Spain Business
Spain Business Brief - Friday April 4 2008
By h.b. - Apr 4, 2008 - 12:52 PM
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Pedro Solbes, the acting Minister for Tax and the Economy in Spain, has admitted that the financial markets are undergoing ‘a very difficult process’ because of the ongoing lack of liquidity.
He made the comment at the Spring meeting in Slovenia of Ecofin, and considered that the turbulence would continue for ‘some months’.
It comes as the latest report from the European Commission has warned about the worsening of the economic situation in the Eurozone as a consequence of the slowdown in the United States economy.
The International Monetary Fund, IMF, claims that house prices in Spain are 15%-20% over-valued. They predict a reduction in the number of sales taking place.
Roberto Cardarelli, an IMF real estate market expert, said the current price of property in Spain was ‘unsustainable’, but that this did not mean an imminent drop in price. ‘It could happen slowly, via inflation’, he said. ‘There does not have to be a collapse’.
The Madrid regional government has announced the total liberation of shop opening hours. They say the final step is being prepared after the previous permissions allowing shops to open on certain Sundays and fiestas, but a complete liberation will be a first in Spain, and is even being described in some reports as a revolution.
Under the plans trading will be allowed 24 hours a day and on fiestas. It’s expected to be approved in the next few weeks as part of the law labelled as the Trade Modernisation law.
The Madrid regional government hopes the new measure will improve competitiveness and generate employment, as well as adapting opening hours more to the new needs of consumers.
Telefónica has purchased 54% of its rival in Brazil, Teleming, for a reported price of 429 million €. The joint venture between Telefónica and Portugal Telecom, Vivo, is expected to launch a full take over bid for the rest of the capital later.
The consumers association FACUA has denounced 111 travel agents in Spain for advertising ‘misleading offers which did not indicate the final complete price’. The complaint has been placed before the consumer authorities in Andalucia, Baleares, Madrid, Murcia, Castilla y León after they inspected 117 travel agents in 11 provinces across the country. 97% of them have misleading prices in their windows, say FACUA.
And finally,
Experts in Spain say they do not expect to see an increase in the price of rice here, despite what is called world alarm at the shortage in Asia. That’s because a large amount of the rice eaten here is grown here, and the last harvest was a good one.
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