“Bulgarian girl, 21 years old, available at homes and hotels from 12am to 9pm.” “Alina, all services €30, no limits.” “We are a couple of friends willing to give you pleasure and relaxation with utmost discretion.” For decades adverts for sexual services - ranging from the tactful to the graphically explicit - have filled the classified ads pages of Spanish newspapers. In a country where prostitution is neither legal nor illegal the personal ads sections of local tabloids, national dailies and magazines have long been the preferred medium for prostitutes and brothels to publicize their services. But under new proposals recently unveiled by the government, such adverts could soon be … [Read more...] about Sex for money… but don’t advertise it
Adios to Zapatero in 2012?
The likelihood of Zapatero seeking a third term in 2012 has been looking increasingly slim for months as the economy has remained mired by the global financial crisis and his Socialist Party’s ratings have deflated in opinion polls. The party looks likely to face a severe lashing in local elections in May. Several surveys, including one (admittedly unscientific) poll by Iberosphere, have found that few people think Zapatero will try to stay on. In the Iberosphere poll, published on the home page for the past month, a full third of respondents said they thought Zapatero would not seek re-election, versus 22 percent who thought he would and 12 percent who said they didn’t know or didn’t … [Read more...] about Adios to Zapatero in 2012?
Inditex: fast fashion for crisis-proof profits
With unemployment around the world high, cash tight and job prospects dim, you would think that buying a new wardrobe would be the last thing on consumers’ minds. But Inditex, the Spanish owner of clothing brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti and Bershka, still managed to get consumers to open their wallets last year. And open they did. The company, based in Galicia, Spain, reported a net profit of €1.73 billion for its full fiscal year ending January 31, a year-on-year increase of 32 percent. Sales rose 13 percent to €12.52 billion in the 12-month period. The seemingly unstoppable growth of the almost 50-year-old company comes two years after Inditex overtook US chain Gap to become the … [Read more...] about Inditex: fast fashion for crisis-proof profits
Bailout beckons as Portugal’s Sócrates resigns
Try, try again… then quit. Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates stepped down late on Wednesday saying “today, I am convinced the country is lost,” after a last-ditch effort to push through new austerity measures and avoid a Greek-style bailout failed to win support in the Lisbon parliament. The resignation of Sócrates and his minority centre-left government effectively pushes Portugal into the arms of the European Union and the IMF, with many analysts now saying that the debt-laden Iberian state can do little to avoid following in the footsteps of Greece and Ireland, both of which were bailed out last year when their bond yields reached unsustainable levels. At around 7.8 percent, … [Read more...] about Bailout beckons as Portugal’s Sócrates resigns
Spain held hostage by its banks
When the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, the Bank of Spain was one of few regulators lauded for having had the forethought to enact measures aimed at protecting the banking industry. It had prevented Spanish banks and savings banks from handing out the junk loans that brought down several American lenders, and, uniquely, it created a €40-billion “anti-crisis” fund at a time when many shorter-sighted bankers, economists and analysts thought the credit boom, on the back of low interest rates and rising property prices, would continue indefinitely. Four years later, Spain’s economy is now being held hostage by its banking industry as fears about the ability of banks and, in … [Read more...] about Spain held hostage by its banks
A new slowdown in Spain
The government wants motorists to reduce their speed to cut Spain’s fuel bill amid rising oil prices. But will forcing drivers to go 10 kph slower save anyone any money and, more to the point, cushion the impact of the North African uprisings on the Spanish economy, as the government evidently hopes? Though physics dictates that drivers would indeed see some savings, economics, unlike physics, is not an exact science and chances are that the lower speed limit on Spain’s highways, effective from today, will do little to protect the economy from rising energy costs. Instead, the rush to impose a new law reducing the highway speed limit from 120 kph to 110 kph smacks of desperation. Not … [Read more...] about A new slowdown in Spain
Welcome to Iberosphere…
Having served us well for more than a year, the original site has been retired in favor of a more visually pleasing theme, more interactivity and a more pronounceable name. We've also launched a new blog section: the Iberoblog, where we aim to offer an alternative view of Iberian affairs. Drop us a comment below and let us know what you think of the new site. … [Read more...] about Welcome to Iberosphere…
Portugal’s debt: a tale of pride and prejudice
Borrowing costs on Portugal’s debt have hit a level that proved unsustainable for both Greece and Ireland, but Lisbon is refusing to countenance talk of an EU bailout. Can this small, recession-prone nation hold out much longer? Long lumped along with Ireland, Greece and Spain as one of the so-called PIGS, Portugal has so far managed to face down fears about its ability to service its debt better than many policymakers, economists and investors could have expected. Even as the yield on 10-year Portuguese bonds soared to 7.63 percent in mid-February –the highest level since the country became a founder member of the single currency at the end of the 1990s– and the European Central … [Read more...] about Portugal’s debt: a tale of pride and prejudice
Bye-bye to Spain’s savings banks
Once there were 45, now there are 17. And within a few months there could be even fewer. Spain’s savings banks, or cajas, a common feature of the country's financial landscape for almost two centuries, are becoming an endangered species. The smallest and weakest have fallen first, gobbled up in a series of inter-bank mergers and acquisitions triggered by their exposure to the worst of the fall-out from the international financial crisis and the popping of the Spanish property bubble. New rules introduced by the Spanish government will ensure the consolidation continues apace. The government will require all lenders to raise core-capital levels to 8 percent by September. … [Read more...] about Bye-bye to Spain’s savings banks
Not yet a Greek tragedy, but still a Spanish drama
“Complete insanity” is how Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero summed up speculation that his government had approached the International Monetary Fund to request a €280-billion bailout. “These rumours can increase differences and hurt the interests of our country, which is simply intolerable and of course we intend to fight it,” he told reporters in Brussels ahead of an emergency summit among leaders of countries using the euro currency. The IMF also denied the speculation. The rumours that Spain was looking for help started circulating after the European Union and the IMF agreed on Sunday to the first bailout of a euro-zone country, giving Greece a €110-billion loan over … [Read more...] about Not yet a Greek tragedy, but still a Spanish drama