Month: January 2012

Spain seen heading for recession as economy shrinks

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Spain’s economy looks set to slip into recession after contracting for the first time in two years in the last quarter of 2011, highlighting the challenge for EU leaders as they meet to find ways to boost growth while cutting budgets. The leaders are meeting in Brussels on Monday with the goal of helping Europe’s economy but they have to balance austerity with the need to help countries struggling with dismal economic performance. The finances Continue reading Spain seen heading for recession as economy shrinks→

Bye bye Spanair

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As I advanced last night, Spanair collapsed yesterday, stranding at least 23,000 passengers who have turned up at airports only to be told “sorry, we’ve gone bust”. The company will file for bankruptcy protection on Monday, but as from 2am this morning it cancelled all flights, as it was unable to meet its fuel bill, and informed the Spanish flight authorities that it was unable to meet passenger requirements. It’s the 15th Spanish airline to Continue reading Bye bye Spanair→

Almeria Airport part of “viability study” by government, confirms La Voz

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La Voz de Almería, our local paper, has received confirmation from the AENA, the airports authority, that Almería airport is part of a mass “viability study” by the government, which is examining  Spain’s loss making airport infrastructure for savings. At the close of 2010, Almeria airport was technically worth 75 million euros, but had accumulated aggregated debts of 110 million euros. It has lost 35% of passenger traffic over the last four years and seen Continue reading Almeria Airport part of “viability study” by government, confirms La Voz→

Spain Suspends Subsidies for New Renewable Energy Power Plants

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Spain halted subsidies for renewable energy projects to help curb its budget deficit and rein in power-system borrowings backed by the state that reached 24 billion euros ($31 billion) at the end of 2011. “What is today an energy problem could become a financial problem,” Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria said in Madrid. The government passed a decree today stopping subsidies for new wind, solar, co-generation or waste incineration plants. The system’s debts were racked Continue reading Spain Suspends Subsidies for New Renewable Energy Power Plants→

Spanair goes bust – all flights likely to be cancelled as from tomorrow?

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It appears Spanair, Spain’s largest private airline, has gone bust after a Qatar investment fund pulled out of an investment talk. EFE, the news agency, is tonight reporting that the company is preparing a report, to be presented tomorrow to Spains’ aviation authority, admitting that it has run out of cash and cannot continue to operate. AENA, the airports authority, is preparing for a wave of cancellations as from midnight, and has already started to Continue reading Spanair goes bust – all flights likely to be cancelled as from tomorrow?→

Spain’s Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro admits unemployment rate has jumped to 24pc

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Spain’s unemployment rate has jumped to nearly 24pc in the fourth quarter, Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro said on Thursday, confirming that the country is still in the throes of a long and painful economic crisis. Mr Montoro told a parliamentary commission on Thursday that official figures due out Friday will show 5.4m people were out of work at the end of December, up from 4.9m in the third quarter, when the jobless rate was 21.5pc. Continue reading Spain’s Finance Minister Cristobal Montoro admits unemployment rate has jumped to 24pc→

Looking for domestic or small CCTV units?

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You could do worse than check out www.securimport.com from Valencia. Not only are their prices excellent, I was impressed enough by their aftersales service to write this unsolicited praise! They specialise in CCTV units, with a central box controlling a set of camaras, and sell you the whole kit. The units are good quality and robust, easy to install and quick to get going, even streaming it over the net.