16 Oct 2012 4:53 PM:

 One small but important point which no-one has yet raised....whilst it is true that Spain's crisis stems from the enormous volume of private and corporate debt, largely generated during the construction boom, the then Government was powerless to regulate the flow of cheap credit that came, mainly from German financial institutions, once Spain had joined the eurozone.

The Maastricht Treaty, if I remember rightly, enshrined into EU law the free movement of goods, people and capital.  There was no way any Government of any EU member state could have regulated the inward flow of capital, even if it wished to...and most didn't.

Unlike Greece, where debt is mainly Government-owned, Spanish borrowers, both corporate and private, went on a massive borrowing spree largely centred around the construction sector.   Spain has the largest proportion of home-owners in the EU at over 80%.    A large number of Spaniards own second homes.

When the boom turned to bust, as booms eventually do -capitalism is cyclical - millions found themselves without work. Government borrowing soared to pay for the rising welfare bill.  Treasury bond yields rose to unsustainable heights.  Many people were unable to repay the loans they had taken out to buy property. We see the results all around us..Se Vende...

There has indeed been slight upward movement in house/apartment sales in recent months but thos has been accompanied by falling sales prices.  It would seem that there is still some downward movement on prices to come before they bottom out.

Meanwhile, national and regional deficits combined with pressures for regional independence -Catalunya will not be the only region to break away if the Catalans achieve independence - and the certitude of a request for a bail-out after next month's elections all combine to create a situation of extreme volatility and the likeihood of a return to anything resembling 'normality' in the next five years is remote.

 

This message was last edited by praguepix on 16/10/2012.

This message was last edited by praguepix on 16/10/2012.
Thread: Spanish public holidays, should they be moved?

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02 Aug 2011 12:40 PM:

We too have a dog which, although not named, has all the characteristics which bring him under the 'perros peligrosos' category. If I remember correctly, the actual wording of the regulations refers to dogs which are potentially dangerous.

Being responsible citizens and dog owners, we set about registering our four-year-old fifty-four kilo of muscle Rhodesian Ridgeback pedigree. He has a passport, microchip, tattoo (all done when we bought him from his breeder in Slovakia) all the necessary vaccinations, has tarjeta registering him as required with the Junta de Andalucia and we have public liability insurance to the value of 300000 euros.

But he is not registered as a dangerous dog in spite of all our efforts. THe police, the local Town Hall and our vet all simply refuse to place him under that category, telling us it is not necessary. Our vet laughed, cuddled him, pointed to her snarling, yapping little Yorkie and said 'He no dangerous dog....she dangerous dog!!'  At the police station and Ayto I was told 'You have done all that is required. You are clearly mature, responsible dog owners and your dog is well-trained and obedient'.

All this is very frustrating and all we can do is what any sensible dog owner would or should do, namely keep him on a lead when out, with a muzzle when in public places and only allow him to run freely outside our large, walled garden when it is 100 per cent safe to do so.We have a very friendly relationship with our vet, who would back us up if there were any problems.

It's not an ideal situation but we've done our best. We find that small dogs are more of a problem. All too often, their owners allow them to run off the lead and our poor little Ridgeback is frequently pestered by them. He is very tolerant but if he did snap he would of course be blamed, not the careless owner of the small dog.

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Thread: Any experiences of obtaining dangerous dogs licence?

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10 Dec 2010 5:56 PM:

I look at this site occasionally when I'm bored and it's raining....but plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, as the French say.

Old Stormin' Norman and co.still bemoaning their lost dosh....and obviously, from Sandra's delightfully tasteful photo, boring the pants of some people at least.  Chavs'r'us indeed.....no wonder some people think the Costas are downmarket.

 Professional help needed here, methinks...this whingeing is showing signs of an obsession.  You aren't going to get your money back so get over it, move on, get a life.   Stop intruding on every site with your carping.  You will kill this forum.

Haven't you got your own little corner where you can moan to your hearts' content with like-minded folk?

 

 

This message was last edited by praguepix on 10/12/2010.
Thread: Economic situation in Spain

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03 Dec 2010 5:49 PM:

What a coincidence!   We left Prague on November 30thafter three enjoyable years  and after driving through Germany and France arrived in Andalucia on 2nd December 2008...

The past two years have been extremely enjoyable and we plan on another few years before moving on again, probably to France for a while.

The best thing we did was to sell all our properties, business and residential, in the UK and Canada.  We are now footloose and fancy free and only need to call Pickfords when we decide to stay on.

We feel it's important to have something 'new' to look forward to and it's certainly been interesting, comparing lifestyles and cultures in very different parts of Europe.

Thread: Two years in Spain!

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03 May 2010 10:59 AM:

Rather like Telitec, then.  We decided to stick with Telefonica as, just as you said, geographical constraints decide what kind of speeds and service you get and their English customer service is reasonable.

We also found that Telefonica respond to threats of termination of service - we managed to get our bill reduced from 70 to 30 euros (internet, landline with free calls in Spain) by telling them we had found a cheaper alternative. They asked how much cheaper, we told them, they undercut!

Thread: Cocoon telecom

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