Santander Bank results looking healthy

Santander bank defies economic crisis and says it will continue to make a profit

Yesterday the Chief Executive Officer of Santander bank, Alfredo Sáenz, said that the bank was hoping to make the same level of profits as 2008 when it made profits of 8,876 million euros, practically the same amount as in 2007. Following this announcement Santander shares rose by 6.10% and the bank topped the 35 companies on the Ibex index.

The Santander group made a net profit of 2,096 million euros in the first quarter of 2009 which is 5% less than in the same period in 2008. This was partly due to loan defaulters and the weakness of the dollar and pound compared to the euro. Following the acquisition of foreign banks benefits per share fell by 20%. These acquisitions have also meant that the number of Santander’s shareholders has risen by 40% to 3.2 million euros.

According to Sáenz, said there were no secrets to Santander’s success. He said that Spain only contributed 28% of the bank’s profits and also pointed out that Santander’s acquisitions in the UK were fundamental to results. He also said that profit margins were rising thanks to the rise in the price of money and the reduction of costs.

Sáenz was also optimistic with regards to the level of loan defaulting in Spain which was forecast in January. He said that the bank had predicted a level of defaulting of around 4.5% but that the level of defaulting was now 3.14%.

Following Santander’s acquisitions in the UK, Brazil and the US Sáenz confirmed that the bank was not thinking of carrying out any more takeovers either in Europe or elsewhere and that this year it was not looking to increase its capital. He said that Santander had a capital of 7.3% which had fallen slightly following the acquisition of Sovereign but that the bank generated 0.2% every quarter.

Sáenz also said that Santander would not change its policy of dividends and would maintain a pay out of 50% of its profits which would be distributed to shareholders in reference to the banks rival BBVA which has distributed part of its shareholder dividends in the form of shares

The five largest Banks in Spain - Santander, BBVA, La Caixa, Caja Madrid and Popular made profits of 4,482 million euros in the first quarter of 2009 which is 17.89% less than a year ago. The main reason for this has been the provisions made for arrears.

Crisis in the Costa Blanca, Spain

The Costa Blanca is Spain's biggest loser from reduction in revenue from foreign tourists

Yesterday figures published by the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce showed that revenue received from foreign tourists has gone down by 188 million euros in the Costa Blanca in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 2008. Overall revenue from foreign tourists has dropped by 32% in the Valencian Region – 75% of tourist facilities are concentrated along the Costa Blanca. According to the results of a survey carried out by Egatur the number of passengers using El Altet airport in Alicante fell by 20% in March compared to the same period last year.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce, foreign tourists spent on average 11% less in the first quarter of 2009. However, paradoxically it appears that the tourists who did travel to Spain spent 6% more than in previous years with spending on average 933 euros per person. Sources from the association of hotels from the Costa Blanca said that the main problem was the general fall in demand for hotel beds - something which had forced many establishments to launch special offers and to sacrifice their profit margins. Although they admit that figures for Easter were on the whole good, especially for those hotels on the coast but that the most important time of the year for them was high season which is now on the horizon and over which there exists a great deal of uncertainty.

The average amount spent by foreign tourists amounted to 96 euros a day which is 3.8% less than for the same period last year. The average length of time tourists stayed was 9.7 nights which is 4.7% more than that registered in the first quarter of 2008.

In March foreign tourists spent in total 3,121 million euros which is a fall of 17% compared to the same period in 2008. British and German tourists spent the most during this period – 1,682 and 1,608 million euros which represents a fall of 19% and 4% respectively. On average British tourists spent 805 euros per person while German tourists spent 1,034 euros each. French tourists spent on average 718 million euros and Italian tourists spent 398 million euros.

The largest cost for foreign tourists was hotel accommodation which accounted for 5,514 million euros (66.9% of total costs) which represents a fall of 11.8% compared to the first three months of 2008. On the other hand, foreign tourists who visited Spain independently of tourist operators spent on average 11.7% less on accommodation (5,551 million euros) which represents 67.4% of their total costs.

Yesterday the Chairman of Turespaña, Antonio Bernabé, speaking at the opening of the Second Conference on Quality and the Environment in Valencia said that ‘the way to deal with the crisis was to increase quality, innovation, differentiation and sustainability’ and the strength of their reputation as leaders in tourism depended on it. Yesterday the hotel chain Servigroup received four prizes called ‘the Mark of Excellence’ which were awarded by the major tour operator Thomas Cook.

