Daily news from Spain

January 27th, 2012

The world’s largest social network is more than entertainment for its users. According to a report by Deloitte, Facebook generates 232,000 jobs in the European Union. The same study, which measures the employment and economic impact of Mark Zuckerberg’s company, said that this accounts for 15,300 million euros of the EU’s GDP and 1,400 million euros of the Spanish GDP.

So, according to this data Spain is responsible for approximately 9% of the total impact of Facebook on the economies of the EU-27 and also accounts for about 9% of the jobs.

“These are very valuable results, especially for SMEs which make up the business fabric of the European economy,” said the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, in Munich. …continue reading Facebook Generates Jobs in Spain

January 26th, 2012

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, has called to “increase” but not “double” the European bailout fund, so that countries like Spain and Italy are not drawn into a liquidity crisis.

At a conference in Berlin before the German Society for Foreign Policy, Lagarde said that “stronger firewalls” are essential in the European Union (EU) to prevent the contagion of more economies with debt problems.

“We believe that stronger firewalls are needed. Without them, countries like Italy and Spain, which are essentially able to pay their debt, may be faced with a problem of lack of liquidity due to an abnormal situation in the markets,” Lagarde said. …continue reading IMF Calls for Increased Funding

January 25th, 2012

The invoicing for electricity is to go back to being bi-monthly. This was proposed by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism as a draft royal decree establishing that the billing of domestic electricity consumers should be based on actual meter readings, taken every two months.

With this new law, El Mundo reported that the Government will end the system implemented since September 2008, whereby the electricity bill is paid monthly even though the reading is done every two months, meaning that one of the two bills is calculated from estimates. …continue reading Electricity Bills to go back to Bi-monthly

January 24th, 2012

The main trade unions of the 16,000 Iberia ground staff, the CCOO and UGT, along with the TCP, the union of the 4,000 cabin crew, on Friday reached an agreement with the heads of Iberia to extend the guarantees of employment for both groups until 2014, with automatic extension until 2015.

This agreement has resulted in the immediate suspension of the schedule of strikes planned to start on 3rd February and which were set to continue indefinitely every Monday and Friday. …continue reading Iberia Flight Strikes Called Off

January 23rd, 2012

Before attending the G20 meeting to be held in Mexico over the weekend, Japan reiterated the need for Europe to make its “best efforts” to resolve the debt crisis in the eurozone.

“As we have said many times, Japan is prepared to support European efforts to stabilise the financial markets, including the loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” said an official source at the Kyodo agency.

In the two day meeting, the deputy ministers of finance and central banks’ representatives of the G-20 discussed the expansion of IMF resources to address global challenges, and the debt crisis in the eurozone. …continue reading Japan Calls for “Greater Efforts” from Europe

January 20th, 2012

On the opening day of the International Tourism Fair in Madrid (Fitur) on Wednesday, the President of the Junta de Andalucía, José Antonio Griñán, highlighted the main results of the industry in the community. “Tourism is one of the economic engines of growth”, stated Griñán, who added he believes the tourism sector is “a tool with which to overcome the crisis”, and that “2011 was a year of consolidation for tourism in Andalusia”.

Griñán, accompanied by the Minister of Tourism, Trade and Sport, Luciano Alonso, emphasised that a good part of the results obtained in 2011 for Andalusia was due to the recovery of the international market, whose overnight stays in Spain increased by 12.6%, compared to the national market which fell by 4%. …continue reading 2011 was Year of Consolidation for Andalusia Tourism

January 19th, 2012

Iberia’s Intercenter Committee, which represents the ground workers of Iberia Airlines, on Tuesday approved an indefinite strike call for the airline, to take place every Monday and Friday from 3rd February. This is in addition to a further 3 days of strikes already planned for January, on 25th, 27th and 29th.

The creation of Iberia Express, a subsidiary of Iberia Airlines, for short and medium haul flights, is causing an unprecedented unity among the various groups of workers of the company. The proposal to mobilise the strike won the vote of 5 of the union representatives of the UGT, 4 from the CCOO, and one each from the USO and the CGT. For its part, the maintenance technicians union (Asetma) abstained from the vote while waiting to consult among its members, while the minority union, CTA, were the only ones who voted against. …continue reading Iberia Ground Staff to Strike Weekly from 3rd February

January 18th, 2012

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a convention held over the weekend that the number of unemployed in Spain at the end of 2011 reached 23.3 percent, and devoted much of his speech to explaining the economic reforms to be undertaken, stressing that they are all aimed towards economic growth and job creation. “This has been the main objective of recent years and will be the biggest battle of the years to come,” he added.

The Prime Minister revealed the new unemployment data at a PP convention held in Malaga, Andalusia, before the regional elections to be held on 25th March, describing the figures as “astronomical”, after the highest quarterly rise in 4 years, and which would pose a “great challenge” to his mandate. …continue reading Spain Unemployment Up Again

January 17th, 2012

The price of diesel has hit a record high and stood at 1.336 euros per litre after having risen by 4% over two weeks at the end of December, which is the date of the European Union’s last official record offered for Spain.

Europa Press reported that the new price, collected from the EU Oil Bulletin, exceeds the previous 1.329 euros per litre record high of July 2008, when oil hit a record $147 a barrel, and market tensions contributed to cement the credit crisis that erupted two months later with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

A litre of petrol also rose by 4.8% in the last two weeks of the year, and now stands at 1.358 euros …continue reading Price of Diesel Hits Record High

January 16th, 2012

European Commission Vice-President and Head of Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn, described the measures taken by the new government of Mariano Rajoy to cut the deficit as “very important”, but called for more fiscal adjustment and structural reforms, especially in the labour market, to ensure compliance with the objectives agreed with the EU.

“We encourage Spain to take action both on the fiscal, as well as on the structural front,” Rehn stressed at a press conference on Thursday, Cinco Dias reported.

“We hope that Spain will take further measures …continue reading Further Fiscal Adjustment and Reforms from Spain