Alicante politicians take gifts from major property developer
Enrique Ortiz, a major developer in Alicante, who owns 75% of the building land in the town, and who has his fingers in almost all property pies, is being investigating regarding gifts he has given to the former mayor, Luis Dias Alperi and also to the present Mayor, Sonia Castedo. Señor Alperi took a holiday in Crete, travelling in Ortiz's private plane and Alperi another in Ibiza on Ortiz's yacht. Alperis and Castedo were elected as deputies in the Valencia parliament in the recent elections. Minister for Infrastructure in the regional government, Mario Flores, received a wristwatch worth 20,000 euros.
Industrial production down in April
After some months of slight recovery, due to exports to those countries which really are on the road to recovery (read Germany) the index for industrial production fell 4.1% in April, compared with the same month last year, and was 5.5 points down on March this year.
2 million euros for office of regional ex-president
How freely the regional governments spend public money on plush offices and luxurious cars is notorious, but Ex-President Juan Carlos Rodriguez Ibarra (PSOE) of poor Extremadura has excelled by spending 2 million euros on an office for his retirement, on wine and linen. In his defence Ibarra blames some employees as being responsible for the excesses.
New Stress Test for banks to be published in July
The European Banking Authorities new Stress Test (hopefully more stringent than the last) has been completed, although the results will not be revealed until July. Why July? July is a good month for hiding bad news, as most people are on vacation. Ninety banks and saving banks have been tested, 24 of them Spanish.
More than 5 million foreigners
By the end of the first quarter, the number of foreigners in Spain with resident permits exceeded 5 million. The most numerous group are Romanians, with 861,584, up 11.84%; followed by Moroccans 777,278, up 4.32%; and Ecuadorians, 380,910, down 7.16% on last year. Also-rans: British, 226,553; Italians 171,578; Bulgarians 164,639 and Chinese 160,636.
84.29% of resident foreigners are aged between 16 and 64 years, only 6.74% are 65 pr over.
No salaries in Castilla-La Mancha?
According to trusted sources (Vicente Tirado, the number 2 in the Partido Popular, winners the recent regional elections) Castilla-La Mancha has no money to pay the salaries of its 76,000 employees and owes 2 billion euros in unpaid bills to suppliers. The debt per capita is 2,800 euros, modest compared with the 3,500 euros debt of the Valencia region.
The outgoing socialists in Castilla-La Mancha deny the claim, saying it is, “totally false.”
Solbes again gives advice
Pedro Solbes, First Vice-President and Finance Minister in the Government of Rodriguez Zapatero until he was packed off to a well paid job in the European Commission in 2009, maintained until September 2008 that “no crisis existed.” In a recent seminar in Sitges, he warned of the dangers for the Euro Zone if the new rescue plan for Greece fails.
New rescue plan for Greece?
The European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund have accepted the new austerity measures and sale of public assets (excluding the Acropolis) promised by the Greek Government and, on that basis, have released a new payment of 12,000 million euros of the total 110,000 million promised. With this the 'door' for a new rescue package of 60.000 million, has been opened further.
'The politicians promise, the citizens pay.'
Bank commissions up
According to a study by the association of the users of banks, banks commissions have increased by up to 34% in a year. You may already have noted the robbery if you have a bank account in Spain,
PP have 13.8 points lead over PSOE of Rubalcaba
Prime Minister Zapatero's scheme to let respected Minister of the Interior, Perez Rubalcaba be the PSOE candidate in the 2012 Parliamentary elections, does not seem to working. In a recent public opinion poll, PP has a lead of 13.8 points over PSOE. 71% of those interviewed complained that Rubalcaba was appointed by the party leadership instead of through primaries or by a party congress.
“Indignados” marching on Madrid in July
The demonstrators who have been camping in their thousands, in an increasing number of cities all over Spain, intend to “March on Madrid” from many parts of the country, uniting in a gigantic demonstration in the capital on 17th July. The demonstration is against the present political system and demands changes for 'real democracy.'
The illusionists among promoters and politicians in Valencia
By Per Svensson
It was to be expected: The promoters and politicians in the Valencia Community, who carry the main responsibility for the disastrous economic situation of the region, with their abusive property laws (LRAU and LUV) and the plundering of its natural beauty, especially along the coast, with unrestrained approval and construction of hundreds of thousands of dwellings, are now using the ruling of the European Court in Luxembourg (we reported last week) as a general approval for their abusive urban planning activities.
It is a trick comparable to that of the great circus illusionists, displaying a red scarf, and hey presto! with the touch of their magic wand the scarf is blue…..
Let us repeat the facts: The matter the European Court considered was not the general urban planning laws or practices in the Valencia Region, nor the wisdom of Spain in building up to 800,000 new dwellings per year over a few years, more than the United Kingdom, France and Germany combined. Neither did the honest judges of the court take into account the 15,000 personal complaints of abuse that rest in the archives of the European Parliament and which prompted the Parliament to send three investigating commissions to Spain (concentrating especially on the Valencia Region). The court only answered the appeal of the European Commission against the Valencia urban law LRAU not obliging the developers to publish their integrated urban plans (PAI’s) in the Boletin of the EU. The judges answered the Commission; that as the matter was of a private and not public character, such a publication was not needed.
