evidently) pro-government presence in the local media, will pay off all the better when the time comes round for autonomous elections. So '...The Valencian Government has budgeted spending of 5.5 million euros in institutional advertising for 2014 after diverting 3.7 million euros away from the ministries of education, health and other departments into the control of Lola Johnson, the controversial director of the regional secretariat of communication...'. This figure is triple the spending in the same area for 2013. News item at El Diario.

European Elections, May 25th:

Many Spaniards are fed up with the two main parties and there are several alternatives to choose from for the European elections. Regionalist parties (CiU, Partido Andaluza etc), second-line parties (IU or UpyD)... and then some small, indignant parties. Here's a couple of them (the complete list of parties will be released on April 21st):

The candidate for the Partido X is Hervé Falcini, the whistle-blower who is under an arrest order from the indignant Swiss government for revealing secret information about foreign depositors into the Swiss banking system. 'From Spain comes 40 billion euros a year of non taxed money' says Falcini in an interview (and video) at El Mundo. Asked about the list of 3,000 Spaniards who had accounts in Switzerland, and as to why only 20% of these were ever investigated, Falcini says that many of the others are protected through political ties.

El Huff Post introduces a far-left group running for the European elections called Podemos – We can! While it's apparently a group that favours the politics of Hugo Chavez, the colourful ex-president of Venezuela, supporters are invited to suggest and fine-tune points for the group's election manifesto.

A party to the right of the Partido Popular, led by Alejo Vidal-Quadras and made up of some ex-members of the PP with other supporters, is the Vox. They have an amusing video over at their website.

Pedro J Ramirez was the director since its inception of El Mundo. Now relieved of his responsibility, he speaks on Cuatro (video) about the forthcoming elections: 'Vote for who you want, as long as it's not for either of the two main parties that are equally part of the sclerosis and putrefaction of the political system' he says...

Various:

The condition of Spanish roads are in their worst state of conservation since 1985, according to El Mundo, quoting a report from la Asociación Española de la Carretera (AEC). The association estimates that the road system would need some 6.2 billion euros to pull it into shape. More here

'Although Spain has made some progress in improving its school drop-out rate in recent years, nearly one in four young Spaniards are still dropping out of school early — the highest rate in the European Union. For the third year in a row, Spain has come top of Europe's school drop-out table. In 2013, 23.5 percent of people aged 18 to 24 in the country had left the education system before completing compulsory education, or ESO as its known in Spain. While this is Spain's best result on record, it is still double the EU rate of 11.9 percent, figures from Eurostat released on Friday show...'.  From The Local.

Regular Spanish TV is not very good. Horrid programs, incessant interruptions and, if we are to believe, Government control over the news. The old analogue TV turned to digital TDT a few years back (losing me in the process) and now has a number of channels to entertain/infect the 'telespectadores' with an average of four hours and a quarter a day of viewing. Now it seems that the TV channels were issued in a peculiar way (under the, ahem, previous Government) and, following a complaint, a number of them must close down by May 6th. So much for ' more channels, better sound and image and more services' ('TDT: Un Fraude del Siglo XXI', quoting the Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo here). Channels to go include three channels from Atresmedia (La Sexta 3, Xplora and Nitro), two from Mediaset (La Siete and Nueve), two from Veo TV (AXN and Marca TV), and two shopping channels from Net TV. More at 20 Minutos.

'Eighty-four percent of all online content consumed in Spain is pirated, according to a study of 2013 Internet trends commissioned by a coalition of music, movie, publishing and video-game companies. The April 9 report, which concluded that more that half of all Internet users in Spain download content illegally, is the latest fuel in the fiery debate over intellectual property legislation in the piracy-plagued country...'. From an indignant Billboard, which adds later in the article '...Spain’s Ministry of Culture dismissed the report as a “rough opinion study commissioned by interested parties.”...'. 

'Spain's first old people's home for gay and lesbian pensioners is to open in a converted hotel in Madrid. Federico Armenteros, president of the 26 December Foundation, which is behind the scheme, said that as far as society was concerned "elderly LGTB don't exist". He said the home would not be exclusively for gay people. "We're not going to ask you who you sleep with when you apply," he said. "Anyone can come, the only thing to bear in mind is that it specialises in elderly LGTBs. As it is, there are homes for ex-servicemen, nuns or retired workers from specific companies and no one says they are being discriminatory."...'. Story at The Guardian.

Apparently the profession of 'journalist' – according to the American employment agency CareerCast – is just about the worst thing one can can chose, ranking in at 199 out of 200 (just in front of 'woodcutter'). El Mundo bitterly reviews the story, noting that journalists can expect stress, low employment opportunities and poor remuneration. Here at Business over Tapas, we agree with George Orwell, who said “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”

The King of Spain speaks (in English) at a meeting of businessmen at the United Arab Emirates. Video at El Huff Post here.

Finally:

'The world’s oldest artwork, believed to be at least 40,800 years old, was discovered in the Cave of El Castillo, literally, “the cave of castles”, near the town of Puente Viesgo, about 30 kilometers south of Santander in the Cantabria region of what is today Spain...'. Article and pictures found at Amusing Planet.

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