Swine Flu in Spain

Spanish Government confirms Europe's first case of Swine Flu in Spain

The Minister of Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jiménez, confirmed the first case of Swine Fever in Spain in a press conference earlier today. The first case of this disease has been detected in a patient in Almansa (province of Albacete) who has been under observation in hospital since the weekend. Jiménez, who met this morning with the National Executive Committee for the Control and Prevention of the virus and is due to report to President Rodriguez Zapatero today, said that the situation in Spain was not an emergency and was under control.

According to declarations made to the Spanish media this morning by José Martínez Olmos, the General Secretary of the Health Ministry, Spain has ‘all the necessary means to act against a flu pandemic’ of this type.

However, the number of suspected cases is continually rising. Yesterday it was seven, whereas this morning, as well as the first case detected in Albacete there are another 19 suspected cases under observation. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Trinidad Jiménez will analyze the evolution of the epidemic later today and a further announcement is expected after their meeting.

Catalonia currently has the most suspected cases of Swine Fever with a total of 10 suspected cases – 6 men and 4 women who are all under observation in various hospitals in Barcelona.

The rest of the cases officially under observation are spread out throughout Spain in Castilla-La Mancha (as well as the case detected in Almansa), Navarra, the Comunidad Valencia, Aragón, the Basque Country, Andalucía (2 cases) and Madrid.

Furthermore, according to the advisor on Health and Consumption for the Balearic Islands, Vicens Thomàs, 2 suspected cases of swine fever have been detected in Mallorca, both patients are in the Hospital de Son Dureta following their recent return from a trip to Mexico.

During the press conference this morning the Minister for Health announced the adoption of additional measures this weekend. One of these is the creation of a scientific committee to study the evolution of the epidemic. Furthermore, the government has also asked airline companies to tell passengers returning from countries at risk to collect the necessary medical information which will be made available at airports. Medical teams in all airports will also be reinforced.

Jiménez insisted this morning that the Spanish Government has taken on board all the recommendations made by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the number of daily flights between Mexico and Spain. This morning passengers on flights from Mexico arriving at Madrid and Barcelona airports were required to fill in special forms prior to leaving the plane.

The Minister of Health for Spain underlined this morning that Spain had actually gone further than the WHO in its recommendation not to travel to Mexico at the present time. She also said that travellers returning from Mexico should be especially vigilant of their health during a period of 10 days (the incubation period for the virus) and that if they had any of the recognized symptoms (fever, difficulty breathing or a cough) they should go to see their GP immediately to rule out any infection.

A representative for the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Maritime Affairs who was present at the meeting with Jimenéz this morning said that no pig farms were affected in Spain.

Unemployment in Spain rises to highest ever

Number of unemployed in Spain now more than four million

Unemployment figures in Spain are growing faster than previously predicted and have now reached more than four million. The number of unemployed in Spain is now at its highest level since records began in 1976.

According to the Survey on the Active Population (EPA) unemployment rose by 802,800 in the first quarter of 2009 which is 25% more than the figure recorded previous quarter. The sharp rise in unemployment, almost 9000 a day, now places the total number of unemployed at 4,010,700.

The unemployment rate which is now 3.5 points higher at 17.36% is at its highest rate in 11 years. Furthermore, this figure is higher than the government’s predictions for the growth in unemployment for the whole of 2009. In January the government predicted that the unemployment rate in 2009 would reach 15.9%.
The new unemployment figures are also very worrying when compared to the number of unemployed last year which was 1,836,500. This means that unemployment has more than doubled in the space of just 12 months.

After the publication of these figures Elena Salgado, the second Vice-president confirmed that they were ‘worse than previously expected’ although she said that from April onwards the rate at which unemployment was increasing would slow down.

The previous figures that EPA provided for the last quarter of 2008 placed the unemployment rate at 13.9% - (3.2 million unemployed). According to the Public Employment Service (previously known as Inem), which uses a different method for measuring unemployment, the total number of unemployed is currently 3.6 million.
One of the most worrying figures provided by EPA is the number of families in which all its members are unemployed which is now more than a million (1,068,400). The number of households in which all its members are unemployed grew by 241,200 in the first quarter of 2009 compared to figures for the previous quarter and has also doubled over the last 12 months.

