Posts Tagged ‘Spain’
Written by admin on 11 May 2012
Madrid, May 11 (IANS/EFE) Home sales fell 22.7 percent to 25,464 units in March, compared to the same month in 2011, marking 13 consecutive months of drops, authorities said Thursday.
Sales dropped 26.3 percent in January and 31.8 percent in February after falling 17.7 percent in 2011.
Home sales had risen 6.3 percent in 2010 after plunging 28.8 percent in 2008, when the economic crisis started, and 24.9 percent in 2009, the Spanish National Statistics Institute, or INE, said.
The collapse of the real estate industry is one of the main factors behind the economic crisis in Spain since homebuilding had become one of the engines of the economy in the late 1990s.
Home sales exceeded 80,000 units monthly at the peak of the 1998-2007 real estate boom.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: Madrid, Spain
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Written by admin on 10 May 2012
Madrid, May 10 (IANS) India’s Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhupathi reached the men’s doubles quarterfinals at the Madrid Open tennis tournament defeating Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas.
The seventh seeds defeated the Mexican-German combine 6-1, 7-6 (2) in the pre-quarterfinals here Wednesday.
The Indians next face either the American Bryan Brothers or the Pakistan-Dutch duo of Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, who were scheduled to meet later in the day.
Another Indian Leander Paes will take the court with Czech partner Radek Stepanek Thursday when they play France’s Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils in another round of 16 match.
Tags: Madrid, Spain
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Written by admin on 10 May 2012
Madrid, May 10 (IANS) Granada winger Dani Benitez has been handed a three-month ban by the Spanish FA for his part in the scenes which marred the end of his side’s defeat at home to Real Madrid.
Benitez was found guilty of throwing a plastic bottle which hit referee Clos Gomez as the Granada players reacted angrily to a 1-2 defeat which leaves them in danger of relegation to the Spanish second division.
Clos Gomez had given Real Madrid a penalty with 10 minutes remaining after a clear foul on Cristiano Ronaldo in the Granada penalty area, while an own goal in injury time saw Granada slip to defeat.
Benitez has since apologized in public for his actions and that perhaps saved him from a harsher punishment. He will miss this weekend’s vital game away to Rayo Vallecano and his ban will then restart in the new season in August, meaning he will not play again until November.
Meanwhile other Granada players have also been hit with bans. Moises Hurtado and Guillerme Siqueira, who were shown red cards in the chaos at the end of the game, have both been handed four match bans, while the club’s matchday delegate David Navarro has also been suspended for two games.
Granada must avoid defeat away to Rayo in the last game of the season Sunday otherwise they are in danger of being relegated, although Granada could still lose and stay in the Primera Liga if Villarreal and Zaragoza lose their respective matches against Atletico Madrid and Getafe.
Tags: Madrid, Spain
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Written by admin on 10 May 2012
Madrid, May 10 (IANS) Rafael Nadal enjoyed a comfortable debut in the Mutua Madrid with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Russian Nikolay Davydenko, though the Spaniard raised concerns with the surface in the tennis tournament.
The number two seed never looked to be in trouble and needed less than an hour and 20 minutes to defeat Davydenko Wednesday, who looked neither comfortable nor confident on court.
Speaking after the match Nadal said he was pleased with the way he had played and stressed that the Madrid competition was special for him.
“I try to be in the best condition when I am in Madrid, I got here Thursday to prepare and I never usually arrive somewhere the Thursday before a tournament, so that shows my desire to do well,” he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
One of the reasons Nadal got to Madrid early was to help him adapt to the blue beaten clay surface, which is being used in the tournament for the first time ever. The surface has been criticized by the majority of the players and Nadal admitted he was not happy with it either.
“It’s good not to lie and to tell the truth and the truth is that conditions are different here to other clay tournaments,” he said.
“If it was the end of the year, then I would say ‘Ok’ as I have nothing against change, indeed I always support innovation, but not at this time in the calendar,” continued Nadal.
“This is a tennis tournament and we are talking about everything other than tennis. The only thing I would say is that I don’t have much chance of playing at ‘home’ in front of fans, who always treat me fantastically. All I miss is that maybe we don’t look after ourselves a bit more.”
