Spain Business
Spain Business Brief - Tuesday August 19 2008
By h.b.
Aug 19, 2008 - 7:02 PM

The Spanish Stock Market has suffered its sixth largest fall of the year today with the IBEX 35 falling by 2.93% to stand at 11,335.
The fall comes as other markets around the world head south over further concerns about the state of the mortgage market in the United States and falls in the shares prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All European markets reported falls on the day.

The Minister for Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Miguel Sebastian, has said that a serious fine is to be imposed on the Endesa power company, owners of the Ascó 1 nuclear plant near Tarragona. Sebastian did not give the amount of the fine which is being imposed after an incident at the plant last November resulted in radioactive particles being released outside the building.
The Nuclear Safety Council has called for the fine to be between 9 and 22.5 million €.

A pact between the Government and the Iniciativa per Catalunya party means that the Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will not have to appear in Congress to explain the new plan for funding the regions of Spain. Instead the details will be given by the Minister for the Economy, Pedro Solbes, in a statement expected before the end of the month.
The Government is promising a pact on the financing of the regions before the end of November.

A quick increase in the amount of bad debts in Spanish savings banks is being noted, with the level for June coming in at 1.61%, the highest seen for some nine years.