Spanish 3rd popular internet language

According to a report prepared by the Fundacion Telefonica, an institution created by Spain's Grupo Telefonica Spanish is the Third most popular language on the Internet after English and Chinese.

Spanish-speakers are the third-largest language group among Internet users, with eight per cent of the total, after English users (38 per cent) and Chinese users (22 per cent). English is the language with the greatest online presence, with about one billion pages, followed by Chinese, with more than 800 million pages.

Argentina, Chile and Spain are the Spanish-speaking countries where more than 50 per cent of the public have online connections, with the proportion reaching 70 per cent in the European nation, according to the study.

Spanish occupies the No.3 position worldwide on the internet both in number of users (136 million) as well as in web pages (675 million), according to the study.

Home Prices in Spain to Collapse

Banks in Spain now recognise that they have no alternative but to reduce Spain property prices further if they are going to have any chance of attracting more buyers.
In the past, Spain property firms and banks have generally refrained from slashing property prices during a market downturn. But the current collapse in the Spanish housing market has prompted greater action, in a bid to avoid the existing slump continuing for many more years.
The Spain property market has endured a torrid time over the past three years. Residential prices have plummeted, as a consequence of a chronic oversupply of homes in Spain.
The Spanish banks now own tens of thousands of homes in Spain, after accepting properties from struggling Spanish property developers who would have otherwise faced bankruptcy.
But in an attempt to reduce their property assets, many banks reportedly plan to lower home values further in the hope of increasing sells and avoiding a Japanese-style slump that continues for years. More banks may also start to offer up to 100 per cent loan-to-value mortgages.
Bargain basement Spain property prices are attracting more buyers, but not yet enough to clear the current backlog of unsold, empty, homes in Spain.

Spanish Air traffic Controllers

The Spanish government are trying to reorganise and therefore reduce costs in the Spanish Airports Authority.
Recently they advertised for 48 new controllers to be trained up. The wages were 45,000 euros. They received 2,00 applications. 900 of which came in the first five minutes of the phone line opening.  

Will the next Contestant please Stand Up

Spain can’t really be the next-but-one euro-zone sovereign financial disaster.
Can it?
After all, its public finances are much healthier than Ireland’s, or Greece’s, or Portugal’s. And its banking sector has been a rare beacon of probity in amongst a global financial mess.
Right?
I think not. Get ready to rumble!

Spain in money trouble?

After Ireland was finally forced this week to ask for financial help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund it is possible that a similar fate could await Spain.
In the first four months of 2011, the Spanish government and the country's banks must raise about €70bn (£59.2bn) in the bond market, which would be a "big test for investor appetite".
So the challenges facing Spain remain substantial – with the likelihood of a positive outcome poor until at least the sovereign and the banks have successfully navigated their way over the funding hump facing them both in Spring 2011.
The situation facing Spain is in some respects similar to that which led to the implosion of the Irish banking system, with international investors reluctant to buy the country's bonds as fears remain over the risks contained within the financial system.
While the Irish government repeatedly insisted it was fully-funded for the next year, the funding position of the Irish banks made the bail-out inevitable as they faced redemptions of €25bn in government-guaranteed debt they had issued.
Simply put, the Irish sovereign has been dismembered by its banking system.
The Spanish government has set up an €99bn fund to help its banks, however only €12bn of this is pre-funded and €11bn has already been drawn down, meaning the country will have to borrow more from the bond market to fund the rest. Spanish pensions funds could be leaned on to buy some of the bonds, but not enough to cover the entire amount the government will need to raise.

Recession hits Construction in Spain

I spent just an hour going around the area I live in and took some photographs of some areas that should have been developed but has now stopped.
This is a group of houses, the six on the left have been sold and are occupied either full time or as holiday homes. The two on the left have been abandoned by the builders. Just left to go to seed as you can see from the bush in the garden of the uncompleted house second left.
This area, below, the builders started at the bottom of the hill and worked up. In this case they at least finished the homes in progress. However, the land up to the sign, 50 metres by 100 metres has been left, again to go to seed.
The next construction site, because that’s what it is, nowhere near completion, shows 4 apartment blocks. The two in front obscure the two behind (i could not get closer!).They have been left like this for 3 years. Notice the cranes, they have been left there as there is nowhere for them to go, so they sit there unused and getting unsafe. The area used to be an orchard (i only wish it still was!), you can see nature trying to reclaim it back.
These half finished buildings blight the areas. The Town Halls it seems don’t care.

Spain 'orgasm' video criticised by politicians

I saw this advert on one of the Spanish TV channels. However so did some of Spain’s ‘finest’. Here is their view…..

Spanish politicians have criticised a video by the Young Socialists in Catalonia in which a woman simulates an orgasm while casting her vote. Both Socialist and opposition politicians have attacked the campaign video.

In the video the young woman gets increasingly excited as she votes for the Socialist Party in this month's regional elections in Catalonia. It concludes with the phrase, "Voting is a pleasure", after she puts her voting slip in the ballot box.

I thought it was funny!