The unemployment rate for foreigners has also risen sharply with an increase of 28% compared to 21% for the previous quarter. The latest figures show that more than 278,000 foreigners have joined the number of those officially unemployed in the first quarter of 2009.

During the first four months of 2009 more men became unemployed than women (507,000 compared to 295,900 respectively). The total number of unemployed men is now 2,195,800, which means that the rate of unemployment for men is now 16.86% - 3.89 points higher than for the last quarter. Unemployment amongst women grew by 300,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and places the unemployment rate for women at 18%, a rise of 2.88 points.

In the first quarter of 2009 unemployment grew in all regions of Spain but the biggest increases were in Catalonia (166,900), in the Autonomous Comunidad de Madrid (114,700) and in the Comunidad Valenciana (109,500).

This week the Minister for Work, Celestino Corbacho, warned that unemployment would continue rising until at least July, although it would grow at a lower rate than at present.

Tim Berners-Lee in Madrid

Tim Berners-Lee in the WWW Conference being held in Madrid: 'The Web 3.0 is the Web 2.0 without frontiers’

Tim Berners-Lee, one of the founding fathers of the Internet, does not like looking to the future without taking into account the past. In his opening speech to the 18th WWW World Conference in Madrid he clearly came out in favour of getting rid of the barriers which currently prevent a lot of people accessing certain areas of the web.

Berners-Lee also commented in his speech that the areas of the web which are fenced off are ‘a great temptation but are also enormously frustrating for users’. His speech took place following an official opening ceremony in which the Prince of Asturias, the Vice Chancellor of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and the Secretary of State for Telecommunications took part.

The inventor of HTML favours the creation of open social networks that improve the possibilities of users contributing to them. Berners-Lee did not talk about how these sites should work but about the information that they should contain. Using this motive he said that he favoured ‘standards’ and that it was better to make information available rather than fence it off and in his opinion this included businesses.

Only 20% of the world’s population is connected to the World Wide Web and in many cases, often in the third world, the primary contact with the internet is through mobile telephones. This is why Berners-Lee believes that it is essential to ‘make the web more accessible to these devices’. He also said that access to the internet should not depend on commercial contracts.

Another of Berners-Lee’s ideas is that a modulable web page should be created. He said it was necessary to ‘design sites as if they were part of something bigger’. He added that there were a lot of problems that such a system would face not least the existence of many different programming languages something which in his opinion javascript provided a solution but not always.

According to Berners-Lee ‘we need internet to be more collaborative and less static’. The type of web that Berners-Lee would like to see is one with well integrated information with simple programming language and one that is easy to operate. However, it is also clear to him that when this happens it will be necessary to have ‘a very efficient model to guarantee security’.

The WWW Conference in Madrid closes on Friday

Tap water in Las Palmas Gran Canaria unsafe

Tap water in Las Palmas Gran Canaria unsafe to drink

The health authorities in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria have told people not to drink tap water or to use it for the preparation of food due to the excess of a chemical substance called boron which has been detected in water supplies to the capital at higher levels than permitted by law. The prohibition on the use of tap water also affects the food industry in and around Las Palmas. However, tap water can still be used for cleaning and personal hygiene.

The concentration of boron which has been detected in densely populated areas of Las Palmas is between 1.1 and 1.3 milligrams per litre when the level set down by law is 1 milligram per litre.

Nevertheless, people living in Las Palmas, which has a population of 381,000 inhabitants, usually use bottled water for domestic consumption due to the bad taste of the tap water supplied to their homes.

The neighbourhoods which have been affected by the ban on tap water are - Arenales, Guanarteme, La Minilla, Santa Catalina, Las Canteras, La Isleta, Puerto de La Luz, Tafira, Montañeta, Los Hoyos, Marzagán, Vegueta, San Cristóbal, El Batán, San Roque, Triana and Miller.

Boron is a chemical substance which can be found in sea water. However, Emalsa, the water company in charge of supplying clean water to Las Palmas, has said that at present it cannot reduce the concentration of boron in its water supplies to the limits set down under Spanish law using their current water filtration system.
According to Emalsa, which has opened a permanent telephone line which the public can ring for further information (902 36 17 40), the restrictions on the use of tap water will remain in place until the health authorities lift the ban on its use.

In an urgent press conference last night the town hall of Las Palmas announced that water supplies to Las Palmas presented levels of boron ‘slightly superior’ to those permitted by law which is why it was asking for ‘caution’ until the health authorities announced that tap water was drinkable once again.

