Spain Business Brief - Friday May 1 2009
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By h.b. - May 1, 2009 - 12:57 PM
Trade unions celebrate May 1st across Spain

The trade unions in Spain have criticised what they describe as the ‘disloyal attitude’ of the employers in the events being held to mark May 1st. The workers are demanding greater social protection for the unemployed, and given the undertaking from the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, not to cut any social provisions during the recession, have diverted their attentions against the employers.

The BBVA has said that unemployment will not reach five million in Spain this year. The bank’s study service considers that over the next two quarters the economy will experience ‘negative expansion numbers, although lower’.
The statement came from the bank’s expert, José Luis Escrivá, who took part in an internet meeting with the readers of El Mundo.
Minister for Employment, Celestino Corbacho, has commented that now he ‘does not dare to make provisions’.

The Ministry of Housing has sold land for the construction of 15,350 VPO assisted homes. The sites chosen are in 14 municipalities in nine regions of the country.

The Pikolin bed company, based in Aragon in Spain, has opened its first store in China. The company has chosen the city of Shanghai in the hope they can expand to avoid the crisis. They plan to give it until April 2010 to see if the product is appreciated by the Chinese.

The Prisa media group, the editor of El País, has announced profits for 139 million € for the first quarter of the year, down 19.3% on the year. It comes from an income of 862 million, compared to 958 million for the same period last year. The reduction is caused by the fall in advertising revenue for the group, which has been compensated for by more control and cost-cutting.

The board of SOS Cuetara have sacked the president, Jesús Salazar Bello, and vice president of the company Jaime Salazar Bello. The move ends the war which has been taking place on the board of the foodstuffs company over a credit of 212 million given to the Condor Plus company, linked to the Salazar brothers, which planned to use the money to create olive plantations in Libya, a project since abandoned.

Electricity costs are to be frozen for five million homes across Spain until 2012. Those to benefit from the news have a power supply of upto 3 KW, or are the so-called numerous families, have all their members unemployed, or are on a minimum pension.
The state is to fund the measure with upto 10 billion € which will also go to meet the pending deficit owed to the power companies.

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