SPANISH car workers at Renault’s factories in Palencia and Valladolid will be watching with interest, and some concern, as their employer enters into talks about a possible merger with Italian Giant Fiat. The move, which will create the third biggest car firm in the world, is being discussed as the car industry faces huge financial fallout from the compulsory move towards electric vehicles and the...
Finance
CAIXABANK is opening its biggest branch in Spain on Calle Barcas de Valencia in Valencia City. The 2,200 square meter space is actually a combined office and branch and will be located in the basement of the Hotel Reina Victoria. 80 staff will work there and the bank will serve 16,500 customers who will have a separate access from staff on the public road. The complex will also have dedicated facilities...
WHILE many will welcome the opening of the new “Ikea Deseña” at Alicante’s Gran Via shopping centre, it is also seen as acceptance that the area is now unlikely to see the full sized store that has been in the pipeline (off and on) for a decade. If this had come to fruition it would have created an estimated 4,000 jobs with an investment of €250 million. An area in Rabasa had been set aside for...
THE Valencian Community is looking at plans to address the increasing issue of municipalities that have no banks by installing ATM machines. There are 135,000 people in the Community without access to any financial services, a situation that is expected to worsen as banks save money and encourage people to use online banking. However even for those who switch to this system, they still need to visit a bank...
THE head of the International Monetary Fund this week said that the world’s economy is “going through a delicate moment”. Speaking at the Economic Forum in Astana (Kazakhstan) Christine Lagarde noted that two years ago 75% of countries’ economies were growing while at the moment about 70% are slowing down or going backwards. She sees the next six months as crucial and talked of commercial tensions,...
ALREADY Spain’s busiest port in terms of tonnage of cargo, Valencia is set to expand further, consolidating that position in the process. A new €1.2 billion investment is a combination of public and private sector cash and will be primarily used to expand the port’s northern area, increasing its capacity to five million containers, twice what it is now. As much of this is being built from scratch it...
A report by the Bank of Spain has identified the continued risk of litigation as the biggest risk to the banking sector. The report states that “legal risks have increased significantly in recent years and there is still a major potential for further litigation as procedures are reviewed.” Banks have been caught up in a number of mis-selling and bad advice scandals in recent years, resulting in over...
ALTHOUGH more women hold down the top jobs in Spain than two years ago, they have still not climbed up to pre-crisis levels according to the latest figures. The “Female Talent” report states that 16% of managerial positions are held by females, up from 12% in 2016 but well down from the 2008 figures of 20%. There is also a significant wage gap, with women earning an average of 16% less than their...
AFTER a worrying period that saw seven successive months of falling automobile sales the number of vehicles sold increased in April. These increased by 2.6% last month, with total sales of 119,417 cars and off road vehicles. However, there is still caution as Easter week is traditionally a strong time for new car purchases. This was in March last year and comparing April 2019 and March 2018 sees a fall of...
VALENCIA’S third airport, Castellon, which was previously the butt of many jokes after opening without any passengers or flights, is rapidly turning things around. Referred to as “the ghost airport” by the Spanish press, it sat empty for almost five years after it opened, earning the derision of the Spanish media. However, eventually Ryanair started operating from there and once the first...