Spain Business
Spain Business Brief - Wednesday May 7 2008
By h.b.
May 7, 2008 - 1:30 PM

The Minister for Employment and Immigration, Celestino Corbacho, is meeting today with trade unions and employers to start negotiations on a process of social dialogue for this parliamentary legislature. The Government hopes that global agreements can be reached on the economy and employment, as well as other items such as the reform of the INEM offices. It comes after the minister held meetings individually with both sides last week.

Farmers across Spain are planning a series of protests in demand of fair prices for their produce, with the first attracting some 5,000 people outside the Ministry offices in Madrid today. They say an urgent plan is needed as many of them are selling at prices lower than the cost of production. The situation for cattle breeders is said to be particularly difficult at this time. Farmers also consider that price abuse is taking place in the distribution chain for their products.

The EU has said that the 1 cent per litre tax charged in some regions of Spain to raise additional funding for that region’s health service is illegal, and must be removed. The Spanish authorities have been given two months to meet the requirements of the European Commission in Brussels, or see themselves hauled up before the TUE court in Luxembourg.

A couple of financial headlines which affects us here in Spain: Brussels has approved the entry of Slovakia into the Eurozone, as the country now has been deemed to meet the Maastricht criteria, and British low cost operator easyJet has announced a triple in its before tax losses to 72 million € for the first quarter of the year, caused by the increase in aviation fuel prices.
The carrier has now announced plans to renovate its fleet to improve fuel efficiency, with the company admitting that the future oil price remains their biggest challenge and uncertainty.
Easy Jet say their fuel costs have increased by 35% in the last three months, and are currently 80% higher than at this time a year ago.

Enegás is to invest 4.5 billion € between now and 2012 in a new strategic plan which will take annual profit to 12%.
Profits for the gas company for the first quarter of the year were up 15% at 64 million, on an increase in income of 4.2% at 210.8 million.

Mercè Sala, the ex President of RENFE Spanish railways has died, after a long illness. She headed the company between 1991 and 1996 when José María Aznar came to power, and died in the Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona where she was being treated for cancer. She is also a previous Socialist councillor for the city.

Profits for Spanish clothes firm Adolfo Domínguez are down 93%, causing a 6% fall in their share price in the early trading today. The number is for trading in the month of February compared to last and came in at 0.4 million €.

And finally,
Some good news – Nestlé are to invest 63 million € in a new factory in Girona. The new plant will produce café capsules of their Dolce Gusto brand, and is expected to create 100 new jobs.