Alicante most profitable airport in Spain
By Hans Hamers | January 19, 2010
El Altet and San Javier are two of only nine airports Spanish airports to post profits.
Trading figures produced last Tuesday show that El Altet airport closed 2009 with an operating profit of 43.5 million euros, making it the most profitable provincial airfield in Spain, well ahead of the second placed, Palma de Mallorca (37.8 million) and two of the country’s largest airports, Barajas and El Prat, both of which declared losses of 300 and 42 million euros respectively.
The results posted by El Altet contrasted with neighbour Manises (Valencia), which last year lost 1.2 million euros making it just one of the 20 AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea) managed airfields to run up a deficit.
The data showing the economic health of El Altet formed part of a report presented in Congress on Tuesday by Development Minister, Jose Blanco. This comes just days after it was revealed that El Altet is not among the candidates selected to join the new Spanish airport system model which has the rather grand title of “Co-management of central and autonomous administrations with private participation”.
Yesterday, Blanco opted for ambiguity, making the point that decisions made on the selection strategy for the “unique airports” are still to be confirmed and will be taken by qualified personnel.
The operating figures of El Altet in 2009 reached 90.45 million euros, with a turnover of 88.19 million. Against these numbers, the provincial airport had an expenditure of 56.23 million, according to the documents provided yesterday by Minister Blanco to the Congress. What makes the figures even more impressive is that they were achieved in a year when it is estimated that the terminal lost around 400,000 passengers as a result of the crisis in the tourism sector.
Meanwhile the 2010 economic forecast remains optimistic for El Altet which expects to trade through the year with a 27.1 million profit. Of the 48 airports managed by AENA, only ten registered an operating profit. They included Palma, Girona (18 million) Tenerife South (13.9 million), Malaga (12.8 million), Gran Canaria (6.5 million), Ibiza (3.9 million), Murcia-San Javier (1.5 million) and Bilbao (110,000 euros).
Aena is also responsible for Air Traffic Control throughout Spain, a body of 2300 individuals on whom Blanca and his department have declared open warfare. Speaking to Congress he said that some air traffic controllers earn almost a million euros a years, a figure that he found unacceptable as the company attempts to rebuild its battered financial situation in which only nine airports are making a profit. “Of the total expenditure in navigation charges over 70% is gobbled up by their salaries” he said.
According to sources, data from 2008 shows that about 700 of the 2,300 air traffic controllers earn between 270,000 and 360,000 euros a year, another 487 between 360,000 and 450,000 euros and 77 of the top earners between 540,000 and 630,000 euros. The ‘elite’ is made up of a dozen controllers that with the current system of overtime, received between 810,000 and 990,000 euros.
According to the chairman of the AENA, Juan Lema, the company is determined to cut wage costs of 500 million within four years, while the government wants to establish a compulsory module of fixed overtime paid at a lower rate than the current “triple time”.
Source: theleader.info
Topics: Alicante, Spain | No Comments »
ETA exlosives found in Alicante
By Hans Hamers | October 13, 2009
An ETA hide with 25 kilos of explosives material has been found in Alicante. Police say there was enough to make some 10 explosive devices of the type used by the Basque terrorists during their summer campaign.
The police say the hide had only been constructed this year and contained explosives of the type used in the recent attacks on Mallorca. It was found by a walker in the area known as Rincón del Olvido, in the La Serrella district of Confrides.
The find, and the attempted robbery of a van in Valencia, lead the police to consider the possibility that ETA has some sort of stable structure in the area.
Meanwhile possibly an alleged ETA activist has been arrested in Lescun, just over the border in southern France after he presented himself to a hospital with a gunshot wound in his hand. He claimed he was called Ibai Sueskun, and said the weapon had gone off when he was cleaning it. He was found however to be carrying false documentation, and police are still to confirm that he is a wanted ETA activist.
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British couple shot dead in Spain
By Hans Hamers | October 7, 2009
A couple found shot dead in their Spanish home were from Hampshire, police in Madrid have confirmed.
David Rouse, 75, and his wife Heather, 58, were discovered in their home in San Fulgencio, near Alicante.
Police believe Mr Rouse shot his wife as she slept before turning the gun on himself.
A Civil Guard spokesman in Madrid confirmed the couple, who moved to Spain eight years ago, were from New Milton in the New Forest.
Police were called on Sunday at 2300 local time, after neighbours reported noises coming from the property.
Mr Rouse had left the door unlocked and identity documents on a table.
