Mayor faces 28 years of prison
Juan Morales, the ex-mayor PP of Totana (Murcia) faces a possible prison term of 28 years and 8 months for a long list of criminal activities connected with urban planning corruption. He accumulated 15.4 million euros on the activities..
Moody’s: Greek Bonds worse than rubbish
Rating Agency Moody’s have reduced the rating of Greek debts to B1, below Ba1, meaning they are classified as worse than “rubbish bonds.” The 'Country Risk' of Portugal has risen to 425 points and it must now pay up to 7.5% interest on its bond issues.
German investors hit by new tax agreement
Spain and Germany have signed a new tax agreement expected to take effect from 1st January 2012. The agreement gives Spain the right to tax, as property transactions, the sale of shares in companies holding property. This will mean a tax of 19% on German investors in so called “closed property funds.” Several funds are trying to find buyers before the end of the year.
Fewer companies avoid paying bills
The number of companies not paying their bills has declined 19% since the new law on debt payment took effect last July. The number of companies, mostly small and medium sized, listed on the index of non-payers, is now “only” 283,504. However, the index for the risk of non-payment has increased 65.61% since 1st January 2010. Property promotion and construction companies lead the index of non-payers, followed by the hotel sector.
Danger of “stagflation”
Unrest in the Arab countries is pushing up oil prices, thus adding to the transportation costs of all goods and consequently their consumer prices. Inflation now stands at 3.6%. Furthermore, an interest rate increase by the European Central Bank, from the 1% interest rate, charged since May 2009, is expected within a month. Euribor has moved up to 2%, draining more purchasing power from those with mortgages.
Airport strikes at Easter?
As a protest against the 50% privatisation planned by the Government, the trade unions have announced strikes at airports over Easter. The airport authority AENA hopes it will be possible to avoid the strikes and are in negotiations with the unions. The Government, which hopes to acquire 8,906 million euros in the privatisation, will receive only 2,707 million due to outstanding debt.
It may be wise to take the threatened action into account before deciding on an Easter trip to or from Spain.
Private sector creates few jobs
The private sector has created few new jobs, and even then only in the regions of Extremadura, the Basque Country and Catalonia. In the remaining 13 Regions, the public sector is the main provider of employment.
Foreign immigrants are the group most affected by high unemployment. They represent just 11.5% of the total population, but 24.6% of the jobless. The regions with the highest number of unemployment immigrants are Extremadura (44%) followed by Cantabria (38.8) Murcia (38.5) and La Rioja (34.4).
3,000 “irregular” dwellings in Mijas
There may be up to 3,000 “irregular” dwellings in the municipality of Mijas (Malaga) built on land not approved for construction. The Asociacion de Viviendas Irregulares (ARV) are demanding that all fines for illegal construction be frozen until a solution is found and modifications are made to the existing town plan. However, the town hall warns that houses built in protected areas, like La Atalaya, Entrerios and Macorra, cannot be tolerated.
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