THE COSTA BLANCA IN AUGUST, DREAM BEACHES
The ‘big’ news in Spain for many foreigners is probably the fact that yesterday Catalonia celebrated its last bullfight – after 624 years of bullfighting in Catalonia. The ban actually takes place on the 1st January 2012 but the season for bullfighting in Spain traditionally ends in September.
As I have written before, the decision by the Catalans to end bullfighting in Catalonia is looked upon with some scepticism by many Spaniards from other parts of Spain. They maintain that the ban on bullfighting in Catalonia is driven by a desire by Catalans to be different from the rest of Spain and is therefore a politically motivated action rather than one impelled by a quest for greater animal rights.
Whatever the truth, I cannot help thinking that the Catalonian ban on bullfighting is a good thing particularly as bullfighting in Spain, to my mind, encourages (or, at the very least, colludes) in making animal cruelty acceptable.
Meanwhile, the Spanish property crash continues apace with demonstrations occurring in some 41 cities and towns by people protesting about the repossession of homes by the banks. This is being led by the Organisation for Mortgage Victims (Plataforma de Afectados por las Hipotecas) in conjunction with the Indignados (the 15M movement).
Evidently, since 2007 more than 200 families a day have lost their homes to repossessions in Spain with a vast number of repossession orders in the system waiting to be executed. The problem is that, unlike the US, in Spain you cannot just hand the keys of your home to your lender in the belief that this will negate any existing debt. Far from it – the full debt has to be repaid and the banks will pursue the debt!
Worse still, as Martin Dell of Kyero makes clear in his newsletter, there is evidence to suggest that some Spanish banks are involved in price and valuation fixing to the acute detriment of the owners of properties that are the subject of repossessions in Spain. If this is true then the banks are behaving in a breathtakingly bad way as if, of course, they could ever do otherwise!
The protesters against eviction in the face of repossession are saying that everyone has a right to a home – whilst stating that it is immoral for the banks to be evicting people when the Spanish banks own so many homes in Spain (many of which are empty). Needless to say, the banks in Spain have become the biggest ‘estate agents’ and landowners in the country, albeit holding assets that are pretty toxic given the 30- 40% slide in Spanish property values since the halcyon days of 2007 (when lunatic over-pricing, over-valuing and over-mortgaging was the norm).
Meanwhile, still on the subject of Spanish banks, I was amused by a recent article stating that some banks in Spain were outraged that EU commissioner, Michel Barnier, had stated that the 16 European banks that had only just passed the EBA stress test required greater funding. Seven of the 16, of course, were Spanish banks (no surprises there!). Of course, the Spanish banks concerned are all saying that they need no further funding and are in good condition. Time will tell, of course, but the Spanish banks ‘doth protest too much’ – methinks!
On a happier note, Spain has benefited considerably from the political disturbances in North Africa and Greece with many summer holiday tourists turning away from those destinations and going to Spain instead. The result has been a massive increase in tourism in Spain which is up 9.4% from last year, with August registering the highest monthly number since records began in 1995.
Needless to say, if ever Spain needed an economic boost then it is now and the Spanish tourist figures for this year are something to be welcomed. However, for the most part tourism in Spain is very seasonal and any boost to the economy and (critically) to the Spanish job market will soon decay as temporary jobs cease and the tourists return to their normal lives.
Furthermore, unfortunately Spain cannot claim that holidaymakers are coming to Spain for Spain’s sake. This means that this year’s peak may be a freak, if the political situation in North Africa calms down and Greece stabalises. Something of a big ‘if’ but it means that Spain cannot sit on its ‘laurals’!
Unfortunately for the Spanish government and any travellers there are rail strikes in Spain this week both today and on Thursday the 29th September. The rails strikes in Spain by the train drivers will occur during peak rush hours and are in protest at proposals to privatise the rail service. Efforts will be made to mitigate the worst effects of the rail strikes in Spain – but watch out if you have plans to travel by rail in Spain on Thursday…
Finally, the Canary Island of El Hierro is preparing itself for a volcano! El Hierro is the smallest (only 278km2) Canary Island with a population of some 10,000 people . It is also the furthest south and west of all of the Canary Islands and famous as a nature reserve – whilst, in the distant past, El Hierro was renowned as the end of the known world! However, recently there has been considerable seismic activity with concern that this may be the prelude to an eruption…
Nick Snelling - Culture Spain
FURTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Bullfighting
Bullfighting in Spain – the Tordesillas bull hunt
Bullfighting in Spain – the beginning of the end
Spanish banks
Banking -the Spanish property crash and the Banks
Banks in Spain – how safe are they
Banking in Spain - the four secrets to banking in Spain
Tourism
The Indignados
The 15m Movement -what the Indignados are saying