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Spain Business Brief - Monday August 30 2010
The Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, speaking in Shanghai today during the Spain Day at the Expo, has said that there will be no more fiscal reforms in the State budgets for next year. He also admitted that he had already held contacts with the PNV, Basque Nationalist, on obtaining their support in the vote in Congress on the budgets, and rejected PP opposition to such contacts.
It was an optimistic speech in which Zapatero compared Spain’s future to size of the baby exhibit in the Expo, Miguelín, created by Isabel Coixet.
Spain will use the Expo to try and boost trade with China, and among the Spanish companies intending to break into the market is Telepizza.
Hacienda tax authorities have indicated that they will be calling in Swiss bank account holders for interviews in September. The inspection is centred on 1,500 clients of a subsidiary of the HSBC bank, and those who are found to have committed fiscal crimes could face a fine of 150% of the amount defrauded or, in extreme cases, a prison sentence.
It comes after the Agencia Tributaria obtained a list of the Spaniards with accounts in Switzerland from the French authorities, after an employee of the British bank HSBC stole the data relating to the fiscal years between 2005 and 2009.
El País reports today that Hacienda is also investigating local Town Halls in 150 municipalities where it is thought that real estate irregularities have taken place. Andalucía sees most of the inspections, followed by Valencia, Madrid and Cataluña.
Harmonised inflation in Spain has fallen in the advanced number for August because of the lower price of petrol. The rate has been put by the National Statistics Institute at 1.8% a tenth lower than in July, but up 0.1% over the month when looking at the typical shopping basket. The annual fall can be considered as surprising given the increase in IVA/VAT in July.
There has been criticism of the news we carried recently that RENFE Spanish railways has ended its ‘Ultima Hora’ discounts on its website. Consumers group, FACUA, has said it is unacceptable that the cancelling of the program was not announced, and fears that line closures or more expensive alternatives are on the way.
FACUA has also noted users’ complaints about increased prices of season tickets.
National tourism numbers show a reduction for July compared to last year. Tourism bosses think that the lower national numbers, compared to an increase in foreign visitors, are due to more people staying with friends or in rental accommodation rather than in hotels. 15.6 million national travellers were recorded in hotels in July this year, 9.1% down on the same month in 2009.
Julio Linares has said that Telefónica wants to charge more for broadband access for the clients who connect the most. The company Chief Executive indicated that an end to the flat rate for connections could be on the way, declaring the current system as ‘not sustainable’. He argued that 5% of mobile phone users take up 75% of the total traffic in Spain, and noted that in Germany the 5% take up 90%. It meant that the average user is subsidising the intensive user.
His comments are in contrast to others made by the company in June when Telefónica ‘roundly denied’ an increases in ADSL prices.
The end of cheap mortgages is here with the Euribor interest rate ending 22 months of changes which sent monthly payments lower. Those who see their annual reassessment in August will end up paying an average of 72 € more per year.
The Spanish press is already full of articles about the trauma of returning to work after the August break. Half of workers say they need a week to settle back into employment, with the 30 to 44 year old age group suffering the most. The research, from human resources company, Randstad, shows that the under 25’s are the most enthusiastic to return to work.
And finally,
The cost of the kids returning to school after the summer break has been put at 300 € more expensive in Madrid and Cataluña at an average over 1,000 €. Cheapest areas are the Canaries and Galicia where the average spend is 700 € per pupil.
The numbers come from research from the FUCI, In Federation of Independent Consumers and Users.
It was an optimistic speech in which Zapatero compared Spain’s future to size of the baby exhibit in the Expo, Miguelín, created by Isabel Coixet.
Spain will use the Expo to try and boost trade with China, and among the Spanish companies intending to break into the market is Telepizza.
Hacienda tax authorities have indicated that they will be calling in Swiss bank account holders for interviews in September. The inspection is centred on 1,500 clients of a subsidiary of the HSBC bank, and those who are found to have committed fiscal crimes could face a fine of 150% of the amount defrauded or, in extreme cases, a prison sentence.
It comes after the Agencia Tributaria obtained a list of the Spaniards with accounts in Switzerland from the French authorities, after an employee of the British bank HSBC stole the data relating to the fiscal years between 2005 and 2009.
El País reports today that Hacienda is also investigating local Town Halls in 150 municipalities where it is thought that real estate irregularities have taken place. Andalucía sees most of the inspections, followed by Valencia, Madrid and Cataluña.
Harmonised inflation in Spain has fallen in the advanced number for August because of the lower price of petrol. The rate has been put by the National Statistics Institute at 1.8% a tenth lower than in July, but up 0.1% over the month when looking at the typical shopping basket. The annual fall can be considered as surprising given the increase in IVA/VAT in July.
There has been criticism of the news we carried recently that RENFE Spanish railways has ended its ‘Ultima Hora’ discounts on its website. Consumers group, FACUA, has said it is unacceptable that the cancelling of the program was not announced, and fears that line closures or more expensive alternatives are on the way.
FACUA has also noted users’ complaints about increased prices of season tickets.
National tourism numbers show a reduction for July compared to last year. Tourism bosses think that the lower national numbers, compared to an increase in foreign visitors, are due to more people staying with friends or in rental accommodation rather than in hotels. 15.6 million national travellers were recorded in hotels in July this year, 9.1% down on the same month in 2009.
Julio Linares has said that Telefónica wants to charge more for broadband access for the clients who connect the most. The company Chief Executive indicated that an end to the flat rate for connections could be on the way, declaring the current system as ‘not sustainable’. He argued that 5% of mobile phone users take up 75% of the total traffic in Spain, and noted that in Germany the 5% take up 90%. It meant that the average user is subsidising the intensive user.
His comments are in contrast to others made by the company in June when Telefónica ‘roundly denied’ an increases in ADSL prices.
The end of cheap mortgages is here with the Euribor interest rate ending 22 months of changes which sent monthly payments lower. Those who see their annual reassessment in August will end up paying an average of 72 € more per year.
The Spanish press is already full of articles about the trauma of returning to work after the August break. Half of workers say they need a week to settle back into employment, with the 30 to 44 year old age group suffering the most. The research, from human resources company, Randstad, shows that the under 25’s are the most enthusiastic to return to work.
And finally,
The cost of the kids returning to school after the summer break has been put at 300 € more expensive in Madrid and Cataluña at an average over 1,000 €. Cheapest areas are the Canaries and Galicia where the average spend is 700 € per pupil.
The numbers come from research from the FUCI, In Federation of Independent Consumers and Users.
(You can find a photo for this story at Typically Spanish - Click here)