No sooner had the conservative Popular Party taken office at the very end of 2011 than it began drawing up plans to extend private sector involvement in Spain’s public health system, a process begun in 1997 with the support of the Socialist Party. Two years later, La Ribera hospital, built and run by a private consortium led by health insurers Adeslas, opened. Valencia has subsequently created Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in four other health districts. Other PP controlled regions, such as the Balearic Islands, Castilla y León, Castilla La Mancha, and Galicia, are also pushing ahead with the privatisation of healthcare. But Madrid is where the PP wants PPP to really come into its … [Read more...] about The private sector moves into Spain’s public hospitals
About Nick Lyne
Spain’s Socialists are desperate for new blood
Close to 18 months after its catastrophic general election defeat, the Socialist Party remains further away from power than ever. Opinion polls have it trailing behind a Popular Party that has pushed through unprecedented austerity measures that only seem to deepen the recession, while Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has broken every electoral pledge he made, now admits that there will be no improvement in the economy until at least 2016. Unemployment continues to rise, and the health and education systems are being dismantled before our eyes. And that’s without going into the Bárcenas corruption allegations. The ideal conditions, surely, for the Socialist Party to launch a sustained … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialists are desperate for new blood
Almodóvar’s low-cost comedy fails to raise a laugh
What a shame Pedro Almodóvar’s latest flight of fancy wasn’t cancelled. Los amantes pasajeros (English title I'm So Excited) is an overlong, largely mirthless affair mostly set aboard a plane bound for Mexico City, but which we soon learn is in fact circling above Toledo because its landing gear has been screwed up by absent-minded ground staff Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. Once purser Javier Cámara (who, as we are reminded on several occasions, cannot lie) reveals the awful truth, the prospect of imminent death prompts an outpouring of secrets from the crew and half-a-dozen business-class passengers, all of whom are straight from Almodóvar central casting: the three cabin crew are, … [Read more...] about Almodóvar’s low-cost comedy fails to raise a laugh
Ladies and gentlemen, the next prime minister of Spain…?
Should María Dolores de Cospedal weather the latest corruption allegations to hit the Popular Party (PP), there’s every likelihood she will progress from being its secretary general and premier of the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha to replacing Mariano Rajoy in the top post and go on to become Spain’s first female prime minister. Cospedal’s rise has been rapid. Born in 1965, she grew up in Castilla-La Mancha, training as a government lawyer after finishing university, and joining the Labour Ministry in 1997 after José Maria Aznar ushered in the first PP administration the previous year. During the PP’s two terms in office she moved up the ladder, making it to under-secretary … [Read more...] about Ladies and gentlemen, the next prime minister of Spain…?
It’s Goya time
Perhaps fearful of another black-and-white silent film garnering a top prize for the second year running, Hollywood excluded Blancanieves from the Best Foreign Film category, but Pablo Berger’s overly long 1920s-set bullfighting take on the Snow White tale looks set to sweep the board at this year’s Goya Awards on February 17 in the Spanish capital. The film has been nominated in 18 categories, including picture, director, original screenplay, and editing. Six members of the cast are also in the running for prizes, including leads Maribel Verdú and Daniel Giménez Cacho, as well as newcomer Macarena García for her winsome portrayal of Snow White. Unit 7, from director Alberto Rodríguez, … [Read more...] about It’s Goya time
Rodrigo Rato: exiting through the revolving door
Given Rodrigo Rato’s previous form and his current predicament, the news that Telefónica has appointed him to the advisory boards of its European and Latin American businesses raises new concerns about transparency and corporate governance in Spain. Rato - who has also served as head of the International Monetary Fund and as Spain's economy minister - will help "reinforce the global vision of Telefónica", the country's largest telecommunications company said after announcing the appointment on January 4. Readers will remember that it was Rato who oversaw the privatisation of Telefónica back in 1997. Rato’s hiring by Telefónica comes less than a month after he was summoned before a … [Read more...] about Rodrigo Rato: exiting through the revolving door
Businessman’s arrest highlights Spanish corporate failings
The arrest of the former head of Spain’s employers’ association should come as a shock. Sadly, it is more likely to be interpreted by the international community as yet another indication of the many deep-rooted and extensive problems that afflict this country, the most important of which is a lack of transparency in politics and business, along with a failure to implement corporate governance practices. Anybody with a passing interest in the business dealings of Gerardo Díaz Ferrán will not be surprised to learn that on top of all the other charges he faces, he has now been accused of fraudulent conveyance and money laundering relating to the sale of the Viajes Marsans travel group in … [Read more...] about Businessman’s arrest highlights Spanish corporate failings
Juan Luis Cebrián: last man standing?
In November 2010, Juan Luis Cebrián, the founding editor of El País, and CEO of the Prisa Group, the media empire to which the newspaper belongs, announced the sale of 70 percent of Prisa for €900 million to a New York-based investment group The reason for the sale was a €4.7-billion debt he had created after an expensive foray into pay-TV was followed by the financial crisis and a downturn in advertising. At the time of the sale, Prisa’s debt was more than 12 times its withered stock market value. The sale spelled the end of Cebrián and the Polanco family’s control of Spain’s leading media group, which had been founded on the success of El País over more than three decades. "Better 30 … [Read more...] about Juan Luis Cebrián: last man standing?
Artur Mas: independence hero, or cynical politico clinging to power?
Does Artur Mas, the man who likes to be called the president of Catalonia, really think that this northeastern region of Spain is going to become an independent nation any time soon? Does anybody? Surely not. In which case, why is he pushing the self-rule agenda? In recent weeks, Mas has gone from being Mariano Rajoy’s partner in crime in supporting unprecedented austerity measures to rabble-rousing independence leader, suddenly pulling the rug from under a bemused and increasingly befuddled-looking prime minister. Mas met with Rajoy in September, pushing for a deal that would give Catalonia a bigger share of the tax revenue it generates for the central government. When Rajoy turned … [Read more...] about Artur Mas: independence hero, or cynical politico clinging to power?
Santiago Carrillo: the nearly man
Santiago Carrillo, who has died at the age of 97, belonged to another time, or perhaps more accurately, and depending on one’s age, to a number of other times: the Civil War; the decades of exile during the Franco regime; the first years after the death of the dictator; but above all to a time when people still took Communism seriously. Despite his failure to secure a lasting place for the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) in Spanish political life, he managed to reinvent himself as one of the guardians of that most revered institution, the transition to democracy. While still in his teens, as a member of the Socialist Youth, Carrillo took part in the uprising in Asturias in 1934, and was … [Read more...] about Santiago Carrillo: the nearly man