He had also put out ample food and drinking water for the family pets.
Mrs Rouse, who celebrated her birthday a few days earlier, was discovered in the master bedroom of the house. Her husband’s body was discovered in another bedroom with a gun nearby.
The British Embassy in Spain said it was offering consular support to the couple’s relatives.
Source: BBC News
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Santa Pola Club de Futbol seeking junior footballers
By Hans Hamers | September 2, 2009
Santa Pola Club de Futbol is actively seeking junior footballers to complete their Benjamin A and B squads for the 2009/10 season which starts in early October.
Five places are available for the Benjamin A, which FFCV rules state boys born between 01.01.2000 and 31.12.2000 are eligible. For the Benjamin B team, for whom fifteen places are still up for grabs, eligibility is for those boys born between 01.01.2001 and 31.12.2001.
On Wednesday September the 9th, from 1730 onwards at the Pereira sports ground in Santa Pola the club are holding a presentation evening where parents can meet the coaching staff and new players can be assessed.
Players of all nationalities are welcome to come along for a trial with a football academy noted for nurturing precocious talent. Contact the club on 96 669 4139 or visit the club offices between 1800 and 2000 hours on Tuesdays, Thursday and Fridays. Alternatively, contact Kevin on 650 594 112 or by email at kevin.rendall@telefonica.net
Topics: Santa Pola | No Comments »
Jelly Fish Alert
By Hans Hamers | June 21, 2009
Spanish authorities are already preparing defences to tackle the swarms of Mauve Stinger jellyfish; bright purple invertebrates which emit a yellow glow at night, that annually plague the eastern beaches of the country.
Each summer tens of thousands of holidaymakers are forced to seek treatment for minor stings. Scientists predict that the numbers of jellyfish swarming off the coast this summer will be higher than ever and new measures have been introduced to protect unsuspecting bathers.
In the Catalonian region, where some 20,000 people received treatment after being stung last summer, authorities are using satellite images to track dangerous hoards of the slimy creatures. When they seem dangerously close to shore, fishing boats will be sent to scoop up the masses of jellyfish and divert them away from popular beaches.
The Ministry for the Environment has launched a campaign that will provide pamphlets to be distributed amongst bathers, alerting them to the dangers of jellyfish and what measures to take in case of a sting. Over the last several years, there has been a huge rise in numbers due to the effects of global warming and suspected over-fishing of their natural predators. Until we tackle the environmental issues that are causing the proliferation of jellyfish in Mediterranean waters, the problem will only get worse.
In the meantime –swim at your own risk!
Source: www.roundtownnews.co.uk
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Who is responsible for the property bubble?
By Hans Hamers | March 1, 2009
As recession takes hold, European citizens are starting to ask questions about how they were led into this, the deepest downturn in three-quarters of a century. The leading Spanish daily El Pais published a very thoughtful article today asking how things had unravelled so quickly and so spectacularly in Spain, previously one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.
These are the same questions that one must ask in the United States, Britain and Ireland regarding their own property bubbles. And, in view of recent turmoil in Eastern Europe, I suspect answers will be sought there as well.
This first part in a series of articles lays out the statistics of bubble and bust, demonstrating the scale of the bubble in Spain and it also makes a number of suggestion as to how to prevent a recurrence. You should note that this article points out Spain’s helplessness due to its lack of control over interest rates as a key impediment to solving the problem. Below is my translation of the article:
this week, el pais will begin publishing in the business section a series of reflections by a group of well-known economists about the origins and effects of the crisis in our country as well as specific and well-argued proposals to exit from it quickly and rejuvenated. affiliated with universities and research centers in spain and abroad, their common feature is extensive experience accumulated through research on the characteristics of our economy that make it particularly vulnerable to negative changes in the economic cycle. fundación de estudios de economía aplicada (fedea) served as a vehicle for channeling this initiative coordinated by antonio cabrales (universidad carlos iii and fedea), juan josé dolado (universidad carlos iii), florentino felgueroso (university of oviedo and fedea) and paul vázquez (universidad complutense and feda) which will result in an ebook. the property sector, the labor market, financial institutions, fiscal policy, r & d and education are just some of the topics addressed in these articles.
A generation of Spaniards will lose their savings because they have spent to buy homes which are falling in price. So, in our old age and our children, we cannot count on what we hoped for. And many are so indebted that now they cannot cope with their debts. Moreover, we specialized in being masons, plumbers, electricians, truck drivers, glaziers, manufacturers of doors, beams, cranes, tile or sinks, gear, selling mortgages, appraisers, registrars and a host of occupations related to construction. And now that our experience is no longer valid and we must dedicate ourselves to something else.
