Take a look at a crowded street in any Spanish city and you will see two classes of workers. You won’t be able to distinguish them by their clothes, their skin colour or their schooling. But when they show up for work, receive their payslips at the end of the month or think about their future, they are very different. One group, let’s call them the fijos, feel more secure and more confident. With fixed contracts from their employers, they know they can’t be laid off easily - or cheaply - even in the current recession-bound economy. They don’t have to worry about their bosses renewing their contracts every month, every six months or every year. They may get training to advance their … [Read more...] about Time to end Spain’s labour market apartheid
Archives for March 2010
La Roja steals France’s crown of dominance
Not even a partial strike by Spanish state broadcaster RTVE could prevent the latest triumph for Spain's national football team from being seen by the masses - it eventually proved to be the most-watched game in the station's history. The 2-0 win against France in Paris underlined the notion that there seems to be little that can stop Vicente del Bosque's La Roja at the moment. That said, an anaemic France offered very little to recommend Raymond Domenech's tenure at the helm of a badly listing team that was comprehensively sunk by a nation that had not won on French turf since 1968. Luis Aragonés found the net that day in a 3-1 win, and Del Bosque's predecessor left the incumbent a group of … [Read more...] about La Roja steals France’s crown of dominance
Morocco edges closer to Europe
Question: Which country applied for EU membership the same day as Turkey in 1987? Answer: Morocco. While full membership for the Maghrebi nation is viewed as impossible, the weekend of March 6-7 does signal a landmark on the long road toward a truly advanced status of integration into European structures and political realities onto which the Moroccan ruling elite is pinning so many of its hopes. The EU-Morocco summit, held within the architectural gem of Al Andalus, Granada’s Alhambra palace, is designed to celebrate the achievements of the past few years; Rabat has secured an advanced partnership status with the EU, unique in the Arab world, and agreed to an extensive trade deal – … [Read more...] about Morocco edges closer to Europe
Only the lonely: bank robbery with a political conscience
Despite the fact he was Spain's most-wanted man for 13 years, there has been relatively little media coverage of the recently published autobiography of Jaime Giménez Arce, aka El Solitario (the loner). The 54-year-old former bank robber is serving a 47-year sentence for the murder of two civil guards in 2000, so he won't be doing the rounds of the chat shows any time soon to promote Me llaman El Solitario: autobiografía de un expropriador de bancos (They call me the Loner: autobiography of an expropriator of banks). So what does El Solitario, who was arrested in Portugal in 2007 as he plotted his next heist, tell us about those 13 years of bank jobs, what motivated him to take up a life … [Read more...] about Only the lonely: bank robbery with a political conscience
Tax in Spain
The tax regime has changed dramatically in Spain in the past decade. It is far harder now to avoid paying tax and the penalties are high. Income tax in particular has risen considerably, although it remains lower than the EU average. But it is still very difficult to get consistent advice on what you should and shouldn't be paying. The rules keep changing, the system is complicated and you may receive different advice from different tax advisers. Foreign residents would be wise to find yourself an English-speaking adviser to explain the intricacies of your tax situation as it will depend upon numerous complicating factors such as where you live in Spain, whether you are resident or … [Read more...] about Tax in Spain
Falklands commentators wage virtual war
In his account of the Falklands War and its build-up, The Land that Lost its Heroes, Jimmy Burns wrote: “In a sense it was the last war of modern times not subject to immediate scrutiny. The concept of twenty-four-hour news and Internet-based ‘real time’ was yet to come.” Twenty-eight years after the conflict, as tensions between Buenos Aires and London rise once again following the British decision to start drilling for oil in waters around the small Atlantic islands, news, real-time and otherwise, rages, with the media voicing the opinions not just of its columnists and editorial boards, but also readers and citizen journalists. What’s more, with the click of a mouse, a journalist in … [Read more...] about Falklands commentators wage virtual war