BUSINESS
15
August 30th - September 12th 2019
Giving back
CHEATS: Spain profits
Love rats Inc.
COMPANIES have been profiting from high infidelity in Spain with numerous services a v a i l able to help love cheats find their bit on the side. The sector, including dating apps and ‘love hotels,’ has been making inroads in the Spanish market, home to more than 11 million married couples. Cheating site Ashley Madison has 1.56 million online members from Spain, who are aged between 30 and 40. This makes Spain the company’s second-largest market in Europe, behind only the United Kingdom. Ashley Madison made its entrance in Spain in 2011 with a controversial billboard in Madrid featuring a photo of former king Juan Carlos next to Prince Charles and former US president Bill Clinton. The ad came with the slogan: ‘What do they have in common? They should have used Ashley Madison.’
AN ESTIMATED €22 million from the ecotax has been approved to be invested back into tourist areas. A total of 64 projects have been given the go-ahead using eco-tax funds, also known as the 'tourist tax' paid at hotels and hostels in the Balearics. Many of the projects will improve streets and promenades in tourists areas including Playa de Muro and much of Calvia. Also approved are a new city pool for Santa Margalida, a new auditorium will be built in Puigpunyent and hiking and cycling trails made in Santanyí and Porreres.
Pay off
THE amount of overtime paid in the Balearic Islands has doubled over the last five years. Last year alone more than 4.1 million hours was paid in overtime, 3.7% more than a year earlier and double that of just over 2.1 million in 2013. These figures are in line with the rest of Spain , where companies paid out 166.2 million hours worth of overtime in 2018, according to the National Statistics Institute. In total, 84% of the overtime paid in the Balearics lasy year went to workers in the services sector.
Air strike
Irish Ryanair pilots strike ruled out by judge citing short timescales
THE Ryanair strike in Spain has been called off ... for now. Ireland’s High Court granted an injunction preventing its Irish-based pilots from going on strike in the coming weeks. Justice Denis McDonald said that although Ryanair pilots had a valid case, he wanted more time to assess issues from both sides. Also, he was mindful that thousands of people would be disrupted with little notice.
NOT ON: Ryanair strike called off by judge questioning ballot The pilots’ parent union (IALPA) has said it will not comment further until a full
Taking a free ride COSTS for business trips by Spain’s Congress of Deputies have doubled despite less parliamentary activity. Money spent on travel for politicians totalled €504,792.37 between April 1 and June 30, twice what it was during the same quarter last year. The transport expenses included plane, train and bus tickets, as well as private hire vehicles and trip cancellations. The huge spend comes despite the chambers being dissolved by the elections of April 28 and PETROLHEADS: Expenses mystery not being reconvened until May 21.
ruling has been made. They represent the 180 Dublin-based Ryanair pilots who were recently balloted and decided to strike over pay and conditions, despite several pilots and the union’s own president voting against action. The Judge questioned the validity of the August 9 ballot itself and criticised a number of remarks by Ryanair about the IALPA. Nonetheless, he praised both sides for their willingness to return to mediation. After receiving assurances from the airline that it will continue its action against the Union, the Judge ad-
journed the matter until September. Ten days of action were mooted for next month, with flights from 13 Spanish airports being affected. Trade union officials had little hope that any compromise could be reached, given that Ryanair was unwilling to meet with a ‘negotiating attitude’. “Over a year’s worth of meetings at official Spanish institutions at which they routinely displayed a mocking attitude does not give us the slightest hope of reaching any kind of understanding,” said Jairo Gonzalo, an official at Spanish union USO.
Peking interest CHINESE e-retail giant Alibaba has taken a giant step into Spain with the launch of its first walk-in store. The company’s e-commerce service AliExpress opened its first brick-andmortar premises at the Xanadu Shopping Centre in Arroyomolinos, Madrid. Huawei and Xiaomi mobile phones, electric scooters and drones were raffled off to those who gathered to celebrate the inauguration of the new shop. AliExpress is seen as a direct rival to Amazon and already has 3,000 Spanish companies on its database, which collectively offer 1 million products.
Black Friday 2 SPAIN’s stock market has led a Europe-wide plunge amid fears over a ChinaUS trade war and a no-deal Brexit. The Ibex 35 fell below the 9,000 point level for the first time since February, making the first Friday in August the worst day of trading so far this year. Frankfurt, Paris and London also finished the day’s trading down, while the pound experienced the biggest monthly drop since late 2016. Banco Santander, which does a lot of business in the UK, experienced a bad day with losses of 3.71%.
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