spaniards
February 18th, 2010
If Greece is broke, can Spain be far behind? More than four times as big as Greece, Spain has received almost as much unwelcome attention from investors. This month the Madrid stockmarket has tumbled and the risk premium on Spain’s bonds has risen. Aides to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Socialist ...
Continue reading The Zapping of Zapatero
February 11th, 2010
More than half of Spain’s landlords are dodging taxes as the rental market expands, depriving the financially strapped government of more revenue each year. Owners are asking for payment in cash from tenants to avoid tax on 2.5 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of earnings annually, the Gestha union of tax inspectors ...
Continue reading Spain's Tax-Dodging Landlords
February 9th, 2010
Who to believe? In the news this week, one commentator declares the Spanish property industry bankrupt. At the same time, a developer in Almeria has raised prices as a "signal that things are getting better". In Spanish Property Industry Bankrupt?, we read that developers have raised the cost of ...
Continue reading Spanish Property: Hogwash or Hope?
February 5th, 2010
Elena Salgado, the normally sprightly Spanish finance minister, could not disguise her discomfort when she announced an austerity plan designed to slash successive budget deficits and restore the country's credibility on international markets. She had good reason to be uneasy. The table of figures she presented on Friday showing Spain's "fiscal ...
Continue reading Spain at Risk of Greek Problem
January 29th, 2010
Britons piled into Spanish property and got burnt. The Germans bided their time. Now they’re starting to come back, should we follow? We may fancy ourselves as a nation of hot shot property investors, but are we really any good at investing abroad? Not if our record in Spain is anything ...
Continue reading Learning from German Property Buyers in Spain
December 16th, 2009
House prices in Spain haven’t yet fallen far enough, says Spaniard Luis Garicano, Professor of Economics and Strategy at the London School of Economics (LSE), in an interview with the daily paper Público. As a result, it’s too early to say the property bubble is over. Here are a selection of ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Prices: Further to Fall
November 24th, 2009
The technical end to recession in Europe makes both Spain and the UK look a little sick, although it also represents an opportunity for Spanish growth. If the country also deals with the systematic corruption of its Town Halls - maybe there really are blue skies ahead? The big news ...
Continue reading Blue Skies Ahead for Spanish Property?
November 20th, 2009
After 15 years, Spaniards are finally seeing the rampant corruption beneath all the uncontrollable property speculation. Fifteen years of frenzied real estate speculation in Spain is being replaced by a wave of political corruption that is angering many Spaniards already suffering from the economic crisis. "After getting drunk on speculation, we are ...
Continue reading Finally, Spain Wakes up to Corruption Hangover
October 26th, 2009
Spanish unemployment was unchanged at a better-than-expected 17.9 percent in the third quarter, but analysts said a fall in the number of people looking for work disguised continuing job destruction. The number of unemployed workers totalled 4.1 million in the third quarter, down by 14,100 from the second quarter when the ...
Continue reading Spanish Q3 Unemployment Lower Than Expected
October 23rd, 2009
Having lived in Spain for over five years now I am one of the first to acknowledge what is wrong with the country and the difficulties people can experience living here or buying a property here. I was asked the other day if I would ever consider returning to England to ...
Continue reading Stop the Spain Bashing
October 21st, 2009
Spain’s housing market is broken and urgently needs fixing, argue a group of top-flight economists from Fedea, one of Spain’s leading economic policy think tanks. In a new report just released, 'For a Housing Market that Works: A Proposal for Structural Reform’, a group of economists at Fadea, including Pol Antràs ...
Continue reading Spain's Rental Market in Need of Reform
September 25th, 2009
The rate of decline in stays at Spain's hotels eased in August as Spaniards opted to vacation closer to home, but a declining number of foreign holidaymakers continued to weigh on the country's key industry. Tourism, which accounts for around 11 percent of Spain's gross domestic product, has taken a battering ...
Continue reading The Changing Face of the Spanish Tourist Industry
September 16th, 2009
Spain was brought to its knees when its Spanish property market collapsed. With a public deficit nudging 10 percent of GDP, Spain's government is testing the waters on a series of recovery measures - from improved social protection to green stimulus. Last week saw workers across Spain protest at layoffs from ...
Continue reading Spain: No More False Hopes
September 15th, 2009
After last week's article entitled Spanish property: Delusionism or Optimism, I received an interesting email from Property Pulse reader, Steve Dimmock: "I have also been looking to buy over the last two years and have just purchased. I am no economist or estate agent, but the reason I have just purchased ...
Continue reading Spanish Property: Austerity = Opportunity
September 14th, 2009
Spain's prime minister warned Wednesday of a prolonged period of economic difficulty even after the country eventually recovers from its deep recession. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said despite signs that the worst of Spain's economic downturn is over, high unemployment and a business slowdown will likely drag on. The jobless rate ...
Continue reading Zapatero: Prolonged Period of Austerity Ahead
