US force for Africa at Morón air base to become permanent.
Brussels proposes mandatory quota of 4,300 asylum seekers.
Anti-establishment parties make big gains in municipal and regional elections.
IMF and OECD confirm accelerating upturn.
Category: Elcano Royal Institute
Turkey’s elections: AKP loses absolute majority, thwarts Erdogan’s bid for executive presidency
Turkey’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its absolute parliamentary majority for the first time since sweeping to power in 2002, and with it Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ambition for greater power by changing the constitution to become an executive president.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/commentary-chislett-turkeys-elections-akp-loses-absolute-majority-thwarts-erdogans-bid-for-executive-presidency#.VXWss2Sqqkp
Anti-establishment parties make big gains in Spain’s elections
Spain’s two-party system is not dead, as predicted, but it took a beating in municipal and regional elections where the upstart parties, the leftist anti-austerity Podemos and the centrist market-friendly Ciudadanos, made big inroads into the ruling conservative Popular Party (PP) and the Socialists (PSOE), which between them have dominated political life for more than 30 years.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=%2Felcano%2Felcano_in%2Fzonas_in%2Fcommentary-chislett-anti-establishment-parties-make-gains-spain-elections#.VWMrV2Sqqkq
Inside Spain (20 April-19 May)
Spain stays in 11th position in Elcano’s Global Presence Index.
Podemos ideologue quits frontline politics, party moves towards the centre as support wanes.
Higher growth, stronger job creation and balanced budget in 2015-18.
Spain leads the world in WEF’s tourism competiveness ranking.
Volkswagen to invest €4.2bn in its Spanish plants.
Northern Cyprus presidential victory revives hopes of reunifying the island
The overwhelming victory of Mustafa Akinci in the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus presidential election raised hopes of progress finally being achieved in reunifying the ethnically divided island, split since Ankara’s 1974 invasion which was in response to an Greek-engineered coup seeking union with Greece.
Inside Spain (25 March-20 April)
Madrid and Caracas in dust-up over political prisoners.
Rodrigo Rato detained in tax fraud probe.
Bank of Spain upgrades growth to 2.8%, IMF follows suit with 2.5%.
ACS wins €1.85 billion Canada bridge contract.
The conflictive centenaries of the Armenian ‘genocide’ and Gallipoli
Spanish companies in new wave of acquisitions
After a lean period Spanish companies have returned to acquiring firms abroad, in another sign of the economy’s quickening recovery and increased business confidence.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/commentary-chislett-spanish-companies-in-new-wave-of-acquisitions#.VRROGDvF-iY
Inside Spain, 24 February-24 March
Highlights: Felipe González to defend jailed Venezuelan opposition leaders; Socialists hold onto Andalucía in new political landscape; Bank of Spain intervenes in Andorran bank following US accusation of money laundering; Foreign direct investment in Spain up by 10%.; Banco de Sabadell to buy UK’s Lloyds TSB.
Spanish banks’ internationalisation: Sabadell offers to buy UK’s TSB
Spanish banks are conquistadores. In the latest drive to conquer banks abroad, Banco de Sabadell has boldly offered €1.7 billion for TSB, the UK retail bank carved out of the ailing Lloyds Banking Group two years ago.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/commentary-chislett-spanish-banks-internationalisation-sabadell-offers-to-buy-uks-tsb#.VQmOi2TF-iY
William Chislett 