Following the announcement of the restrictions on the use of tap water the department of health for the government of Gran Canaria also announced that it would be opening legal proceedings against Emalsa for not meeting the required standards for the human consumption of tap water as stipulated by law.

Employment creation plan in Spain

Castilla-La Mancha promises work to all unemployed whose unemployment benefits runs out

The president of the Comunidad de Castilla-La Mancha, José María Barreda, has announced a plan to help those unemployed who have been left without any financial help when their unemployment benefit runs out (unemployment payments in Spain are proportional to the number of years a worker has been paying national insurance payments prior to becoming unemployed). In reference to the plan he said that ‘exceptional answers were needed in exceptional times’. The plan, which will come into effect in a few weeks on 1st May, aims to employ all the unemployed in the region whose unemployment benefit has run out.

Before the plan comes into effect on 1st May negotiations with local councils, town halls, various social agencies as well as business representatives and trade unions will take place. The plan will initially affect up to 11,000 unemployed and will cost the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha between 30 and 32 million euros. It is expected that this amount will be complemented by funds from central government aimed at helping specific regions.

In the month of February there were 164,532 registered unemployed in Castilla-La Mancha out of which 106,466 receive benefits. The new measure is aimed at helping those who have been left without any benefits or financial help. The unemployment rate for the region is 14.9% is one point higher than the national average according to the latest survey on the active population.

María Luz Rodríguez, the advisor on work for the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha, has given a rough outline of how the plan will create employment. She said that local councils will employ people for a salary of 865 euros a month. Out of this salary 765 euros will be paid directly to those employed under the scheme – the minimum salary is 624 euros - and 100 euros will go towards social security costs and tax. However, employers are free to fix salaries at a higher level if they wish.

The work contracts that will be offered under the regional plan will be for full or part-time work and have a duration of 180 days which means that those employed under the plan will be entitled to receive benefits when their work contract finishes if the current economic crisis does not improve.

The type of work that will be done under the plan for employment will be work to improve urban infrastructure, gardening, maintenance and other social activities such as looking alter the elderly or children under 3 years old.

With the continuous growth in unemployment throughout Spain, now predicted to reach 4 million, Barreda aims to avoid large numbers of people in his region being left without any financial help whatsoever. According to María Luz Rodríguez, the plan is not just about covering minimum necessities but also about occupying people who otherwise would have nothing to do.

At present all regional authorities in Spain are debating plans and projects to create employment. For example in Madrid Íñigo de Barrón, the advisor on work for the regional government, is planning to help the unemployed look for work if they are willing to receive training at the same time as carrying out paid employment.

Use of information technologies in Spanish schools

Study find serious faults with the use of information technology in Spanish schools

For over a decade the Spanish Ministry of Education has been pumping funds into improving computer facilities in Spanish schools and making sure all schools are connected to the internet. However a study by the Oberta University of Catalonia (UOC), for the Fundación Telefónica, has concluded that not even teachers know how to make the best pedagogical use of computers and that pupils do not use them for any other purpose than to look for information.

In an article published in ‘Telos’ the authors of the study Julio Meneses, Josep María Mominó and Carles Sigalés from the Department of Education of the UOC said that the ‘mere presence of computers in schools does not mean that their educative use has spread automatically or that innovative teaching processes have been developed’.

According to the study which was based on 800 primary and secondary schools only one out of every eight schools have more than 10 computers in their ordinary classrooms. In the remaining seven the computers are all in specially designated computer rooms.

The study also discovered that only one out of every three students used a computer in school at least once a week. Furthermore 35% of all students included in the study said that they never connected to the internet in classrooms, 24% said that they connected to the internet on a monthly basis and 18% said that they connected to the internet on a weekly basis. Only 4.9% connected to the Internet on a daily basis.

Most of the teachers questioned for the study said that they had adopted the use of information technology as a support to normal teaching activities. In addition, many teachers in the study recognised that they lacked the skills to make the best didactic use of computers.

More than half of the teachers questioned did not feel capable of developing multimedia projects with their students or to evaluate projects carried out using information technology. Only one out of every three felt capable of creating online resources that could be used in their subjects.

According to the study by UOC the insufficient development of pedagogical software and the lack of professional development and motivation in this area were the main causes of this situation in Spanish schools.

