Spain Business Brief - Monday October 26 2009

Spain Business Brief - Monday October 26 2009
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By h.b. - Oct 26, 2009 - 2:13 PM
Spain's foreign population falls for the first time in 13 years

EFE archive

There has been a fall in the number of foreign residents in Spain, the first reduction seen in the official numbers for 13 years. Numbers from the survey of the active population, assembled by the National Statistics Office, for the second quarter show 17,100 fewer immigrants in the country, caused by a reduction in the number of arrivals and an increase in the number of those immigrants returning home. There are now 5,342,800 immigrants living in Spain. The number of EU residents here increased however by 10,000.

The Bank of Spain has said it will punish those banks which accept residential property instead of payments, in other words those who close in on a mortgage default. The Bank of Spain says that such entities must double the provisions they make against bad debts from 10% to 20%. The measure is to be introduced in a few weeks

Profits at the Banco Popular have fallen by 32% as more money has been put aside to meet bad debts. Profits for the year to September were 651 million €, as the bad debt level doubled that of a year ago at 4.63%. Before provisions and extraordinary items, profits were up 16.6% to reach 2.068 billion.

The cabin crew strike in Iberia got underway at midnight on Sunday, and continues today and Tuesday. Most affected airport is Barajas in Madrid, with 210 cancelled flights followed by El Prat in Barcelona, with 57 cancellations. 20% of the total number of flights in the company cancelled. There are no reports of any incidents.
A second 48 hour stoppage is set on November 10 and 11 as the dispute over wages continues. Consumers’ organization FACUA is advising passengers affected to demand financial compensation.
Meanwhile Brussels has been placing obstacles in the path of the planned alliance between Iberia, and British Airways, saying that any merged airline would have to give up some of its take-off and landing slots.

Some 300 Air Comet workers have been demonstrating in demand of 4.7 million € unpaid wages. The airline is owned by Gerardo Díaz Ferrán, the President of the Employers Organisation, CEOE. Several unions have supported the protest and claim the company has offered them no viable project for the future, and that most workers have between three and five months wages outstanding.

The Ministry for Industry has announced the car scrappage scheme Plan 2000E is to be extended until the end of the year and possibly into 2010. 40 million € has been made available for this year, which will allow 80,000 more discounted operations. The government estimates that 50,000 jobs will be created by the measure.

Cleaning companies in Spain are demanding 3.5 billion € in payments which they say is outstanding from local councils across the country. Their association Aselip says that most of the 7,200 councils across the country are behind with their payments.

Spain is using its importance in world tourism, where it is the third most popular destination, as another argument for its inclusion in the G20, the world’s richest and emerging countries. Ministers are meeting from G-20 countries in South Africa in February, ahead of the next official summit, set for June in Canada.
Meanwhile the Spanish tourism industry is breathing a sigh of relief after good results over the recent Pilar bank holiday weekend, with occupancy levels of 80-90% in many areas.

Electrolux has announced the closure of its factory in Alcalá de Henares, despite the company making a profit. 450 jobs will be lost in Spain as the Swedish company embarks on a cost cutting program.

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