In addition, the Spanish economic miracle was a mirage, because we were dedicated to building homes that we would not have wanted to build had we knon how little they would be worth in the future. A house is only valuable as something in which to live. And if no one wants to do so, then it is not worth anything. We have purchased flats which are still being constructed or which we visit only a few days a year, not because we were eager to consume housing, but because we thought they were a store of value for the future.
Further, our banks and building societies were dedicated to lending to developers and builders, and many of them now cannot repay the loans, which could lead to bankruptcy for banks and building societies — if they are allowed to go bankrupt. And municipalities have enjoyed unsustainable revenues due to land reclassification and the waste to which they have become accustomed is over. There are the cars that we bought, which we actually could not buy because we were not as rich as we thought. And from there led a complete distortion of the fabric.
Finally, as this kind of unsustainable activity has stopped, the economy has entered recession. To help understand the very adverse consequences of delirium, it is necessary to review the path house prices have followed in Spain, and their causes, their predictability and what could have been done to prevent it.
Growth in construction sector
The growth of the total construction has been high, 5% per year in 1996-2007. Between 1998 and 2007, the housing stock grew by 5.7 million, nearly 30%. In the third quarter of 2007, construction accounted for 13.3% of total employment, far above, for example, 6.7% in Germany or 8.5% in the UK.
Several factors have stimulated the demand for housing. They exaggerated the economic expansion (partly due to real estate boom itself) and the resulting fall in unemployment and cuts in mortgage interest rates after the integration into the euro, from 11% in 1995 to 3.5% in 2003-2005 –rates which were often negative after discounting inflation. Moreover, banking competition has facilitated access and improved conditions of mortgage credit. It has also increased the number of households, especially due to a massive influx of immigrants, about 4.2 million between 1996 and 2007. Finally, the purchase of properties by families not living in Spain has increased by a scale that is hard to calculate.
Supply responded to increased demand, as the data above demonstrates, but could not completely satisfy it, leading to large increases in housing prices: an annual inflation rate of 1% in 1995-1997 came to 18 % in 2003 and 2004. On average, between 1995 and 2007, house price inflation was nearly 10% annually.
In fact, to the extent that agents have expectations of future increases in housing prices and demand is positively influenced by them, for a time one can see a spiral of growing demand, supply and prices.
Has there been a speculative bubble?
A bubble is characterized by the presence of a high volume of transactions at prices different from the fundamental economic value. It is not easy to identify because of the difficulty in calculating the latter value well. Often, the identification is made retrospectively, after a sudden collapse in prices. However, in the real estate market, because of low liquidity, the collapse is slower than in the financial markets and is reflected initially more in quantity than price. In Spain, the sale of homes has plummeted in 2008. It is estimated that at the end of the year there were between 650,000 and 1.3 million unsold new homes.
In any case, the revaluation of property in Spain between 1997 and 2007 was 191% according to The Economist, the second highest in the OECD and higher than in countries where there is no doubt about the existence of a bubble, like the United Kingdom (168%) or USA (85%). As for the fall, according to INE, in the third quarter of 2007 house prices have risen a further 3.7% in interannual terms, and the price of previously-owned houses has fallen by 11.4%, compared to increases of 9.2% and 7.5% respectively a year earlier. The speed and magnitude of these changes point to a bubble.
More rigorously, the key factors mentioned above (the expansion, interest rates …) are not explained by price alone. Available estimates –for example, those from the Research Department of the Bank of Spain — indicate that the observed prices were well above levels justified by economic fundamentals. This overstatement is estimated at between 8% and 20% in 2003 and between 24% and 35% in 2004. Thus, it seems clear that a significant part of inflation in housing is due to speculative reasons: people bought houses as investments, because they expected them to be revalued. Furthermore, it was considered a safe investment compared to the risk of financial assets shown by the collapse of the stock exchanges in 2002.
It is worth noting that a bubble has nothing to do with states of collective optimism or pessimism that can be associated with levels of economic activity, high or low, but are transmitted through a mechanism of self-expectations. In the case of a bubble, prices do not perform their function as a mechanism for the proper allocation of resources and actual errors. If the bubble is big and durable, the misallocation of resources from savers, companies and workers can cause extensive destruction of real wealth.
