With
its 17 regional governments, Spain has an awful lot of politicians.
And with politicians come bureaucrats, like fleas on a dog. So it is
that companies wanting to operate throughout the country currently
have to seek 17 different licences. As of mid-year, though, they'll
be able to do this on the basis of just one. This, I guess, is
another positive consequence of the Crisis but better late than
never.
Talking
about the impact of La Crisis,
can it be a coincidence that
I've had some exceptionally pleasant treatment at the hands of shop
assistants over the last week?
Another
reform which may be in the offing is that of Executive's power to
pardon criminals without explanation. Which is an open invitation to
the sort of conspiracy thinking we've recently had about the kamikaze
driver who was let off a 13 year sentence and given just a small
fine. The head of the Spain's Constitutional Court has said that the
system needs to change. “Or at least be explained”. Indeed it
does. Especially as the current PP government has pardoned three
times as many criminals in just one year as its predecessor did in
eight years in power.
A
UK report suggests that the cost of raising a child to the age of 21
is now £222,458. Thank God, then, they're all worth
every penny of that.
Corruption:
Here's a recent and apposite El País editorial on the subject:- "Beyond the need to clarify exactly what the source of
Bárcenas’ funds is, there is the problem of the public becoming
sick to the back teeth of corruption and tax evasion. There is no
transparency regarding the sources of the financing of political
parties, nor the loans they receive, the companies they have links
with, and not even whether or not Bárcenas made use of the
government’s fiscal amnesty to regularize part of these funds with
the taxman. . . . The economic and financial crisis that we are
living through has seen the patience of the public run out when it
comes to the plundering of public funds and tax evasion. The PP must
not wait for the results of a judicial investigation, which will
presumably move at a snail’s pace. The parties must actively take
control of their expenditure and their income and guarantee the
transparency and legality of the funds under their management. If
they don’t, they will be clearing a path for populism and
radicalism." The full text is here.
Finally
. . . My fellow blogger Lenox Napier is now producing a weekly
newsletter by the name of Business
over Tapas.
This is a “weekly report on the
finance, the economy, the housing, the opportunities and the pitfalls
of life in Spain, together with some news items, press cuttings and
translations of stories of interest, with special focus on life as a
foreign resident and property owner in this splendid but sometimes
frustrating country.” Take a look here if you fit the bill. Or even
if you don't.
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