The study said that traditional classes by teachers with the use of books are still the main way of transferring knowledge to students. The study also found that not many schools had digital blackboards – given that their installation is costly – and at best there are up to two per centre so that pupils can experience an interactive class once a week.

Furthermore the study found that most Spanish pupils had learned to use computers and navigate on the internet by themselves. It also found that a third of pupils aged between 5 and 11 did not have access to information technology due to the lack of resources.

The study by the UOC concluded that the ‘most important issue was the innovative use of educative practices’ without which the use of technology would remain limited and investment in new facilities would not guarantee the best quality in education.

Changes in Spanish government

Zapatero announces major cabinet reshuffle

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced a major cabinet reshuffle yesterday with the objective of ‘beating the crisis’. The government which he formed following last year’s victory in the general election held in March has become one of the briefest in history.

Just one year on 6 of his 17 ministries will change hands. There will be 5 new members of his cabinet - Ángel Gabilondo (Education), Ángeles González Sinde (Culture), Trinidad Jiménez (Health and Social Services), José Blanco (Public Works and Transport) and Manuel Chaves (Territorial Policy).

As a result of the reshuffle five ministers have lost their posts - Pedro Solbes (Economy and Finance) Magdalena Álvarez (Public Works), Mercedes Cabrera (Education), Bernat Soria (Health) and César Antonio de Molina (Culture).

Elena Salgado who has been placed in charge of the Ministry of Employment will be taking on a massive task given that the employment situation in Spain is going through a critical stage.

It appears that the economic crisis which the country is currently suffering has led Zapatero to make these changes in his cabinet when the fight against the recession has only just begun. Furthermore it appears that the president has chosen to strengthen his cabinet by incorporating some of his strongest supporters such as the president of PSOE, Manuel Chaves, who will leave the Andalucian regional government alter 19 years with the challenge of achieving good relations between the government and regional governments and promoting the government’s policy for financing autonomous regions. The General Vice Secretary of PSOE, José Blanco, will enter the cabinet as the Minister for Public Works after working exclusively for the party for 9 years.

Following this major reshuffle only four members of the original government which was formed after the March 2004 general elections remain in the government - María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Elena Salgado, Miguel Ángel Moratinos (Foreign Affairs) and Elena Espinosa (the Environment).

Ángel Gabilondo who is now in charge of the Ministry of Education will also take on the task of managing Spain’s Universities which have been returned to the department of Education after having been placed under the new ministry of Science and Technology last year. It is hoped that Gabilondo, the vice chancellor of the Autonomous University of Madrid and president of the conference of Vice Chancellors, will help give a new impulse to this Ministry.

Pedro Solbes (Economy and Finance) was one of the stars of Zapatero’s government during his first term in office and one of the reasons for PSOE’s success in the last general elections after his successful televised debate with his PP counterpart, Manuel Pizarro. However his position has been increasingly under threat, partly because of the economic crisis, partly because of the tense relationship between Solbes and other members of the cabinet and partly because of that fact that he has reportedly expressed in private his desire to be relieved of his post.

Zapatero has justified the changes saying that it was necessary to anticipate the recovery of the economy and the creation of employment, to strengthen social cohesion and to tackle all the changes and reforms that the second decade of the 21st century required.

Weather forecast in Spain during Easter holiday

Rain forecast for Northern Spain during Easter week and unstable weather forecast for the rest of Spain

Unstable weather conditions that are affecting nearly the whole of Spain today will be worse in northern regions and will remain the same over the next few days.

According to the weather forecast for the whole of Easter week by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) unstable weather conditions will affect all of the eastern half of Spain especially Cantabria, Guipuzcoa, Navarra, Huesca and Zaragoza – the rain will be at its most intense in the northeast.

The forecast for the Balearic Islands for the Easter period is for moderate showers.
As from Tuesday onwards Aemet has predicted that weather conditions will improve and temperatures will rise except in Galicia and the western and north-eastern part of Cantabria where it will remain cloudy and rainy.

From Thursday onwards temperatures will continue rising moderately in the whole of Spain except in north-eastern parts of the Peninsula and Cantabria where bad weather will continue with light showers, falling temperatures and moderate to strong winds from the west.

On Sunday unstable weather conditions will spread throughout the whole of northern Spain and to the Balearic Islands where there could still be some showers accompanied by further drops in temperatures throughout the whole of Spain.

Aemet has forecast that the weather will improve from Monday onwards in all parts of Spain with rising temperatures.

