Spain: Front & Centre of the EU Stage
January 26th, 2010
Euro lobby groups are making the most of Spain’s new prominence on the world stage. They’re making sure that Mr. Zapatero is painfully aware of Spain’s continued property-related human rights violations.
Euro MP’s have renewed their threat to impose sanctions over Valencia’s ridiculous land-grab laws.
And, in another article not included in this week’s newsletter, MEP Marta Andreasen asked how Mr. Zapatero’s plans for the EU presidency could be credible when his government is unable to solve property abuses in his own country.
Mrs. Andreasen ended with a warning: “This parliament has only threatened to block payment of subsidies to Spain, but I can assure you that if this situation is not resolved during the Spanish presidency, I will do everything I can to turn this threat into action.”
As Spain has just six months font and centre on the EU stage, let’s hope that Mrs. Andreasen’s bite is at least as ferocious as her bark.
Mark Stucklin has an interesting perspective on the recent Economist report that Spanish property is 55% overvalued. He points out that this conclusion is based on official government data – which we all know is highly suspect.
He concludes that “If The Economist used real transaction price figures it would find that Spanish property prices are much closer to fair value than they think.”
Last week, I mentioned the forthcoming A Place in the Sun Live show at London’s Earls Court from 26th to 28th March. As promised, you can now avoid the £10 entrance fee and get free tickets to the event.
The show will feature thousands of properties for sale, by hundreds of exhibitors from more than 40 countries worldwide. And with homes from less than £20,000, there really is something to suit almost every taste and budget.
Finally, we’ve been promoting a car-rental booking engine called Car Trawler for a while now – and last week, I was able to put them through their paces.
They claim to find the best car rental rates worldwide by automatically doing the leg-work for you. Compared to the best rates offered by EasyJet, Car Trawler offered me a reduction of almost 25% – £12 per day compared to EasyJet’s £16. A total saving of £28 over the week’s all-inclusive rental.
If you intend to rent a car this year, why not use Car Trawler to get some quick comparison prices?
Martin Dell, Kyero.com
