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NATO's military

Spanish Politics 15th June 2023

Spain to miss NATO meeting with defence industry due to absence of national companies

Spain will boycott a meeting of NATO defence ministers with the defence industry on Thursday in protest at the Alliance’s decision not to invite any of Spain’s leading firms. Minister Margarita Robles, who will be in Brussels for a meeting with her 30 colleagues at NATO headquarters, will be absent from the room when the meeting begins, however, as she is very upset about the selection of companies, the opacity…

Spanish companies' cost of financing at minimum lows

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 12th June 2023

Companies with over 250 workers must now set up internal complaints channel

Tomorrow, Tuesday 13 June, three months after the entry into force of the law, all companies with more than 250 workers must have an internal information system in place in their organisation, through which reports of regulatory infringements can be made. This reporting channel must also have a system to protect whistleblowers. The aim is to ensure that whistleblowers are completely anonymous and cannot be retaliated against. Companies with 50…

nadia calvino bruselas

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 6th June 2023

Government to request extra €94 billion of European funds today

Today’s Council of Ministers is expected to approve the addendum to the extension of the Recovery Plan, with which Spain will ask Brussels for an additional €94 billion from the Next Generation programme, including soft loans and non-refundable aid. Initially, the European Union assigned Spain direct transfers of €69.5 billion from the Recovery Mechanism, to be unblocked through compliance with the investments and reforms agreed in the Plan, as well…

Congreso

In Spain, Spanish Politics 5th June 2023

Spain: everyone will agree with everyone

Fernando González Urbaneja | The aim of politicians is to achieve power, to whatever degree possible, but power. And the laws of democracy are conditioned by arithmetic, that is, to achieve the sum of votes that will give greater or lesser access to power. These are two principles that we are going to see in action over the coming weeks in the city councils and autonomous governments that are in…

Sanchez Feijoo

In Spain, Spanish Politics 2nd June 2023

Who is more like Trump, Feijóo or Sánchez?

Fernando González Urbaneja| If we have to choose the highlights of Pedro Sánchez’s leadership trajectory, one of them would have to be the “No is No” (what part of this has not been understood?) It was his entry through the big door of political decisions by not enabling a new government after the first elections of 2016 with a tactical abstention, which mathematically blocked the forming of a parliamentary majority…

spain savings rate

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 1st June 2023

Autonomous regions facing significant budget constraints

Jakob Suwalski and Giulia Branz (Scope Ratings) | Budget constraints faced by the autonomous regions make policy adjustments and new investments difficult. By the end of 2022, none of the regions met the 13% debt-to-GDP threshold in their fiscal framework, while the aggregate fiscal deficit worsened to 1.1% of GDP from 0.1% in 2021, contrasting with the reduction in the deficit of the general government, i.e. the central government plus…

pedro sanchez preocupado

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 31st May 2023

Spain: early elections potentially advantageous for economic prospects

Jakob Suwalski (Scope Ratings) | Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to call early elections is potentially advantageous for Spain’s economic outlook insofar as it should prevent the government from losing six months of valuable time to determine long-term policy goals, even if it means forming a coalition or minority government. This timeframe allows for reforms to be implemented and the country’s fiscal and economic challenges to be addressed. However, the…

elecciones generales

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 31st May 2023

23-07-23: translating results of municipals to generals is an inconsistent exercise

Fernando González Urbaneja | Quite a few (including two national newspapers) have applied the arithmetic template of Sunday’s results to a general election with a result that would be favourable to the grand coalition of the left/nationalists, headed and sponsored by Pedro Sánchez. In this case the PP would be the most voted party with 140 deputies (with VOX in retreat below 20 seats) while the PSOE would remain as…

congreso diputados1

In Spain, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 30th May 2023

July 23rd: The sooner the better

Fernando Gonzéz Urbaneja | The expectation of a very tough six-month election campaign weighed on Sánchez’s conscience throughout the evening after the evidence of Sunday’s results. This explains why bringing forward the elections is tactical and opportunistic (in political logic), and also why Feijóo began his speech in front of the cameras with the words: “the sooner the better”. Better for the incumbent who defends the results of November 2019,…

elecciones generales

In Spain, Relevant News Item, Spanish economy, Spanish Politics 29th May 2023

Sánchez brings forward general elections to July 23 after debacle in regional and municipal polls

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the general election will be brought forward to next July 23 after the electoral defeat suffered this Sunday by the PSOE in the regional and municipal polls. The head of the Executive has assumed this Sunday’s electoral results “in first person” and his response is that this means “submitting the popular mandate to the popular will”, as he has stated…