Spain Business Brief - Thursday November 5 2009

Spain Business Brief - Thursday November 5 2009
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By h.b. - Nov 5, 2009 - 12:37 PM

EFE archive

Spain considering change on internet legislation

The European Union has said that it is legal for a customers’ service to the Internet to be disconnected without a judicial order, if the user has been downloading contents protected by copyright. Both France and U.K. want to start the procedure, but here in Spain the legislation demands a previous judicial order, although the government here is reported to be considering a possible change in the regulations.

It has taken time, but the Bank of Spain has now responded to the attacks on Spanish banks made recently by the rating agency Moody’s, and some investment banks such as Credit Suisse. A statement from the Bank of Spain says that ‘the impact on bad debt cannot be so simplistic’. The concerns come from the high exposure of many Spanish banks to the real estate sector.

Spanish biro and fountain pen company, Inoxcrom, has declared itself to be insolvent with a debt of 24.2 million €.
The largest shareholders, the Vaqué brothers, in the company founded by their father, sold the company for 1€ last February. 105 workers were sacked with an ERE but are still to be paid the 7.4 million in redundancy.

Latest figures for family and company bankruptcies as a whole in Spain for the third quarter show numbers down by 37% compared to the second quarter, at 1,095. It is the construction sector where most companies have gone bust. However the number of cases in the third quarter this year remains 29% higher than for the same quarter in 2008.

Comments made by the Vice President of General Motors have indicated that the company sees its plant in Figueruelas in Zaragoza as key to the future of Opel. The new restructuring plan foresees 10,000 job losses, and is said to be similar to the one planned by Magna. However the number of jobs to go at the Spanish plant is still a mystery. Car makers in Germany are on strike today in protest at the situation.
The government here has said it will use the deal on the Spanish plant made with Magna as the starting point in negotiations.

The Ministry for Development has presented its plans for a new AVE high speed train link between the Mediterranean and Cantabrian coasts. A new service between Valencia and Bilbao will cut journey time to just over three and a half hours. Contracts for the construction of the infrastructure will be put in place at the end of this year, although the actual construction time has not been released.

Domestic water supply prices have risen an average 28% in Spain since 2005. The people of Murcia have suffered the largest increases paying 413 € a year. In Madrid it costs 240 €, and in Almusafes, it’s free.

Iberia cabin crew are now considering extending their planned strike action over pay into the month of December.
The next stoppage on the 10th and 11th of this month remains in place.
The company has published a list of cancelled flights and has offered a new information number for passengers, so they can be offered alternatives. The number is 902 400 500 and there is more information on the Iberia website.
http://www.iberia.com/

And finally
The supermarket price war in Spain has taken a new turn with the decision of Carrefour to show both their own price, and that of a competitor, Mercadona, right below the product on its sheves. The pilot scheme is only in two of the company’s stores in Madrid but will be extended if deemed successful.

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