The magicians at work
The developers and politicians in the Valencian Region together, have undertaken an unrestrained and unsavoury publicity campaign, attempting to present the European Court ruling as a full blown blessing of their urban planning policy. Eloy Dura, President of the constructors in the region stated in the Valencia newspaper “Provincias” that the European Court has said “that those who buy a dwelling in Javea, Denia, Torrevieja or Peniscola need have no worries. Their investment is safe and the laws are in accordance with justice…”
The unfortunate Minister of Property Sales, Pepe Blanco, during his unsuccessful “road show” to London estimated that the number of unsold dwellings in the Valencia Region at the end of 2010 would be 137,410. The President of the property promoters, Francisco Murcia, said this year “only” 100,000 new dwellings would be added to the housing stock. Let us calculate: 137.000 unsold dwellings (not including the many that the banks have repossessed, or those that private investors would dearly love to get rid of). 137.000 unsold dwellings, at an estimated price of 250,000 euros each is according to my calculator 34,250 million euros. That is what the promoters consider they may have lost (or may stand to loose) if buyers do not return. 34,250 million good reasons for not caring about truth or decency, but launching the mother of all hate campaign against those who call their claims illusionist tricks.
“Taking legal action to recuperate what we lost….”
The President of the promoters in Murcia, has (also in “La Provincias”) declared that “they are studying the possibility of taking legal action to recover part of what they lost” (echoed by ministers in the Valencia Government)
I wonder: Against whom? Could it be against the thousands of foreigners abused under the Valencia property laws, sometimes losing their savings of a lifetime? Or against the many thousands of unwary buyers who lost their money when buying a dwelling in the Valencian Region, and after trying in vain to have the Spanish courts take up their cases, pinned their hopes on the institutions of the European Union? Or could it be the leaders of the association “Abusos Urbanisticos NO” for sending the many individual cases to the Petition Committee of the European Parliament? Could it be ourselves, who recommended foreigners not to buy a property in the Valencia Region in the existing circumstances?
In last week's report, I wrote what I thought about the promoter's threats. I shall not repeat myself; only underline how welcome such a legal action would be, by providing an opportunity to unmask the illusionists and give thousands of witnesses the chance to present their cases.
I am pretty sure that the threats, this time as last, are empty and hollow, intended to divert attention away from them and their responsibility for the economic crisis which has hit, especially the Valencia Region, very hard. The crisis in Spain was not imported from the financial centres of Washington, London or Frankfurt, but was home-made by the creation of an enormous property bubble. The responsibility for this bubble is shared by over greedy promoters and short sighted politicians. It is they who should be in court answering for all the misery they have brought upon the Spanish people.
Protest in Valencia parliament
Luckily the deputies of PP are not alone in the regional parliament. Francesc Signes, PSOE spokesman for infrastructure declared this week: “The recent ruling of the European Court does not at all validate the urban policies or land laws of the Generalitat, which has led to the collapse of construction and the housing market and an unemployment rate five points higher than in other regions. Those who have been responsible for sabotaging the image of the Valencia Region, not only in Europe, but worldwide, are those charged with PP corruption. It is those individuals who have placed the Region on the map of international shamelessness.”
It is worth noting that the court case opened this week against Iceland's previous conservative Prime Minister, for grave: 'negligence in not listening in 2008 to the warnings from the National Bank and others that the banking system of the country was in immediate danger of collapsing, and not taking any measures to reduce the effects of the collapse.'
Iceland's Ex-Prime Minister Haarde is being tried by a special court, comprising of 7 legal experts and 8 citizens elected by parliament.
Indignados marching on Madrid
We have been sent the following, that we send on to you all:
An unstoppable surge of people-power has sent shockwaves through our country over the past weeks, with hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens joining peaceful protests across the country demanding genuine democratic reform and a fair economic system.
Then the 22M elections delivered a landslide victory for conservative forces, and dozens of candidates charged with corruption won key seats across the country. It was a sobering ending to an amazing public demonstration of discontent. But often the most challenging moments like this also provide the greatest opportunities for reform.
Our political leaders know they need citizens' active support. If we now stay together and strong, we can pressure them to take steps to usher in a new era of democracy. Sign the petition for real reforms and effective action against corruption and spread the word. Avaaz will deliver the message to all parliamentary group leaders before the Congress of Deputies meet in plenary next week.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/spain_people_power/?vl
Despite the outcome of the elections, a powerful people's movement is already rising to meet the challenges of economic injustice and democratic deficit in our institutions. And the Avaaz community is making an important contribution.
Since March, over 100.000 of us have taken action against corruption triggering a nation-wide torrent of media coverage and catapulting the issue to the top of the electoral agenda. Avaaz "Imputado Deluxe" awards generated massive online participation, culminating in a memorable event (see details below). And last week, following the ban on the protests by the electoral board, we triggered a huge wave of public pressure on key ministers by flooding their offices with messages urging them to safeguard our freedom of assembly before, during and after election day.
Still, it's going to be a long road ahead. The combination of a weak government and the overwhelming control of local and regional government by conservative forces threaten to deepen the erosion of our economic and economic, political and social rights.
But together we can fight back! Online, in the streets, in the media, in local, regional and national parliaments, in the courts, and in upcoming elections. We know that building a better and more inclusive democracy will require a long, sustained effort. But we are also learning what we're capable of, when we all come together. If we stay together, nothing can stop us. Sign the petition and forward it widely.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/spain_people_power/?vl
We are witnessing something unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands of citizens from all ages, origins and political backgrounds have joined to take to the streets and squares and protest peacefully. Conservative financial and political elites cannot ignore this massive wave of democracy in action. Our time has come, and together we can become an unstoppable force able to win real gains for people and for our democracy.
With hope and determination, the Avaz organisation
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