In view of all the talk about reducing reliance on tourism, the degree of importance being placed on the casino project seems something of a contradiction.
Also I fancy the that the city, or should that be half of the country, that misses out should it go ahead, is going to feel extremely peeved to put it mildly and in the present unsettled environment who knows how they may react, violent scenes having already taken place last week up in Barca.

I have the highest regard for the character of most Spanish ppl.but pulling through this recession without further major setbacks may well be a bridge to far. In any event, for all of their goodwill I don't see them changing the habit of a lifetime, or maybe a few lifetimes, regarding their attitude to black money, regardless of any new govt regulations.
On the contrary under the present circumstances, I think they'll be more inclined than ever to grab whatever cash they can with both hands and stash any surplus well out of sight of prying eyes and sticky fingers.

I wouldn't read too much into the Barcelona disturbances - they've always been a rowdy lot - a bit like the rent-a-mob you get on MayDay demos in London. I saw street demos there back in 2003 when the city was booming.
There are actually quite a lot of companies either investing, or looking to invest in Spain, and the launching of the casino park (if it does get the go-ahead) will encourage more, as they know there'll be customers (working as taxi drivers, builders or croupiers etc) able to buy their products. Even now brands such as Apple and Ikea are investing in places in Spain. Plus some companies see it as a good place to hire talent.
http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/03/20/...67_918836.html

There are huge imbalances within the Eurozone; it’s not just a case of looking at Greece but Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland...perhaps not imminent problems but longer term issues associated with lack of growth and need for continuous austerity measures. The big question itself is how much Germany should be adjusting in the opposite direction and how much stimulus it can offer. Although Germany performed better last year it still has a large current account surplus/balance of payments. Theoretically deficit countries should reduce their deficit and surplus countries should try to keep their surpluses in place but the numbers don’t add up.

Austerity measures are a way for governments to reduce their deficit spending however this can often mean increases in taxes to pay back creditors to reduce debt. You are right in as far as what are the costs to the man and woman on the street for the implementation of austerity measures?

Using Italy as an example here are some of the results and predicted results of their austerity measures. . VAT is up 1% to 21%. The prices of fuel, clothes, footwear, televisions, computers and haircuts are likely to increase. There are some early indications that Italian businesses may absorb the VAT increase, but others may use the austerity increase to put prices up by more than 1%.

Other less obvious changes to the way VAT is charged are predicted to make life for Italy’s self-employed tougher. Many of Italy’s professionals lawyers, architects and engineers are not employed directly, but paid a fee as if they were external consultants. These fees are often derisory. Italy’s uncertain job market and underperforming businesses ensure that salary levels are kept low. Self-employed employees in Italy do not have the same rights, such as maternity leave, as actual employees.

Austerity measures have often been associated with protest movements. In Greece for example, the austerity package put forth by the EU and the IMF was met with great anger by the Greek public, leading to riots and social unrest. Austerity programs can be controversial, as they tend to have an adverse impact on the poorest segments of the population.

If you are looking at Spain and the Euro, coming up is the Euroland finance ministers' meeting in Copenhagen and the Spanish 2012 Budget. The first will decide by how much the EU bailout fund should be increased; the second will be a pointer to whether or not Spain will need to access that fund. Monetary policy decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank this Thursday are not expected to change the landscape.

well there is an element of truth there Stevie, after all how can a ladies clothes shop selling Chinese made clothes in China be making much out of it.

but perhaps the increased turnover allows head office to at least maintain the same number of employees - so no job losses is almost worth the press release surely.

OK Sarah, so the PIIGS are in dire straits - So whilst the sultans of swing have their little meetings and Greece is wanting money for nothing, what about the other brothers in arms who make up the eurozone??

How strong is Germany really??
Surely France is almost as flakey as PIGS because much of its land is below the 44th parallel ??
What effect is all this having on Holland, Belgium, Austria and their position in the Eurozone.
Even more worrying is that we hear nothing about the effect on the former SovBloc countries of Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia - small countries but surely as part of the grouping responsible for the overall indebtedness on the Partnership principle. If all the other members should fold could they meet the liability of the partnership ??
And is Cyprus (and Malta) so squeeky clean or are they really in the same situation as their Greek neighbours ??

The overriding problem is that there is the ECB with responsibility for monetary policy but there is no common representation, governance or fiscal policy within the currency grouping. Just meetings of national Finance Ministers.

In the meantime many are ignoring the facts - unemployment is still rising whilst manufacturing has fallen for the 8th month in a row.

Soon the only way the industrial nations will be able to feed their people is to rely on the likes of the PIIGS to improve their mainly agro status and support the industrials.

You are right issues are being overlooked and as has been said previously the media dictate what we should and shouldn’t know. This is why we rely on our dealers to have the up to the minute market information to help give guidance on the rates.

Sorry Sarah, but you have made positive but mostly negative statements about national economies but do not answer the questions that result.

In your position making such statements on a public forum you not relied on the distorted bits the media want to feed us but on other proprietary information you now wish to hide.

As hard as it may be to believe this isnt 1612, people arent interested in what the local rate for carrots will be in a month's time or whether there will be jobs on the new manor in the next village. They are interested in their own long term financial planning, whether to invest their future in a country, they can only make such decisions based on the information provided to them by people like you.

And besides, Sarah, this forum is unlikely to render the type of clientele who are remotely interested in reality or any kind of sound financial advice. It won't matter whether your advice is good or not; many here just make up whatever they want to believe anyway.