Spain Business
Spain Business Brief - Thursday March 13 2008
By h.b.
Mar 13, 2008 - 1:06 PM

Inflation in Spain rose by two points in February to reach an annual rate of 4.4%, its highest since November 1995.
Prices were forced higher by increases above all in alcoholic drinks and tobacco, with rises also seen in the service sector and in hotels, cafes and restaurants.
Over the past year, milk, bread and eggs are the items which have risen in cost most, although milk is new reducing in price. There is concern in the government that the continuing increases in petrol prices could put pay to the Government’s forecasts of 3% inflation at the end of the year. The European Central Bank has also issued a warning about the increasing upward pressure on prices.

The Government is proposing paying the moving costs of unemployed workers who have to change their place of residence to find work. The plan comes with another measure, to pay 1,050 € to the unemployed who take part in training courses. The money will be paid at a rate of 350 € a month.
The measure will cost 201 million € and immigrants and those aged over 45 will be those to benefit most from the plan, as it is aimed at the long-term unemployed.

The Agencia Tributaria tax authorities and the Guardia Civil have intercepted six containers at Algeciras port containing counterfeit goods estimated to be worth some 100 million €. The containers held more than 230,000 fake products in more than 45 top brands which had come from China and which had Morocco as their final destination. The goods have an estimated value of more than 100 million €.

A new study of competitiveness across Spain carried out by the BBVA bank has shown that the productivity in nearly all the regions of the country is poor because of a lack of investment in infrastructures and the concentration of economic activity based on those with poor qualifications. Andalucia and Extremadura remain the least competitive areas, and have been so since the 80’s. Galicia has seen a fall in competitiveness according to the new numbers, while Madrid, Navarra, the Basque Country and Cataluña return the better numbers.

The court case against 16 tax inspectors who are charged with defrauding the tax authorities in Cataluña has got underway. The inspectors are charged with corruption and making deals with certain businessmen regarding the amount of tax paid. Among those charged in the case is the entrepreneur, Javier de la Rosa, and José Luis Núñez Clemente, the ex President of FC Barcelona.

And finally,
Consumer sales were down for the second month in January in Spain, with activity down 1.6% on last year. It’s the first time that the numbers from the INE National Statistics Institute have shown two consecutive months with a fall in consumer sales since the index was established in 2004.