The Red Houses

We were at our Bank branch recently and while the lady of the villa did her banking business, I looked at the local properties for sale. The bank have a list of repossessed properties in the Branch.
Lo and behold, what did I see? But the houses in the next urbanisation for sale, not one house but up to a dozen.
It seems the Bank, imprudently, gave a loan of about 1.2 million euros to an ‘entrepreneur’ so that he could buy the properties off plan. The recession came and the entrepreneur walked away leaving the bank holding the properties.
180,000 euros is the asking price per villa, it is a no goer. 100,00 euros is more like it. Someone, presumably the bank, will take a hit.

Spain's unemployment increased for third consecutive month in October

Spain's Labour Ministry says the number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits rose for a third straight month in October, by about 68,000.
The rise pushed the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits to 4,085,976.
The overall number of jobless in Spain, which includes those whose benefits have run out, is published separately and stood at 19.8 per  cent in the third quarter, downs slightly from the second quarter but still the worst rate in the euro zone.

Urbanisation Debt

Our Urbanisation, like all those in Spain have to have by law a Committee. One of their tasks is to set a local tax to pay for urbanisation services, electricity, maintenance, community pool etc.
Our urbanisation has set a levy of 300 Eros a year, this has not changed for the 5 years the urbanisation has been in existence. However, villa owners are failing to pay, for whatever reason and their debt to the community is now 16,500 euros.
Time for the Bailiffs me thinks!

Adios Spain

A friend of mine who I first met on my first day in Spain is leaving and going back to the UK after 5 years in Spain. He has worked hard but has, eventually, had to succumb to the economic realities of Spanish life.
It is hard enough trying to make a living being Spanish at the moment never mind an ex-pat. You need deep pockets and patience to succeed, or to duck and dive and avoid taxes.
KL was legit, but, could not survive. He is off to start a new job in the UK and taking his family with him.
Adios KM, I will miss you.

Gold in them there seas!

Spain has decided to send an armada into the waters around its coasts to seek out hundreds of shipwrecks in an attempt to head off a US marine exploration firm accused of plundering Spanish property from the seabed.
More than 100 suspected shipwrecks have been located by the Spanish navy in the Gulf of Cádiz, considered one of the world's richest hunting grounds for underwater treasure. Most are Spanish galleons returning from the colonies in South America believed to have sunk in waters around Cádiz.
Three Spanish navy vessels are devoting two months to the project, which will end in mid-November. Spain's navy said it had recovered evidence from potential wreck sites which was being analysed by archaeologists.
Spain wants to avoid a repeat of the saga that began in 2007 when the US firm salvaged an estimated $500m (£314m) in silver coins and artefacts from what Spain claims was a Spanish galleon. The treasure was landed at Gibraltar and then flown out to the USA. A US court ruled last year that the find belongs to Spain, but the firm appealed and still has the treasure.

Best European Country to Live in

I. from time to time look at a web site called International Living. Each year it produces a league table of the best countries to live in throughout the World. Here is an edited version (It only contains European countries). Spain is 12th with the UK 20th. The last country in the whole world – Somalia!

Country	Score
France	82
Switzerland	81
Germany	81
Luxembourg	78
Belgium	78
Italy	77
Netherlands	77
Austria	77
Liechtenstein	76
Malta	76
Denmark	76
Spain	76
Finland	75
Hungary	74
Portugal	73
Lithuania	73
Andorra	73
Czech Republic	73
United Kingdom	73

Spain getting ‘over’ debt problems?

European Central Bank Governing Council said recently that Spain seems to be on track to meet its 2010 budget deficit reduction targets, but highlighted some risks he sees for its 2011 spending plans.Recent budget data point to the achievement of objectives for 2010, at least for the central government.
Spain is under intense pressure from the European Union and financial markets to slash a budget deficit that breached 11% of gross domestic product in 2009. It has pledged to reduce it to 9.3% of GDP in 2010. The 2011 budget the government sent to parliament last week calls for a 7.9% cut in spending, to cut the deficit next year to the target of 6% of GDP.
However, the cost in unemployment has been high. The number of unemployed people in Spain reached over four million in September. There were 48,102 more 'newly unemployed' compared to August, out of a total of 4.17 million.
The plan may be working, but, to coin a phrase, the Labour isn’t.

Polaris World

Prices of repossessed apartments in Polaris World have been slashed by as much as 50 percent as banks try to sell assets acquired during the property market collapse.

Polaris World handed over 1,500 properties and land to lenders in May 2009 to cancel 970 million euros of debt. Now the banks, are using hefty discounts and 100 percent mortgage deals to help clear the backlog and get some money back. Spain’s real-estate and construction slump left thousands of vacation properties unsold and their builders facing bankruptcy. The number of homes purchased in Spain by foreigners dropped 78 percent from 2006 through 2009.

The problem with Polaris World Resorts (we did look at them) is as beautiful as the resorts are, they are in the middle of nowhere, they are still in a bit of a wilderness.

Existing home prices in Spain have fallen 22.5 percent since peaking in April 2007. The country now has about 1.4 million unsold homes. The Spanish banks took about 60 billion euros of real estate onto their books as a result of the country’s worst recession in 60 years.

