1) GIBRALTAR ALMOST BECAME SPANISH…! In 2002, but both Gibraltar residents and Aznar’s government rejected Blair’s propopsal. “How Tony Blair tried to give Gibraltar to Spain to curry favour with the European Union” (Telegraph: http://matbe.net/zvkwlj).

But we are now in a new era in Europe and the very survival of the euro is in question, so Europe for the moment has different homework for the inhabitants of Spain…

2) EUROPE CAN WAIT NO LONGER: “Brussels rejects the idea of giving Spain more time to reduce its deficit”. They don’t care that the Bank of Spain has just published a new recession forecast for Spain in 2012. They’re on the same deficit target as before: 4.4% for this year, 3% for next year. (La Vanguardia: http://matbe.net/zlUUhL).

So Rajoy, if he wants to meet those targets, will have to cut and cut and cut, with no conservative infrastructure and public works spending to soften the fall. Spain still has friends out there somewhere, though, ready to lend a hand when needs must…

3) SAUDI ARABIA WILL SUPPORT SPAIN: “Spain says Saudis promise to make up for loss of Iran oil”. Spain’s foreign minister says that Spanish oil companies have also sorted our alternatives, so in theory there won’t be any problems. (Reuters: http://matbe.net/wMLyrI)

Clearly, it is logical for the government to want to improve Spain’s image, to improve the national brand. What could the new slogan be?

4) SPAIN: ONE, GREAT AND…READY FOR WHATEVER COMES ALONG? “Foreign, Industry and Trade ministries push brand Spain with 25 big businessmen”. The government thinks that foreign investors are going to feel better now they have announced €15bn in cuts (Cinco Días: http://matbe.net/zwqVO9).

This being Spain, I suppose they will talk more about image than values, which are the key to any real brand. There are certain national brand values, for example, that I’m sure they won’t show any interest in highlighting. Washing dirty linen behind closed doors and all that…

5) URDANGARIN AND THE PRINCESS’S GHOST EMPLOYEES: Who would have thought they’d do that, at this stage of the game? “Urdangarin and the princess has ghost employees to pay less tax”. (El Mundo: http://matbe.net/xXksih).

I’m sure the government won’t want them in the new brand Spain photo now. Neither, it seems, will they want Spain to be known for its contributions to healthcare, education and justice…

6) NO HEALTHCARE, NO EDUCATION, NO JUSTICE: “Aguirre asks Rajoy for cuts in healthcare, education and justice”. Whilst in Valencia we see that they can’t pay for these institutions, in Madrid Aguirre is saying she doesn’t want to pay for them. (Público: http://matbe.net/wwfvjK)

Where it does appear the government sees some national value—at least that’s what it’s saying for the moment, to cover up the lack of another plan—is in national aviation…

7) DON’T SELL THE AIRPORTS…! “Public works ministry delays Aena privatisation until ‘better times”. The government says it sees a certain amount of value in the assets, knowledge and networks the company owns, beyond the slow sell off proposed by the PSOE in order to rustle up a few more euros for the bare public coffers. (Cinco Días: http://matbe.net/wjUeSA).

How much are Spain’s real-estate assets—that other component of national activity that until recently was the kingdom’s biggest attraction—worth? How much must all of those empty, unfinished houses we see every day all over the country be worth?

8) JUST HOW BIG IS THE HOUSING GLUT IN SPAIN? “818,000 new houses are empty” Have you seen any more in your area? Maybe they missed a few. And these are only the new ones. How many second-hand ones must there be lying around? Why are they still building houses in Spain when there is a massive glut? (La Razón: http://matbe.net/A1O9dl).

Seen as there are so many extra houses and they can’t be worth that much with such a big glut, it is logical that no-one wants to buy them, and many people can’t afford to anyway right now. You know, because of the recession and the sky-high unemployment and all that…

9) DOES ANYONE WANT TO BUY THEM ANYWAY? “House mortgages fell 35.8% in November.” The bad vibes just keep coming. That’s 19 months of continuously worse data, and a new record low since they started keeping tabs on those numbers back in 2003. (El Economista: http://matbe.net/xnCRIc).

And don’t forget the other part of household economics which is stretching Spaniards’ euros so thinly right now…

10) YES, PETROL PRICES HAVE GONE UP: “Driving a car costs 60% more than it did three years ago because of price rises.” So says an independent consumer association, so it might even be true. 60% more is the difference between €40 and €64 to fill up your tank. (La Bolsa: http://matbe.net/zZIr3C).

With such long unemployment queues, so much business destruction and so many thieves at different levels of government, you would have thought that someone might lend a bit of a hand to those still left standing, or help more people find a job…

Hahahahahahahaha…

11) FORGET ABOUT WAGE INCREASES: “Trade unions and business leaders agree salary increases lower than inflation rate.” In theory, I thought they were going to reach an agreement to liberalise the employment market but it seems they’ve got stuck in some kind of economic no-man’s land, bereft of both liberalisation and wage increases. (Público: http://matbe.net/zDqyRK).

More tomorrow. Regards from Murcia,

Matthew Bennett.