- In Cadiz PP took 7, PSOE 6 and the leftist IU, 2.
37.5 working hours in administration
The Government has extended the hours of work in the public Administration from 35 to 37.5 hours. The decision was taken based on a proposal from the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, with the aim to save cost.
The Government has decided to cut the budgets of all Ministries by between 14% and 15% and make ‘partial reforms’ to some of the main taxes, in an attempt to contain the budget deficit to 5.3%.
Bank of Spain: Economy down – Unemployment up
- However, as we have not yet reached the end of the quarter, the Bank did not give specific numbers, but did confirm the downward trend.
First 1,000 million to municipalities
The Treasury has decided to pay out the first 1,000 million euros of the 2,000 million intended to pay the debts of the municipalities to their suppliers. The distribution, between 8,116 town halls, will be not be even; Madrid getting 86.5 million, whilst Castillonuevo in Navarra will have to do with 43.5 cents.
Mortgages down 41.3%
The number of mortgages granted for the purchase of dwellings fell 41.3% from the same month, of the already low, 2011. This is the 21st consecutive such monthly fall. The value of the loans was also down to a total of 5,833 million euros, 34% less than last year.
Supreme Court against El Algarrobico
The Supreme Court has ordered that half of the ill famous Hotel El Algarrobico in Carboneras (Almeria) which was built in the protected beach zone, must be demolished. The hotel, in the form of a pyramid, has 21 floors and 414 rooms.
Smartphones taken to bed
According to a resent survey, more than half the mobile phones in Spain are smartphones. 64% of their owners say they use them to access the Internet, 55% consult their mobile phone during dinner and 16% take them when they go to bed.
New pilot strike
Iberia’s pilots are going to strike on Monday’s and Friday’s from the 9th April to the 20th of July. The strikes are a protest against the establishment of a low cost carrier by the name Iberia Express.
Saving money by purchasing Chinese
The crisis is increasing sale of Chinese products to European consumers. Spaniards are saving 300 euros per year buying products from the Asian giant. Exports from China to the EU increased from 75,000 million euros in 2000, to 248,000 million last year. China’s imports of European goods also increased, from 26,000 million euros in 2000, to 113,000 million over the first ten months of 2011.
Board of Banco de Valencia in court
The board of Banco de Valencia, including the previous president of the Generalitat Valenciana, is in court accused of ‘disloyal administration’, including false accounting and manipulation of documents.
El Pais wrote the following on the new law on Open Government
“The plan for a Transparency and Good Governance Law, which the government presented on Friday, is a hopeful statement of good intentions which, however, suffers from a certain disturbing vagueness. The proposed law, which is not yet even in draft form, will demand that public administrations and public companies give full information on their accounting, including the awarding of contracts and subsidies; oblige them to answer questions asked by citizens within one month; establish a “pay scale” to control the salaries of mayors and councilors; and set stiff sanctions for officials who fail to comply with their obligations, especially those connected with the handling of public funds.
The plan is now being set before the citizens for two weeks, so they can give their views. This is a law that has long been wanting in Spain, the only major EU country that lacks rules of this type. However, only its later development will show whether the resulting law will be in line with those that exist in the rest of Europe, and in the United States.
For the moment we may note that the Spanish bill has, even in its embryonic form, certain worrying aspects. The first of these is the emphasis placed on the importance of projecting abroad a clear message on Spanish solvency regarding our country’s compliance with its financial commitments. For such an objective, a law requiring a lengthy parliamentary process is hardly necessary. It is enough if those occupying public posts controlled by the Popular Party (PP), an overwhelming majority at all levels of government in Spain, act correctly in the performance of their duties. The harsh sanctions announced for certain forms of conduct call for a number of modifications in the Penal Code, but many others can already be prosecuted in criminal law: all that is necessary is the political will to enforce the law as it now stands.
As far as can be seen, the planned law sets forth no mechanism to determine the quality of the information to be made available to the citizen. Also up in the air is the question of whether an independent public agency will be created to oversee compliance with these new obligations, or to demand simplification in the procedures that the citizen must follow to obtain the information he wants. Nor are any convincing reasons given for leaving the Royal House outside the remit of the Transparency Law.
These are serious gaps in a proposed law that is perceived as crucial to restoring the credibility of Spanish political conduct — a law which the Zapatero government toyed with, but did not venture to push through to a conclusion.
Withal, this initiative of the Rajoy government is a positive first step, which must not be allowed to shrink into an impotent dead letter during the stages that remain before its final enactment. This would constitute a poor service to Spanish democracy, and a very negative move on the part of the PP — a party gravely affected by cases of corruption and bad government, of the very sort that the law is intended to curb.”
The crisis this week:
Last Friday, due to the delay of Rajoy in presenting his budget and the disagreement with the European Commission on the cuts needed, the country risk fell to 351 points. On 27th it was 350 points
Shares of the companies on the Spanish stock index, IBEX, has continued its fall, to 8.121 points
The public deficit stood at 20,668 million euros at the end of February, equivalent to 1.94% of the Gross Domestic Product
Spain has to adjust 55,000 million this year and not the 34,000 million foreseen by the Government, declares Funcas, the Spanish saving banks think-tank
The European Commission will send a new inspection commission to Spain at the end of April
Main economist of City, Willem Buiter, has declared that Spain is closer than ever to default
The value of your dwelling
If you want to know approximately what your dwelling is worth, we recommend you visit:-
http://www.elmundo.es/suvivienda/sv/tasaciones/ Where the sale prices obtained in most municipalities and regions of Spain over the last month ids recorded.
Happy Easter! Next report will come on 13th of April.
The mood of the Spanish
By Per Svensson
Difficult times for the Spanish population:
Almost a quarter are without a job, and many families have no one working and are surviving on public assistance. More and more are unable to meet payments to the banks for their home loans, which they acquired during the decennium of greed. The new government is increasing working hours for those with employment and slashing many social benefits. Young people (50% without a job and the hope of finding one) are being forced to emigrate.
The Spanish know who the main culprits are. The property speculators, the bankers and the socialist government who were unable to see the growing crisis. The party of Rodriguez Zapateero lost the resent general elections.
In Andalusia’s regional elections last weekend, again the socialists, who have ruled and mismanaged the southern region since democracy was introduced in the general elections of 1982, were punished. Their share of seats was reduced from 56 of the total of 109, to 47. A thundering defeat, especially as Partido Popular, increased their number of seats from 47 to 50.
But the relative winner was the leftist federation Izquerda Unida, going from 6 to 12 seats in the parliament, blocking the PP from taking over government and forcing a coalition between them and PSOE. This coalition will hold a majority of 9 seats, and as IU pushes for a radical opposition against the anti-social financial policy of the Rajoy government, the coalition may not survive long.
Rajoy has not yet presented a budget for 2012, waiting for the outcome of elections in Andalusia before revealing his hand. Now he is in a worse situation, having lost the absolute majority needed to govern but having to come up with some harsh decisions in his budget.
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