Did we know that there was a bubble?
Since 2002, the Bank of Spain has warned about the overvaluation in housing — although it has been too optimistic about the likelihood of being “consistent with a gradual and orderly decline”, perhaps because it feared pricking the bubble. In 2003, The Economist estimated overvaluation in Spain at 52%. In 2004, the International Monetary Fund stood at 20% -30%. Among the Spanish economist José García-Montalvo 2003 figures by 28.5%, stating: “In short, it is very likely that the Spanish property market is a time bomb waiting to be detonated.” However, senior politicians and businessmen refused repeatedly and until recently to admit there was a bubble.
Were the politicians aware of the bubble?
The PSOE’s electoral gamble in 2004 spoke of “a new pattern of growth that is more robust than the current.” Its candidate for president of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, said: “Since we have an economic model based on construction and mortgages, Spanish families are now more indebted than ever in their history.” And then the coordinator of PSOE’s economic program stated: “The policy of renters which (…) prevents people from selling and producing a catastrophic collapse in prices, due to a change in expectations. Indeed, the then minister of economy of the Partido Popular said: “The truth is that we are living in a long cycle and low uncertainty. This is indisputable. And what is important is that a model is sustainable.”
Could something have been done to prevent the bubble?
Tackling a bubble is easier (technically) if you have the right tool: interest rates. It’s harder if you do not have it, as in Spain, who has left it to the European Central Bank (which has long kept rates too low for the needs of the Spanish economy). However, we believe that the following measures — designed to really know the level of housing prices and reduce tax distortions that made this type of investment artificially profitable — would have mitigated the bubble:
Improve information on housing prices. Unlike other countries, in Spain there is no information on actual transaction prices. Only since 2008 are prices available from the registry and notary– only in index form, not of monetary value (perhaps due to suspicion about overstatement in written values). Up until then, there are only official in the Ministry of Housing developed from data supplied by companies that priced homes for customers, often in the granting of mortgages. For obvious reasons, this is not a reliable source. And the official information policy has been lamentable. For example, the ministry announced in October 2004 that it was suspending publication of data on housing prices, but later corrected itself. It then introduced a methodology bias into to the measurement that held prices down. At present, the ministry does not offer on its website any data prior to 2005 prices! And at no time sought to make the public aware of the possible overvaluation of housing. However, it would be possible to have information on the actual value of real estate transactions, for example, collected in one of the household surveys conducted by INE, or to conduct a survey specifically for this and use it to correct the measurement of changes in the price of housing quality.
Reduce the the income tax deduction to shelter, which heavily skews investment decisions of households toward housing over other assets and, together with the law on leases, promotes home ownership (81.3% of households in 2005) compared to renting. In 2002, 79.7% of the gross wealth of households was related to real estate, compared to 75.5% in Italy and 38.4% in the U.S.. In 2005 the figure was 80%. In 1998, the Government of Partido Popular reduced the existing high relief, but after that no progress was made.
Increasing the regulatory oversight on real estate companies and transactions. Recent estimates place in Spain between 2004 and 2005 as having the third-largest black market economy amongst developed economies (20.5% of GDP), after Greece and Italy. This percentage has been reduced by 2.2 points since 2000. Probably a large part of the hidden activity is channeled through the housing market. The Union of Technicians of the Ministry of Finance estimates tax evasion in the property sector at 8.6 billion euros per year (about 0.8% of GDP).
Why not attempt to stop the bubble?
First, because the construction sector is labor intensive, which is important in a country with a structurally high unemployment rate. Secondly, because an increase in the value of housing benefits the average voter, who is the owner of his home. And thirdly, because the real estate sector generates substantial revenue for the public sector at national, regional and municipal levels. For example, in 2004, it accounted for 60% of the budget (excluding liabilities and current transfers) of Valencia and 50% of Madrid.
The Partido Popular [People's Party] government was wrong with its law liberalizing the land in 1998. It believed that with more land, housing would increaseand house prices would fall. Big mistake. Homes were bought and built not because they were cheap, but because they were expensive and one had expectations that they would be even more so in the future. Thus, the land law threw fuel on the bubble’s fire, triggering frenetic activity which reclassified thanks to local rulers who saw municipal coffers filled (if not their own pockets).
For their part, the PSOE government’s attempts to encourage housing and rent and their new land law of 2007 have been completely ineffective. In reality, it has only prevented us riding the bubble until its last death rattle.