“This is a long way from being a ‘clay’ court,” he reiterated, before adding that he would never use the slippery surface as an excuse for defeat.
“It is the same for all of us and if I lose here it will be because I was not good enough to win,” he concluded.
Nadal will face fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco in the last 16 after the number 16 seed enjoyed a tough, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 win over Colombian, Alejandro Falla.
Meanwhile number five seed David Ferrer also progressed into the next round after beating Radek Stepanek 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Tags: Madrid, Spain
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Written by admin on 10 May 2012
Barcelona, May 10 (IANS) Sahara Force India driver Paul di Resta is in line to replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari for the 2013 Formula One season.
Daily Mirror Wednesday reported that Ferrari has shortlisted di Resta for a possible replacement of the struggling Massa, who had an ordinary 2011 and has collected just two points from the first four races of 2012.
The paper report also claimed that The Scuderia outfit inquired about di Resta during the Chinese Grand Prix last month.
The 26-year-old, who made his F1 debut with Force India last year, has been impressive this season with three points finishes from four rounds. His best result came in Bahrain last month when he finished sixth after starting 10th on the grid.
The Scot has also managed to outpace his German teammate Nico Hulkenberg, earning 15 of the team’s 17 points.
Three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart also feels di Resta is the ideal man to drive alongside the experienced Fernando Alonso.
“Paul di Resta would be a very good target for Ferrari because Alonso probably has the best toolkit of knowledge and physically is one the best drivers in the world.
“Alonso is almost at his peak and to have a young driver such as Di Resta be an understudy to Alonso is something I would consider if I was at Ferrari,” Stewart was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Di Resta was also linked to the Mercedes GP team last year.
Tags: Barcelona, Spain
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Written by admin on 10 May 2012
Madrid, May 10 (IANS/EFE) The Spanish government will nationalize the parent company of Bankia, the country’s fourth-largest bank, and plans to inject additional capital into the troubled institution, the economy ministry said Wednesday.
The 4.46 billion euros ($5.77 billion) loan parent company BFA received at the end of 2008 from the government is to converted into a 45 percent indirect stake in Bankia, under the aegis of the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring, or FROB.
Deeming it “improbable” that BFA will be able to repay the money within the mandated five-year term, the government decided to convert the loan into equity, the economy ministry said.
The nationalization is “a first necessary step to guarantee solvency, the tranquility of depositors and to dispel the markets’ doubts about the entity’s capital needs”, the ministry said, stressing that the government is not going to run the bank.
Bankia’s new management team, led by the former CEO of No. 2 Spanish bank BBVA, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, will submit to the central bank a plan to restructure the institution and improve corporate governance, according to the ministry statement.
The government expects Bankia, with roughly 10 million clients, to continue playing a fundamental role in the Spanish banking sector, the economy ministry said.
The ministry’s statement came hours after Goirigolzarri reportedly proposed to the BFA board that the 2008 loan be converted into a government stake in the company.
Goirigolzarri took the reins at Bankia Wednesday, succeeding one-time Spanish finance minister and IMF chief Rodrigo Rato, who stepped down two days ago.
The announcement of Rato’s resignation coincided with news that the Spanish government and central bank are preparing a new plan to shore up the financial sector.
Bankia, which has massive exposure to Spain’s devastated property sector and a large number of delinquent loans, may need as much as 7 billion euros ($9 billion) in public funds to stabilize its position.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government is set to approve at Friday’s Cabinet meeting a package of new measures to complete the overhaul of the Spanish financial system.
The plan is expected to include requirements for banks to increase their loss provisions.
The 2008 global financial meltdown came as Spain was struggling with the bursting of a decade-long real estate bubble. The ensuing slump has led to numerous business failures and pushed the country’s jobless rate above 24 percent, representing more than 5 million people out of work.
Nearly half of Spaniards under 25 are jobless and tens of thousands of families have been evicted from their homes after falling behind on their mortgages.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: Madrid, Spain
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