News
Rock talks
Talks began last month between Spain and
the UK on the post-Brexit status of
Gibraltar. In addition to tourists, around
10,000 Spanish nationals cross the border
every day to work in the British-owned
territory and their future is one area of
prime importance. A number of
committees are also debating the problem
of smuggling and will also attempt to
define clear tax residency rules.
Lower limits
Spain’s traffic authority, Tráfico, plans to
impose a 30 kph speed limit in all town
centres. This follows a recommendation
by the World Health Organisation which
says that, as well as reducing pollution,
pedestrians struck at this speed are five
times more likely to survive than if they
are hit at 50 kph. Electric scooters will be
limited to 25 kph and barred from
pavements, with riders fined if found
positive for drugs or alcohol, or are
wearing headphones.
Banker jailed
A former Spanish banker has been jailed
for 18 months and fined €52.4 million for
attempting to smuggle an oil painting by
Picasso out of Spain. The artwork valued
at €26 million was seized in Corsica from
a yacht owned by Jamie Botin, then head
of Bankinter SA., after the Culture
Ministry in Madrid had denied permission
to take it abroad. The authorities suspect
that Botin had planned to sell the painting
“Head of a Young Woman” which dates
from the early 20th century.
Population boost
Spain’s population rose to 47.1 million in
the first half of 2019. The National
Statistics office says 209,000 arriving
immigrants boosted the total, while over
169,000 children were born and 214,000
deaths were recorded. In the six month
period, more than 348,000 people moved
to Spain permanently while almost
140,000 left to live elsewhere.
At last, Spain has a
stable government
The political uncertainty hanging over
Spain for months was finally ended on
January 7 when 47-year-old Pedro
Sánchez of the socialist PSOE party
won a confidence vote in parliament.
The deadlock created by the outcome
of two inconclusive general elections in
April and December last year was
broken after Sr Sánchez concluded
deals for a coalition with left-wing
Podemos, and with 13 Basque and five
Catalan Deputies who agreed to abstain
in the vote.
A first confidence vote on January 5
failed to give Sr Sánchez the absolute
majority as required in Spain’s
Constitution. A second vote held two
days later required only a simple
majority, and it was a nail-biting finale
which was played out on live television.
Each Deputy in turn was asked to stand
and declare their vote. In the end, with
Sr Sánchez taking 167 votes in favour
and 165 against, his slim majority of
just two returned him as Spain’s
president for another term.
However, with the PSOE’s 120 seats
and Podemos’ 35, Spain’s coalition
government – the first since the
monarchy was restored in 1978 - does
not have a majority in the 350-seat
lower house of parliament. But it plans
to move forward with promises to raise
taxes for those earning more than
€130,000 a year, and to reverse some
labour reforms passed by the previous
conservative Partido Popular
government which made it easier to
fire employees.
Four deputy presidents and 18
ministers in Pedro Sánchez
government were sworn into office by
King Felipe on January 13, and quickly
set to work. Approval has already been
given to the re-opening of three
Catalan “embassies” which were frozen
by Cataluña’s regional High Court
some time ago.
The Foreign Embassy says the offices
in Argentina, Mexico and Tunisia can
operate again, having satisfied officials
that they will not interfere with
Spanish foreign policies. The move is
being seen as a thaw in relations
between Madrid and Barcelona.
Record year for Málaga
Pension increase A total of almost 19.8 million
passengers passed through Málaga’s
airport in 2019, an increase of 4.4 per
cent on the previous year. The number
of landings and take-offs was up on
2018 by 2.5 per cent to a total of
144,920.
Recipients of the Spanish state pension
will see their monthly payments rise by
0.9% this month, back-dated to January 1.
The increase is the average estimate of
inflation this year, but if inflation exceeds
the estimates, 11.1 million pensioners will
receive a top-up payment before April
2021. President Pedro Sánchez said the
measure will correct the ceiling of 0.25%
adopted in the past, which meant a loss of
purchasing power for pensioners. The UK remained the country from
which most passengers arrived. The
Brits’ total of over 5.8 million was 2.2
per cent more than the previous year,
while the domestic market was in
second place with almost three
million arrivals, an increase of 7.5 per
cent on 2019. Those flying from
other foreign countries including
Germany, France, the Netherlands
10
and Ireland also recorded increases.
The figures have contributed to
another record year for tourism in the
province of Málaga, especially in the
domestic market. Around 5.7 million
visitors from elsewhere in Spain
travelled here during 2019, with a
consequent increase in the economic
impact - up 7.7 per cent to €4,858
million.
Last month’s data from Tourism Costa
del Sol also show that, compared to
2018, overnight stays by domestic
visitors increased by nine per cent to
5.7 million, while hotel reservations
were up 10.9 per cent to 2.2 million.