Dawn

Dawn

Sunday, February 23, 2014

A lot of Good News.


One of my Spanish readers has commented that the content of my post is 'bleak' for Spanish readers. So, in honour of this gentleman, this will be a Nothing But Good News post.

- Spain's exports hit a new record in 2013.

- As a result, Spain's trade deficit fell by almost half in 201.

- Moody's have raised Spain's credit rating, citing progress in reforms to put the economy on a more sustainable track. They also gave Spain a "positive outlook", suggesting potential for a further upgrade.

- Seven Spanish cities are named in the list of the 10 most attractive in southern Europe for investors in a recent article in The Financial Times.

- Spain's wine output increased by 41% in 2013, making her the world’s leading producer. The surge has been attributed to good weather conditions and an improvement in winery infrastructure.

- A record number of tourists travelled to Spain last month. This comes after last year's record visits of 60.7 million visitors. Most of these were French. [Sorry. That's a bit of bad news]

- A new ruling in the Spanish Parliament will force all political parties to make their accounts public, to upload them in full onto their websites and to submit them to the Accounts Tribunal. Is this the beginning of the end for corruption? Maybe.

- The Italian Renaissance painter Raphael has emerged as the genius behind a painting in a private collection in Cordoba. The work depicts a scene identical to his ‘Madonna of Foligno’ in the Vatican gallery.

- A Chinese airline has expressed an interest in buying the so-far-useless Ciudad Real airport which has lain dormant for years.

- The Pope has appointed a new Spanish Cardinal [Albeit in a sumptuous ceremony which I doubt Jesus would have been seen dead at]

- As usual, the Spanish government is offering bribes ahead of next year's elections - in the form of a massive tax break. As usual, the public is likely to fall for it.

- Spain will be sending her X Factor winner to the Eurovision song 'contest'. With high hopes of a record high position.

- Today might be the first day in February when it doesn't rain here in Pontevedra.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

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