Starting Sept. 30, the central bank enforced tighter rules on how much lenders have to set aside in provisions for the assets, making it more expensive to hold on to them. Hence the sale!

Cheats never prosper

I wrote in this blog on the 25th July 2010 of my admiration of the riders of the Tour de France. Now nearly 3 months later my admiration and love for he Tour is waning fast.

In this year's Tour, in which the Spanish rider Contador finished just 39 seconds ahead of Andy Schleck, the Spaniard broke a sacred tradition in professional cycling when he took advantage of the Luxembourger's chain derailment to attack him on a crucial climb. Contador eventually apologized, but the nasty tactic deepened suspicions that the Spaniard would stoop to nothing to wear the yellow jersey.

Now we find that he has failed a drug test taken during the Tour. The test proved positive for the banned drug Clenbuterol.  Clenbuterol acts like an amphetamine - raising heart rate, temperature and blood pressure. Bodybuilders use clenbuterol to burn fat.

Contador is maintaining that his food was spiked, that he ingested the drug accidentally on July 21, 2010, the second rest day of the 2010 Tour.

I rest my case.

Ryanair dethrones Iberia in Spain

It is hard to beleive but I checked it and it is true. Despite trating passengers as cattle, having the worst behaving (to passengers) cabin crew. They have done it.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said it had overtaken Spanish flag carrier Iberia as the largest airline in Spain in terms of the number of passengers carried.
The company quoted official statistics from Spain's airport authority AENA showing that Ryanair in July transported 2.98 million passengers to or from Spain, compared to 2.77 million for Iberia. The budget carrier congratulated itself for having "dethroned Iberia as the preferred company in Spain."
The company, which began operating from Barcelona's main airport El Prat, said in a statement it planned to add 12 new destinations from Madrid's Barajas airport this year, to reach a total of 44.
Iberia by contrast has said it plans to further cut its domestic offers in order to concentrate on international routes, in particular to Latin America.

Spanish Banks Hooked on ECB Cash for Years

Spanish banks have become reliant on the ECB, the European Central Bank, (the lender of last resort to EU countries) as investors sidestep their bonds. This will make Spain subservient to the stronger EU countries that loan their money to the ECB

The borrowing from the ECB by the Spanish Banks since the inception of the euro, based on Bank of Spain figures indicate that they asked for a record 130 billion euros ($166 billion) in July, accounting for 29 percent of total borrowing from the ECB, almost four times their average 8 percent share since 1999.

Spanish banks have been all but shunned by international investors since the collapse of a housing boom in 2007 triggered the worst recession in 60 years, with the unemployment rate surging above 20 percent. Bad loans reached 5.5 percent in May from 4.7 percent a year earlier.

More of Spain in the UK

Almost two million bank customers at Royal Bank of Scotland are to unexpectedly have their current and savings accounts transferred to Santander. The migration of the accounts comes after the Spanish banking giant bought 318 bank branches from state-owned RBS.

The sale was forced on RBS following the Government’s multi-billion pound rescue package. The branches include all 311 RBS branded branches in England and Wales and seven Natwest branded branches in Scotland. 

The accounts will not be switched over for another 12 to 18 months. Mortgage customers will also be switched to Santander as part of the deal if they bank at one of the affected branches.

Do these customers have a choice? Not mentioned.

However, customers should be concerned about what is going to happen to the terms and conditions on their accounts. It may be the catalyst that makes the affected customers check out the whole market for a new account rather than just accepting the changeover to Santander.

Following the deal, Santander will have some 1,645 branches, about 12 per cent of the British market. It bought lender Abbey in 2004 and has since added Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley.

Your Safety and your Children’s Safety

The holiday season in Spain is over, however, what struck me most was how people ignored safety either of themselves or their children.

Parasailing from the Beach looks cool, however, its a whole lot different when a 16 stone bloke gets strapped in. Did you check the knots? Knots? Surely you mean harness straps and buckles. Landing? Oh my good I am doing 20 miles an hour and my 15 minutes are up, what did the Spanish guy say? Where’s my crash hat? Is that the sea coming up? Boom! Splash!

It is a bit funny to see all this from the beach bar. Most come back laughing and trying to ignore the pain of splash down or torn ligaments. Insured? I don’t think so, not on most holiday insurance!

And as for letting the kids hire a scooter, its laughable. Sure you can prove he is 16, it says so on his passport. Insurance, well the bloke said so in all those forms I signed in Spanish. Crash hat was extra and it more or less fits. Shoes, eh, well don’t flip flop count? And  am sure that the T shirt and shorts will protect him if he comes off. And I told him no passengers.

Other road user? Spanish drivers, well I told him just the quite roads and no more than 30 mph, what’s that in kph? 50? 60? Oh well I am sure he will be OK.

The local hospital are full of people who normally take care in the UK but for some reason all safety thoughts go out of their head when on holiday.

Did I also mention banana boats? Ski Jets? Kayaks? Peddalos?