Elvira Rodriguez, president of Spain’s Securities Commission, noted in a speech to company directors in Madrid on Tuesday that the economic crisis “has revealed weaknesses in the system of corporate governance.” Possibly a candidate for understatement of the year. Ms Rodriguez commented, among other things, on the lack of transparency which preceded the difficulties at Bankia and at Pescanova, the fishing conglomerate. She said that Pescanova was a company that had enjoyed a positive reputation and whose management were known for their wholehearted commitment, which bamboozled the supervisory authorities. These sterling qualities also offered a somewhat distorted impression to … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Profitability and protection
Anna Maria
Tales for Tapas: On the move
Germany’s employment minister, Ursula von der Leyen, was in Madrid this week to meet her Spanish counterpart, Fatima Báñez. The two ministers unveiled a scheme that could see as many as 5,000 young Spanish workers annually filling apprenticeships in Germany. Not a magic bullet for the problem of mass unemployment, but a positive gesture no doubt from Europe’s prosperous north. Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Ana Pastor was in Brazil, where she suggested the Brazilian economy might benefit from the expertise of Spanish engineers unable to find work at home. Spain is Brazil’s largest investor after the US, and Spanish exports to the country were worth €2.82 billion in 2012, a figure … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: On the move
Tales for Tapas: Compelling drama
Apart from that Sinatra-esque farewell announcement in 2001, Sir Alex Ferguson’s just-confirmed departure from Manchester United has been a model of timeliness accompanied by a minimum of fuss – in rather stark contrast to the goings-on at Real Madrid, where the José Mourinho soap opera, now ostensibly focused on the benching of the goalkeeper and captain, in reality hinges on the fine print of the manager’s employment contract. Despite his age (quite advanced in football years) Iker Casillas remains at the peak of his prodigious powers. His dissatisfaction about being dropped from the first team, the coach suggested this week, is fuelled by the covert desire for a more “manageable” … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Compelling drama
Tales for Tapas: Food for thought
It’s a tonic not just for the hospitality sector but for the country as a whole that El Celler de Can Roca in Girona has been named the world’s best restaurant. Nice too that Can Roca, which specialises in culinary experimentation (desserts that smell of recognisable perfumes, for example) is run by three brothers. When Joan Roca, head chef and oldest of the three, was asked at the award ceremony in London on Monday to identify the restaurant’s winning ingredients he cited hard work and the help of two extraordinary siblings. The latest generation in a family of restaurateurs, the Roca brothers inherited skills and enthusiasm rather than boundless start-up capital from their parents … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Food for thought
Tales for Tapas: Trouble in the air
Striking Iberia workers this week held up banners saying their airline is not for sale – they believe the restructuring plan put forward by parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) is not really about restructuring at all but about letting British Airways, Iberia’s partner under the IAG umbrella, acquire the Spanish airline’s assets at knock-down prices. The prices, though, would not in fact be knock-down, because Iberia has continued to haemorrhage money since its merger with BA at the start of 2011. It lost a cool €262 million in the first nine months of last year. In their campaign against the 3,800 redundancies, 15-percent route reduction and across-the-board pay cuts … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Trouble in the air
Tales for Tapas: Turning points
Bowing to a campaign that gathered one-and-a-half million signatures, the People’s Party this week dropped its opposition to a debate on legislation intended to mitigate the social and financial impact of home evictions. The parliamentary initiative follows a rise in suicides associated with mortgage foreclosures – a shocking barometer of the human cost of economic austerity. Under the new measures, social housing would be made available to families that have been evicted, and mortgages would be cancelled when homes are handed over to the bank. Some argue that market forces will restore prosperity as long as they are allowed to work and that remedial social programmes are no more than … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Turning points
Tales for Tapas: Delicate but not hopeless
Speaking on Monday at a press conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not the ideal place for a lively exchange about domestic politics), Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed allegations of irregular party financing but then undermined an otherwise robust performance by declaring that the charges are “untrue, except for some things.” Meanwhile, the Spanish tax authorities have ruled that a special tax return filed by the man at the centre of the People’s Party’s accounting difficulties, former party treasurer Luis Bárcenas, raises more questions than it answers. Mr Bárcenas now faces an expanding judicial investigation. His position was described this week as … [Read more...] about Tales for Tapas: Delicate but not hopeless