Culture Spain – for all things Spanish

So, it appears that there may be a ‘run’ on Bankia, Spain’s fourth largest bank – which has just been part nationalized by the Spanish state.  This ‘run’ is being denied, predictably, by the government and the bank itself.  Indeed, it may well be that people are not withdrawing their money as fast as they can from Bankia.  However, the [...]

The pound has hit 1.25 against the euro this past week, its highest rate since Oct 2008, as Spain struggles to get to grips with its banking sector and Greece contemplates a euro exit. So what next for the continent in crisis, and the exchange rate? Here is my latest update of the British pound to euro exchange rate, covering [...]

If you are thinking of banking in Spain then, in principle, you are spoilt for choice – or are you? There are dozens of banks in Spain including a number of savings banks in Spain called Cajas or Caixas.  The latter are often regional and some have very few branches. Spanish banks vary in terms of their exposure to the [...]

The news in Spain over the past week has seen the Spanish Indignado movement effectively go global, the Spanish secretary of State for housing claim that it has always been safe to buy Spanish property(!), the downgrading of the Spanish banks and the credit rating of Spain itself.  The Spanish government has stated that it has a 4 billion Euro [...]

The past week in Spain has seen the dissolution of the Spanish parliament, the second largest seizure of heroin by Spain ever (150 kilos), the nationalisation of three further Spanish banks and continuing tremours on El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands. On the economic side of things, matters show little signs of improving with GDP quarterly growth in Spain [...]

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 [...]

I had to grimace recently when I saw an article in El Pais (‘conservative’ national Spanish newspaper) which reported that the economy ministry in Spain is about to issue an order for banks in Spain to clarify their charges to customers.  Evidently, along with Italy, Spanish banks are the most costly banks in the EU.  This, I am afraid, comes [...]

A couple of days ago I was exchanging e-mails with friend and fellow writer Robert Tenison, about my recent Post concerning the Spanish economy and the wretched state of the Spanish banks.  Along with one of his notes to me Robert kindly attached an article that he had written back in May 2009 which I think makes excellent reading – [...]

I have just been sent an hilarious article by a Spanish lawyer friend of mine concerning banks in Spain and some advice  given awhile back by the Ministry of the Economy of the Spanish government.  If you can read Spanish then have a look at this article. However, if you cannot read Spanish then let me give you a very rough [...]

So, what is there to say about the debt crisis in Spain – or, at least, what can we believe and what really is the situation?  Frankly, I really do not know and I am not at all sure that the recent stress tests of EU banks provide much of a clue.  Certainly, when the ‘same’ banking stress tests were undertaken [...]

Well, really – what can any of us say? Do you remember last year when the results of the ‘stress’ test of European banks was announced by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS)? To the astonishment of most commentators, only five out of the 27 banks in Spain tested were found to have failed the tests.  These were, predictably, Cajas [...]

Yesterday, Levante (a Spanish newspaper) had an interesting article about banks in Spain following their recent rating by Moody’s.  Moody’s, of course, are an American credit rating agency (like Fitch and Standard and Poor) who analyse the financial position of companies (and governments).  They are very influential and their assessment of a business or government can have a real affect [...]

What if I told you that you could earn millions without actually ever doing anything for just a smallish investment? What if I told you that the victims would be banks and nobody else? (well maybe just the odd foreigner)? What if I told you that you could live happily ever after with no consequences? You would probably tell me [...]

I found a recent article by El Pais interesting.  This relates to the Spanish savings banks called ‘Cajas’.  These are usually quite small, local institutions  with only a few branches, a bit like the UK’s old building societies.  That said, not all Cajas comprise only a branch or two.  la Caixa (the biggest Caja) is enormous and has about 4,700 [...]

Well, I thought I had seen it all when it came to the Spanish property crash, Spanish banks and their lending – most particularly with regard to mortgages in Spain. That was until I read an excellent article in El Pais (one of Spain’s leading national newspapers). As you will see from this article, which is well worth reading throughout, [...]