Weather conditions in the Canary Islands will be cloudy in the north of the islands and sunny in the south throughout the whole of Easter week.

Related: Easter week in Spain

USA and Spain relations set to improve

Zapatero offers full support to Obama after 45-min meeting in Prague

The meeting between Obama and Zapatero which took place yesterday following the end of the US-EU summit was the first meeting to be held ever since relations between Spain and the USA became icey following the withdrawel of Spanish troops from Iraq when the Socialists, led by Rodriguez Zapatero, won the March 2004 general elections and put their pre-election withdrawel promise into immediate effect. George Bush, had enjoyed a close relationship with former Spanish president Aznar who had provided staunch support for the invasion of Iraq, but following the withdrawel of Spanish troops relations between the two countries, relations became decidedly tense.

Yesterday's meeting lasted ten minutes longer than scheduled and both presidents seemed very relaxed afterwards. Talking to reporters, Obama said that Zapatero was someone that understood the extraordinary influence of Spain in the world today and who took his responsibilities very seriously. He said that he had enjoyed working with him over the last few days, he hoped the relationship between Spain and the US would be much more solid now and that he welcomed the opportunity of cooperating with Spain in new areas of interest.Obama also said that he was ‘happy to call Zapatero a friend’ (both men share a keen interest in basketball).

Zapatero said ‘we shouldn’t ask ourselves what Barack Obama can do for us but what we can do to support Obama and make his ideas in the international order successful’.

Obama also expressed his desire to visit Spain and to return to Barcelona where he had spent some time when he was younger. Both countries exchanged formal invitations although no concrete dates were confirmed. Zapatero said that Obama would always be welcome in Spain and he even asked him to sign a book for his daughter who he said was a firm supporter of the new US president.

Obama said that the strength of relations between the two countries was demonstrated by the fact that Spain had agreed to commit more troops to Afghanistan. Both leaders also discussed Cuba and Latin America briefly. On the issue of Cuba Zapatero offered his ideas on how to make the country more democratic while Obama expressed his worry over the lack of advance in human rights in Cuba.

During the summit between the US and EU in Prague Obama reiterated his desire to close the Guantanamo prisoner base in Cuba by 22nd January 2010. It is believed that Spain like other European states has offered to take up to 60 prisoners from the camp.

Fall in British tourists visiting Spain

Falling value of pound makes holidays in Spain 22% more expensive for British tourists

In addition to the global economic crisis the fall in the value of the pound compared to the euro has become another negative factor for the tourist sector in the Costa Blanca. The spending power of British tourists has suffered a heavy blow given that it has been reduced by 22% due to the fall in the value of the pound compared to a year ago. In March 2008 the exchange rate between the pound and the euro was 0.77 pounds for every euro but yesterday it stood at 0.93 pounds for every euro. This situation coupled with the economic recession in the UK has caused reservations for holidays in Spain to fall by 20% this summer according to figures published by the Spanish Office for Tourism based in London.

So far this year hoteliers along the Costa Blanca have lost 10% of the UK tourist market and sources from the sector calculate that by the end of 2009 this figure could be as much as 25% which would represent the loss of around 500,000 British tourists out of the 2.2 million who visited the province last year. At present two low cost airlines – Ryanair and EasyJet – account for 30% of the air traffic to Alicante airport. Last year these two companies carried 2.9 million passengers to El Altet airport in Alicante. If forecasts turn out to be right El Altet airport could suffer serious consequences especially as it is currently going through a process of expansion.

However, despite losing British tourists to other destinations such as Egypt or Turkey hoteliers along the Costa Blanca are determined to beat the crisis by looking for alternative markets such as the national market for tourism or trying to attract those tourists who prefer to travel independently of major tour operators.

According to the Spanish Office for Tourism in London the destinations which are most threatened are Menorca, the Canary Islands and Benidorm. Javier García, the vice-president of Benidorm hotel association Hosbec claimed that the negative figures were partly due to the fact that tour operators have been progressively losing their share of the market to ‘on-line’ tourism.

The director of the Provincial Association of Tourism for the Costa Blanca yesterday confirmed the creation of an Advisory Tourism Board for the province which will consist of 40 members and is to be presided over by the president of the provincial government. The board will represent the opinion of 21 municipalities, each one representing a different touristic product, and 16 associations from the tourism sector as well as 5 important officials. The board will meet twice a year and have a permanent commission.