Unwelcome guest
Santander cuts jobs,
closes branches
Santander, Spain’s largest bank, wants
to reduce its workforce by 11 per cent
as it closes duplicated branches
following its purchase of Banco
Popular Espanol SA two years ago.
A group of Galician tourists were alarmed
to find an intruder in their Málaga holiday
home last month. The Nature Protection
Group (Grupona) of the local police were
called to deal with a nervous and
aggressive meerkat which was trying to
enter the property in calle Islas Canarias.
Despite their safety gloves being bitten,
the officers finally cornered the fast-
moving intruder and took it to a rescue
centre.
Clocking in
All businesses in Spain are now required to
ensure employees clock in and clock out to
enable a check to be kept on the exact
number of hours worked. The legislation
came into effect of May 12 and is intended
to end the country’s culture of unpaid
overtime working. The government has
estimated that 5.6 million overtime hours
are worked every week in Spain, but that
almost 52% of these are unpaid.
May deaths
Former interior minister and deputy PM
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, 67, died in
hospital on May 8, the same day as British
entertainer Freddie Starr, 76, died in
Spain. Rubalcaba, respected as a key figure
in Spanish politics, is credited with
developing the socialist PSOE party
strategy which won them the 2004
General Election Victory. After a colourful
career in British show business, Starr,
whose body was found at his home in
Mijas, is believed to have died from
natural causes.
Dog attack
A homeless Bulgarian man aged 30 was
hospitalised with serious injuries after
being attacked by five dogs on a Málaga
industrial estate last month. All the
animals, described as “aggressive” and “in
control” of the area, were later captured
by police. Málaga’s Town Hall has since
asked local people to report any other
packs of dogs found to be roaming free in
the city.
According to a statement released to
the CCOO union last month, the move
will eliminate 3,700 jobs and close 1,150
branches. The bank says that most of
the jobs will be lost in retail branches,
although some jobs in the bank’s
central offices will also go.
The union described the news as
“highly worrying” and is hoping to
reduce the numbers being proposed.
Neither Santander nor the CCOO has
given a timetable for the cuts to be
imposed.
Santander is aiming to cut its global
annual costs by €1.2 billion as low-
interest rates are affecting European
profits, and as it comes under pressure
from its investors. At the end of March,
the bank’s Spanish unit had 32,366
employees in 4,366 branches.
Elsewhere, Santander also plans to
close 140 UK branches, and to cut 11
per cent of its work force in Poland
with a total 1,400 job losses.
Since the financial crisis began in 2008,
Spain’s banking sector has lost over 40
per cent of its branches, while there are
almost a third fewer employees.
Valencia-based Caixabank has the most
extensive branch network in Spain, but
recently announced plans to close
almost a fifth of them over the next
three years. It also wants to reduce its
workforce by six per cent.
“Inappropriate” gifts spark
squash sexism row
A row broke out last month after four
female winners of a squash
championship in Asturias were
awarded prizes including a sex toy, hair
removal wax and an electronic foot
exfoliator in addition to their trophies.
Male players received only the trophies
which they had won.
The female players then wrote to the
Royal Spanish Squash Federation,
returning the offending prizes, which
they described as, “sexist and out of
place.”
Their action has led to the Federation
supporting their complaint and
triggered resignations amongst the
organisers, the Oviedo Squash Club,
which released a statement admitting
that the gifts, “were inappropriate and
should never have been presented.”
The regional Federation in Asturias
claimed they had no idea that the
players were going to be given the
items, describing the gifts as, “the
height of sexism.”
The top female winner, Elisabet Sadó
Garriga, who works with victims of
gender violence, commented that such
12
attitudes are, “the foundation for all the
structural sexism which, in its most
extreme form, ends with women
getting killed.”
Major operation
A major anti-drugs operation across
Andalucía early on May 22 resulted in
over 20 arrests and the seizure of
thousands of Euros in the provinces of
Málaga, Sevilla, Granada, Huelva and
Cádiz. Over 300 Guardia Civil and
Gibraltar police officers collaborated to
smash a gang bringing drugs from
Morocco into the region. The previous
day, 15 more suspects were detained
following the discovery in La Linea of
a store of fuel for boats used in
transporting drugs across the Strait.
Wedding plans
Rafa Nadal is expected to wed his
childhood sweetheart Meri Perelló on
their native island of Mallorca this
month. The date is still under wraps
but TV channel Telecinco revealed last
month that the Valencian celebrity
chef Quique Dacosta is handling the
catering. Up to 600 guests are expected
to attend the ceremony and the
celebrations which will follow.