Ultimately, both Governments have failed on one crucial issue: saving their citizens from economic excesses which carried off their savings, their jobs and their prosperity. It is a failure that must be learned for the future and for making appropriate accountability.
Source: Creditwritedowns
Source: El Pais
Topics: Spain | No Comments »
Tourism slowdown in Alicante
By Hans Hamers | February 5, 2009
January numbers are 13.5 percent down on last year.
Hotels in Alicante have 2,800 empty rooms every day because of the current lack of clients. The latest data for January shows an average occupancy level of 31%, nearly 13.5% down on last year at the same time. The low numbers come despite the possibility of reserving a double room in a four star hotel in the city for just 60 €.
Most popular part of the province was Benidorm which reached 50% occupancy, and Elche had 40%, but in Playa de San Juan only 19% was recorded.
The situation is further worsened by a lack of events or work conferences.
Source: typicallyspanish.com
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Visit Alicante, Spain
By Hans Hamers | January 25, 2009
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Fatal storms hit Spain and France
By Hans Hamers | January 24, 2009
Three children have been killed in northern Spain when the roof of a sports hall collapsed amid high winds, local officials say.
Two adults were also reported to have died in other storm-related incidents.
Torrential rains and winds of up to 172km/h (107mph) have been battering northern Spain and south-west France.
At least one million homes in France are without electricity, roads and railways have been blocked and airports ordered closed, authorities there said.
Residents in affected areas in both countries have been warned to stay indoors.
French weather agencies forecast the storm but it has affected a wider area than expected. A state of “red alert” has been declared in nine departments.
Huge waves swept in from the Atlantic overnight battering the French and Spanish coastline.
In France, the storm has caused havoc from the Dordogne area to the Pyrenees.
As it moved east, the torrential rains caused flooding in some areas prompting thousands of calls to the emergency services.
The force of the storm also led to the closure of airports in Bordeaux, Pau and Biarritz, and Toulouse.
Train services have also ground to a halt, leaving several hundred passengers stranded in stations overnight.
The sports hall collapse happened in the town of Sant Boi de Llobregat, near Barcelona.
“Part of the building collapsed, there were between 20 and 30 youngsters inside. We know there are some dead and 16 injured,” a local government spokeswoman told AFP news agency.
Two other deaths have been reported in Spain.
A policeman was killed by a falling tree as he directed traffic in Burela, Galicia, and a woman was killed by a wall collapse, reportedly in Barcelona.
Blocked roads
The storms are expected to spread eastwards on Saturday bringing the risk of further heavy rain, strong winds and disruption, BBC weather experts said.
Although expected to weaken over the next 12-18 hours, parts of southern France could still see some damage, with the storm’s strong winds funnelling through the Rhone valley overnight, BBC Weather’s Liam Dutton said.
Hundreds of technicians had been deployed to try to restore power to residents by the end of the day, but blocked roads are hampering their efforts.
“The number of clients who are cut off from the grid is rising from minute to minute as the storm moves eastwards,” Michel Francony, head of the regional electricity grid operator ERDF, told local radio.
The storm is the most powerful to hit the French region since December 1999, when 88 people were killed and some four million homes left without power.
Source: BBC
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Internet paedophile ring suspects arrested
By Hans Hamers | January 19, 2009
Spanish private detectives investigating the 2007 disappearance of a British girl from a resort in Portugal uncovered an Internet paedophile ring, El Mundo reported in its online edition Monday.
Police arrested 13 suspects as a result of an investigation done by Barcelona-based Metodo-3, an investigation agency hired by Gerry and Kate McCann to trace their daughter Madeleine, the report said.
Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007 from her families’ holiday apartment at the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz while her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant. She was three-years-old at the time.
The agency’s investigators were hired six months after her disappearance. Two months into the investigation, an email came in reporting that Madeleine was featured in a paedophile video posted on the Internet, El Mundo reported.
Although it turned out that Madeleine was not in the video, the agency tipped off Spanish police who subsequently arrested the suspects in a series of raids in December 2008.
Additionally, police questioned another 10 people and seized a large quantity of computer equipment. When questioned by AFP, Metodo-3 said it could not confirm the report.
Spain has staged a series of operations against Internet child pornography in recent years, arresting more than 1,200 people over the last five years—of whom 408 were arrested in 2008 alone.
Madeleine McCann’s parents have been funding a private investigation to try to find out what happened to their daughter.
The Portuguese authorities closed their probe into her disappearance in July 2008.
AFP/Expatica
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