Spain Business Brief - Monday June 22 2009
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By h.b. - Jun 22, 2009 - 1:35 PM
Foreign Tourist arrivals down 12% in Spain so far this year

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Spain has fallen by 12% in the year to May, compared to last year for the same period. It takes the numbers back down to where they were in 2004. The number of British visitors was 18% lower, number of Germans 11% down, with reductions seen in visitors from all countries with the exception of those from Latin America, which was up 9.2%.
The region of Spain most affected by the fall in foreign tourist numbers was the Valencia community which saw a 19% reduction, while Madrid was practically unchanged, up 0.3%. The Canary Islands saw a 14.5% fall in foreign visitor numbers, Andalucia was down 12.2%, Cataluña was down 11.8% the Balearics down 8.5%.
The data comes from the survey of tourist movements, Frontur, published by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade.
There were 18.3 million foreign tourist arrivals between January and May this year, 4.6 million of them from the U.K. 71% of the travellers to arrive were independent travellers, as opposed to package travellers. 63.7% of the visitors stayed in hotels.

The Spanish Prosecutors’ Office has taken statements from the fund managers and others who sold products from the now disgraced Bernie Madoff. Fairfield Greenwich and Santander are among those being investigated in Spain over the matter, and some initial conclusions are expected in a few weeks time.

The European Commissioner, Joaquín Almunia, has added his voice to those who think the worst of the recession has past, although he also has said that unemployment will increase over the next few months. Almunia is in favour of labour reform.
‘We all agree that social dialogue is very important, but it is also true that governments have to assume the responsibility of putting new initiatives on the table, and finally take the decisions they consider necessary’.

A small bomb exploded at 2,30am on Monday morning at the entrance to the Plumbers Association building in Vigo. The whole metalworkers sector is in current dispute, and the city of Vigo is at the centre of strikes and demonstrations. No one was injured by the blast which caused some damage to the entrance.

The Criteria fund, controlled by the La Caixa savings bank, has admitted that it has been holding conversations with Suez Environment about the Aguas de Barcelona company. Currently the fund has a 44% share in the utilities company, but it seems the talks so far have not reached any agreement.

Banks and Savings Banks closed 371 branches in Spain between January and March. It comes as the Bank of Spain repeats demands for a larger restructuring in the sector.

European Defence Ministers are meeting in Sevilla today to discuss the A400M military plane, as there have been more recent delays to the project. The plan is expected to make its maiden flight at the end of the year. Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Luxemburg and Turkey are all involved in the project.

The Government last week approved a 3.36 cent per litre increase in petrol and diesel prices, but drivers have seen how the increase at the pumps has generally been some 5 cents.
It means that so far this year, lead free 95 petrol increased by 30,3% while diesel is 13.76% more expensive.
The numbers come from the latest EU petrol bulletin, which also notes that a barrel of Brent has started to increase in price again after months of falls.
Similar larger increases have also been seen in cigarette prices.

And finally,
A reminder that the period when you can ask for your income tax return ends tomorrow Tuesday 23. The forms have to be sent back by the end of the month.

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