Andalucía holds most councils in debt

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ANDALUCÍA One of the many reasons for the disastrous conditions of the nation's finances is in the indebtedness of its municipalities (by municipality read council). One example, offered in an article on the subject in El País, is a village in the province of Burgos: population 48 (yes, no zeros missing); debt: €8,520 per head. It is the most indebted council in Spain, just above another village in Barcelona that runs a debt of €8,344 for each of its inhabitants. There are 8,116 municipalities in Spain, and almost all of them went haywire with expenses and building and other investment when 'the cows were fat' (a good old rural expression). Two of the highest are in Andalucía:>>>

Spanish media: 'Dijsselbloem is a cretin, mediocre, not up to his job'

Jeroen Dijsselbloem

SPAIN  While the rest of Europe is frantically trying to calm the troubled waters of the EuroZone after Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem's saying that the €10b is a template for banking in Europe and setting off market scares galore, much of the media in Spain is calling him names that range from 'mediocre' to 'cretin'. The much-loved morning and/or evening debate shows on radio and TV have been outraged by it all. On one of them we heard German Prime Minister Angela Merkel being called 'the new Hitler'. The fact is that there is much unease about it all, and small savers (we don't know any large ones) do not trust the banks, although there are no polls out on their concept of safety. Much less do they trust their politicians, whom they blame for all the ills of Spain.

Zara boss overtakes Ikea founder on rich list

Photo: swotti.com

Amancio Ortega, the owner of Inditex, which owns the Zara fashion chain, among others, is the richest man in Europe, and the fourth richest in the world, according to financial site Bloomberg. The site headed the story thus: "Ortega is Europe's richest man while Spain ravaged by debt." It goes on to say that his fortune rose to $39.5 billion (not quite enough to rescue Spain's banks, alas), which puts him above Sweden's Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Ikea and worth $37.2 billion, and Bernard Arnault, owner of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) luxury goods empire, who is attributed $22.7 billion. Heading the list of the world's richest is still Mexican media mogul Carlos Slim, but the Bloomberg Billionaires Index tells us that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has been dropped off the top 40.

Social Security system "is not at risk"

Secretary of State Tomás Burgos
(Photo: lainformación.com)

MADRID (Agencies) The Secretary of State for Social Security, Tomás Burgos, announced at a press conference on Monday that the system could be subject to "significant liquidity tension" over the next few months, probably beginning in July. This, he said, is because of treasury fluctuations related to the way the Social Security system is financed. He added that, if necessary and as a last resort, the Government would have to use its reserve funds to compensate for those fluctuations. It is not unusual for there to be some financing problems every July, as this, and December, are the months when the 'extra' payment to employees are due.>>>

Anti-tax evasion measures, medical co-payments and more children in the classroom

King Juan Carlos's accident made the really big news of the week move over (Prospero's well-exercised cynicism wonders about smoke screens). Three significant things will be approved by tomorrow's weekly Cabinet Meeting, or already were at last week's: co-payment for medicines by pensioners -free medication until now- depending on their income, and the long-term unemployed; anti-tax evasion measures against under-the-counter cash payments to the self-employed; more children in the classroom. We will be looking at each of these, and more, measures being taken over the next few weeks. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ITEMS SUCH AS THIS MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUBSCRIPTION IN THE FUTURE but you can make a donation NOW, too! Please click here for more information on how to help us continue.

SPAIN DECLARES BANKRUPTCY - OFFICIAL!

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SPAIN In  a move aimed at outmaneuvering  the banks and ratings agencies, which are on skeleton staff for the holidays, Spain's newly-appointed Secretary of State for Finance, Miguel Ángel González Alfonso-Díaz, made a surprise announcement last night - after the main newscasts - declaring that the country is officially bankrupt. The statement may not be a complete surprise to other members of the EU, but it comes in the wake of a tiny if significant glimmer of optimism in the world markets, which are expected to plunge once more following this announcement. Reaction has not been slow in coming, even in the early hours of this morning. One disheveled PSOE spokesperson (whose name we were unable to catch in time on the radio) said that her party was determined to>>>

Election campaign ends with Spain under attack by markets

SPAIN (El País/A.R-A.S.) The Spanish government on Friday sought to reassure investors it could service its debt as the country remained in the eye of the storm that has been ravaging the euro-zone sovereign debt market. According to figures compiled by Bloomberg, Spain's risk premium on Friday moved above Italy's for the first time since August but steadied as the European central bank stepped in again to buy Spanish government bonds. The spread between the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond and the German equivalent closed up 17 basis points at 476 basis points after having hit a new euro-era record high of 503 basis points at one point in the session. Speaking at a news conference after Friday's Cabinet meeting, the last before Sunday's general election, Economy Minister Elena Salgado said there was "absolutely no concern" about Spain's capacity to meet its debt commitments. At an auction held on Thursday, the Treasury was obliged to offer a yield of over seven percent on 10-year government bonds, the highest rate since 1997.>>>