[Anonymous]

In short it seems nothing of any use.

I ask this because it appears the initiatives being presented are short term and no one is thinking about longer term recovery (I am talking about the Spanish government here). For example they have a scheme called PlanE which is meant to boost employment in the construction industry by providing schemes to enable employment to be made.

In my local town of Piles there is a developer who under this scheme is building n infants school (we don’t need one, we have 3 schools for abut 2,000 residents). it smacks of jobs for the boys

In Oliva they are spending this money on —- increasing the pavement size on the corners so cars cant park there. This keeps 5 people employed for 3 months at a cost of €250,000- Complete waste of money

I actually visited this developer yesterday (nice guy, well respected and nto the usual rip off merchant). I suggested that a better way of using this money (not his fault by the way he just won the bid). Basically instead of upgrading the pavements, why didn’t the town hall purchase a derelict building, do it up and offer very cheap office space for small businesses.

This has two key benefits

1. It keeps more than 5 people employed in the reform and renovation of the building
2. It helps small business – the cornerstone of most economies
3. It gives a small income back to the local economy and town hall

Now this philosophy could also be applied to the many half finished buildings owned by the banks. Lets say that the local town hall bought one of these buildings at a knock down price. A developer then finishes it off and the houses that are currently unsold are then used as council housing (I know this concept doesn’t exist in Spain but theres always a first)

Again it gets more people in work in a sector that badly needs it,
it gets toxic assets off the banks books
It helps those in real need to live without the burden of high mortgage or high rents
it provides a small income to the town hall

I am not usually one for social projects but it really pees me off that the people that are being shored up (the banks and car manufacturers) are being rewarded for poor business decisions. Rather than pay billions to the banks, give the general populace €2,000 each and tell them they must spend at least €1,000 of it. that will generate an economic recovery for far less than the current schemes.

Also the giving of scrappage allowances to generate car sales is damn right corrupt. Who does it help? Inefficient car manufacturers who have had years of good times and have not saved for a rainy day – tough sugar – join the real world. It also benefits those in a good enough position to be able to change cars for a new one.

What about everyone else. What about all those bars and restaurants who cannot make ends meet because local taxes and costs are taking all their turnover.

What about small businesses that cannot afford to stay open and pay the rent because no one is helping them and the VAT and Tax office still want their dues and want it now

Why dont the town councils get unemployed people working on social schemes – thus helping them out and doing some useful work for the community

In every recession it is the small business that generate economic recovery and generate employment – not the huge manufacturers.

As the developer I visited yesterday told me, it is easy for him to reduce his costs by 30% – he has a lot of staff to sack if need be, he can stop buying land and stop building. But it is the small business that will generate the green shoots

So why arent the government doing anything about it?

OK rant over, would love to hear your feedback. Not exactly about Spanish Property but not too far off I hope

Vince

[peterhun]

What the Spanish government is going to have to do is increase taxes and cut services, they won’t have much choice.

[Anonymous]

In Mojácar, the 1,250,000 euros has all gone to turning the parking lot outside the pueblo… into a parking lot.
The company was told ‘you need to employ four or five ‘mojaqueros’ ya sabes, de los nuestros’ but that was about it.
Meanwhile, our completed public swimming pool remains unopened (lack of staff and – for some reason – heating) as does our art museum (lack of staff and air conditioning).
Funny old world as Zapatero tries to compare himself to Obama (Sorry, Zap – I don’t think so!).

[Anonymous]

They are digging up the road in our village, laying new waste pipes and putting some electricity cables underground. The road last week resembled our track!!

They built a new school last year, the swimming pool is nearly done.

The funeral rest home is still not finished. It was started a couple of years ago.

[Anonymous]

“The funeral rest home is still not finished. It was started a couple of years ago.”

They waiting for the crises to kill a few people. Perhaps like the crematorium is Estepona, they have not paid the gas bill.

[Fuengi (Andrew)]

desalination plant looks like is going to start soon outside of town.
the work on the port has been put out to tender, just waiting on hte ok from the junta.
road works everywhere. New wider pavements, removing/adding parkings spaces, etc…
doing up the beaches.
new bus terminal
Starting working a railway extension towards marbella.

what i can think of so far

[Anonymous]

Yes, Shakeel, could be.

Actually there are only just over 1,000 residents here. The funeral takes place within 24 hours of death and the new building is probably not needed.

I think there must have been an allocation of money the town hall could apply for, and so they did.

[Author]

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