Spain has the EU’s sixth-largest stock of direct investment abroad. After a period of consolidation following the onset of Spain’s recession in 2009, which led some of the main multinationals to sell assets regarded as non-strategic, particularly those that needed to reduce their debt levels, companies are investing again. Almost two-thirds of the total revenues of the blue chip Ibex-35 companies are generated abroad. At the forefront of Spain’s new wave of internationalisation are the big construction and infrastructure companies.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/ari31-2014-chislett-spanish-direct-investment-abroad-rebounds#.U7ghbI2SyyM
Category: Elcano Royal Institute
Spain’s flourishing tourism: the mainstay of the economy
Spain was the world’s third most popular country for tourists in 2013, after France and the US, and it looks like having another bumper year, with international arrivals forecast to set a new record of around 63 million (16.3 million more than the nation’s population).
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/commentary-chislett-spain-flourishing-tourism-mainstay-economy#.U47zhZS1Z9R
Spanish economy: growing at last but hardly denting unemployment
The Spanish economy is now firmly out of recession and jobs are beginning to be created, particularly in the services sector, but the stubbornly high unemployment rate will not dip below 20% until 2017, according to the government’s forecasts.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/commentary-chislett-spanish-economy-growing-hardly-denting-unemployment#.U30QrJSSzwc
My interview with Bahri Yilmaz, Jean Monnet Professor at Sabanci University, on Turkey
Turkey’s local elections: Erdogan’s victory opens the door to the presidency
Turkey’s embattled prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reeling from allegations of corruption and massive protests against his authoritarian rule last year, swept the board in local elections and increased the share of the municipal vote of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) from 39% in 2009 to 45%.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/commentary-chislett-turkey-local-elections-erdogan-victory#.Uz0ivK2Szwd
Gas and oil discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean: the key to Europe’s post-Crimea energy conundrum
The annexation of the Crimea has led the European Union to begin to consider weaning itself off its heavy dependence on Russia for energy supplies, particularly gas. There is an alternative in the Eastern Mediterranean, which might also help resolve another thorny issue – the reunification of Cyprus, divided since Turkey’s invasion of the island in 1974 into a Greek-Cypriot south and a Turkish-Cypriot north.
http://www.blog.rielcano.org/en/gas-and-oil-discoveries-in-the-eastern-mediterranean-the-key-to-europes-post-crimea-energy-conundrum/
Spain: foreign direct investment on the rise
The growth in foreign direct investment in Spain in 2013 underscores the increased international confidence in an economy that is beginning to recover from a five-year recession, albeit weakly.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/ari19-2014-chislett-spain-foreign-direct-investment-on-the-rise#.UzKeUK1dXwc
Spain’s banking crisis: a light in the tunnel
The Spanish banking system, hard hit by its massive exposure to toxic real estate assets following the collapse of the country’s property market in 2008, is on the mend.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/web/rielcano_en/contenido?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/elcano_in/zonas_in/ari11-2014-chislett-spain-banking-crisis-light-in-the-tunnel#.UwdzL_RdXwc
Turkey’s corruption probe crisis: a blow to the rule of law
Just as it seemed that Turkey was finally back on its long and winding road to full EU membership, with the opening last November of the first chapter, or policy area, in more than three years, the Islamist-rooted government of Recep Tayip Erdogan has become engulfed in a corruption scandal whose probing he is doing his best to undermine by enforcing a massive purge of hundreds of police officers investigating it and reassigning prosecutors.
http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/wps/portal/rielcano_eng/Content?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/elcano/Elcano_in/Zonas_in/Commentary-Chislett-Turkey-corruption-probe-crisis
Spain’s exports: the economy’s salvation
Spain’s striking export success has enabled the economy to emerge from recession and helped to turn around the current account balance. Structural adjustment is shifting the engine of the economy from domestic sources of growth into an export-led model.
William Chislett 