Sitting across the table from Xavier Alonso Calderón, Catalonia’s head of Immigration and Labour Relations, it was hard not to feel for everyone within a hundred paces of his office. In one of many sweeping cuts to government spending since coming into office late last year, the Partido Popular-led national government had slashed Spain’s immigration and integration fund to nearly nothing. Established under the Zapatero government in 2005, the fund had set aside up to €200 million to be distributed to Spain’s autonomous communities to help finance programs aimed at reporting, educating and integrating the country’s foreign-born population – a group that had exploded over the past decade, … [Read more...] about Catalonia’s immigrants face lonely road ahead
eurozone crisis
Pound to euro hits 22-month high despite UK recession
Here is my latest update of the British pound to euro exchange rate, covering the 20th to 27th April 2012. This is intended as a brief guide to what’s affected the exchange rate this past week as well as what might happen next, to help you decide if now is the best time for you to change currencies. Pound to euro: +0.66% weekly increase. 1.2293 (1.2212 a week ago.) +2.79% monthly increase. 1.2293 (1.196 a month ago.) This week: 1. The pound held at its highest rate against the euro in 22 months this week, in spite of the fact that the UK officially re-entered recession. If nothing else, this reflects just how low confidence is in the euro right now. 2. Francois Hollande won … [Read more...] about Pound to euro hits 22-month high despite UK recession
Pound looks to consolidate gains against euro
Here is my latest update of the British pound to euro exchange rate, covering the 13th to 20th April 2012. This is intended as a brief guide to what’s affected the exchange rate this past week as well as what might happen next, to help you decide if now is the best time for you to change currencies. Pound to euro: +0.96% weekly increase 1.2223 (1.2107 a week ago) +2.91% monthly increase 1.2223 (1.1878 a month ago) This week: 1. UK unemployment falls. The pound has climbed to 1.22 against the euro this week (its highest rate since August 2010) as UK unemployment registers a surprise decline. Sterling also took ground from most other major currencies. 2. Spanish bond auctions … [Read more...] about Pound looks to consolidate gains against euro
Five things Mariano Rajoy has learned in his first 100 days
1. Blaming the previous government can only get you so far. The Socialists left the public accounts in mess, let unemployment soar, and failed to acknowledge the crisis in the first place…We’ve been hearing all that for the last two years or so from the Partido Popular (PP). And turning the Spanish economy around in the near future, given the state it was in at the end of 2011, is a tough –some would say impossible- task. So far the governing party’s own support has remained steady, according to polls, even if Rajoy’s has slipped slightly. But at some point very soon, Spaniards are going to stop thinking about Zapatero’s feeble economic legacy and start focusing exclusively on the … [Read more...] about Five things Mariano Rajoy has learned in his first 100 days
UK to dodge the recession bullet?
(In case you don't know, the UK services PMI is a monthly measure of productivity in the UK services industry. It accounts for two thirds of economic output in Britain, and so is crucial in determining UK growth.) This month UK services took market forecasts, chopped them into small chunks with onions and carrots, fried them, and ate them for dinner. The PMI hit 56.0 (releases above 50.0 mean growth and the higher the better.) This compares to 54.0 the month before, and expectations of a slowdown to 53.5. It’s a 10 month high for UK services, and the biggest single jump on record. Great! Of course, before this, economists thought Britain would soon be re-entering recession. The economy … [Read more...] about UK to dodge the recession bullet?
Even Spanish TV feels the pain
As part of swingeing spending cuts being implemented at the behest of the European Central Bank, the Spanish government is to slash state broadcaster RTVE’s budget this year by €200 million to €1.2 billion. RTVE’s board says the cuts will have a “devastating impact” on its programming, predicting that its audience figures for its two channels La 1 and La 2, will drop by 8 percent. La 1 frequently tops audience ratings thanks to hugely popular programs such as Cuéntame como pasó — a long-running drama telling the story of a family from the Franco era up to the present day— or fantasy saga Águila roja, and post-Civil War soap opera Amar en tiempos revueltos. But the channel says that the … [Read more...] about Even Spanish TV feels the pain
Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Mariano Rajoy’s resounding election win has redrawn Spain’s political map and put his Popular Party (PP) firmly in control of the country after seven-and-a-half years of Socialist government. He could hardly face a more difficult task on being voted prime minister. In the days leading up to the election, Spain’s economy was being battered by the markets, with its bond prices close to those of beleaguered Italy. Italy hopes it has just overcome its own political upheaval; Spain’s situation is less clear-cut. Spanish law dictates a lengthy hiatus between a prime minister’s election win and his instatement. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s successor as prime minister was not due to be sworn … [Read more...] about Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Ahead of election, Spain’s next prime minister leaves everyone guessing
Mariano Rajoy, leader of the opposition Popular Party, is set to put two election defeats behind him on November 20 and become Spain’s next prime minister. But his all-but-guaranteed victory (opinion polls suggest the PP will win around 190 seats in the 350-seat parliament, its largest ever majority) has little to do with him. Instead, it has much more to do with a three-year economic crisis, an intractable unemployment disaster and escalating worries about Spain’s debt and public account deficits – problems, compounded, if not induced in the eyes of many, by the economic mismanagement of the current Socialist administration of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Those issues, … [Read more...] about Ahead of election, Spain’s next prime minister leaves everyone guessing