More public works

Cheaper mortgages

20% unemployment

80% against tax hikes

More public works

The Government announced that, during the remaining months of the year, it intends to spend a further 6,800 million euros, on public works concentrated on the transport sector.  This is in addition to the 19,000 million euros designated during the first 7 months of the year.

Cheaper mortgages

The index for mortgage interest rates is falling. The Euribor, at the end of July stood at 1.412%, as much as 73.81% less than a year ago. An average, a mortgage on a dwelling of 70 m2 in Barcelona or Madrid would be 191,000 euros.

20% unemployment?

Celestino Corbacho, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs,  has confirmed that if unemployment continues to increase at the same rate as over the past years, it may reach 20% by the end of the year, or the beginning of next year. At the end of the second quarter, unemployment reached 18.9%, the Government’s previous estimate for the year. The social security system lost 142,244 contributors in August.

80% against increased taxes

According to a recent opinion poll, only 10% of the population support the Government’s proposal to increase taxes;  eighty percent were opposed to this method of reducing the public deficit. Most of the political parties, with the exception of IU and ERC (Aggressive Nationalists in Catalonia) are also against increased taxes to fight the crisis. The Government, being in minority in the national parliament, needs the support of parliamentarians from other parties to get the budget for next year approved.

Costly “swine flue”

According to an investigation by the company Adecco, ‘A flue’ may cost Spanish companies 1,000 million euros and affect 12% of employees. It is estimated that the average duration of sick leave for a person contracting the flue is seven days. Companies will have to contract short term workers for 12.5 million man hours to compensate for the off sick employees.

15 banks “in the red”

The association of banks in Spain (AEB) reports that 15 of the 75 banks operating in Spain lost money during the first half of the year, five times more than the losses during the same period last year. Net profits of the remaining banks were 8,551 million euros, 12.1% less than the first half of 2008.

2,000 dwellings to be demolished

More than 2,000 illegal dwellings in Chiclana (Cadiz) are in danger of being demolished. A further 12,715 houses, without building permits, will be “legalised” in coming years. The dwellings to be demolished were built on land which either cannot be used for construction or on protected land. For the ‘legalisation’ of the rest, owners will have to pay 0.84% of the estimated value of their properties, up to 50,000 euros.

72.3% less building projects on Costa Blanca

The Colleges of Architects in the Valencia Region approved 5,270 new building projects during the first half of the year. That’s 72.3% less than during the same period last year. The rest of Spain saw a fall of 63.4%.

Industrial activity continues to fall

The index for industrial activity fell 16.7% in July compared with the same month of last year. This is the 15^th month industry has shrunk. Over the first seven months of the year, the fall was 20.7% compared with the same months of 2008. Production of electronic goods fell 35.8%, furniture production was down 31.9% and 30.6 less vehicles were produced.

Check Republic more competitive than Spain

For the first time an Eastern European country has overtaken Spain in the list of ‘Most Competitive Countries in the World.’   The Forum of the World Economy placed Spain 33rd in its annual report for this year, down from 29^th place last year. Most competitive were Switzerland, USA, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, UK and France.

 On the list of foreign councillors in Spanish municipalities we missed one: Lisa Svoboda, she replaced a Spanish councillor in the municipal council of Benissa.