This Week's News Items from Local Press

Comment centres on three topics this weekend all of a varying nature:

1.Spain to tighten public spending.

Prime Minister Zapatero decides to cut civil servants wages by 5% this year and freeze them in 2011 - could lead to uproar and protests from Unions. Zapatero also added that members of his own administration will see their wages cut by 15%.

Re-evaluation of pensions will be suspended except for non-contributory and minimum pensions.

The "baby" cheque of 2,500 euros given to the parents of a newborn child will no longer be available after 1st January 2011.

An estimated 45,000 public employees and 280,000 pensioners in Alicante Province will be effected by the Government's measures.

2. Volcanic ash continues to threaten tourism.

The volcanic ash cloud continues to dent hopes of the tourism sector recovering from a disastrous 2009. Hotel chains are reporting that cancellation of advance bookings are increasing due to the uncertainty being caused by the continuing eruptions. Tourists are naturally concerned that if they travel out of their countries they may find themselves stranded abroad. If people are refusing to take the risk there is little that can be done BUT losses being experienced by the sector will have a knock on effect leading to more unemployment.

3.Valencia Region tops unsold properties list.

A total of 688,044 new-build homes remain unsold in Spain.

Housing Minister Beatriz Corredor presented the figures at a press conference last week. She revealed that the Valencia Region tops the league table with a stock of 119,793 new properties on the market. Of these. most fall in Alicante Province with 49,342 homes - more than any other province in Spain. Sra Corredor said she was optimistic that the national figure would now start to fall. "More houses were being sold at the end of 2009 than at the beginning of that year", she explained, "we think that the stock has reached it's highest level".

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More from the papers next week.