Archive for September, 2010

The Financial Crisis started in 2007 and is considered to be still present. It started by the liquidity drop in the US banking system. This resulted in the huge problems for many financial institutions. In order to prevent the total collapse of the financial system many governments decided to offer bailout plans or partially nationalize the banks and whole industries.

As a result the world saw an unprecedented downward trend in global financial markets, real estate prices which led to numerous evictions, mortgage foreclosures and prolonged vacancies of commercial and residential property. The next stage was when these had their consequences on regular businesses which had to start shedding jobs. This led to big unemployment, deflation and inflation as well as the slowing down of economic activity and fall in consumer wealth. It all started in the US but soon spread over the rest of the world as well. The current financial crisis has been compared by many to the last great recession following the Great Depression of the 1930s.

One of the long-term consequences of these events was the crisis that ensued in many sovereign European states. The worst hit nations were Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain whose long run government deficit now was a huge burden to the economy.

The Spanish economy had seen steady economic growth in the years before the 2008-2009 financial crises. Nonetheless, there were evident fundamental problems in the economy which were already visible. Among those were the growing trade deficit, high inflation rate compared to the other European nations, the consequences of the Spanish real estate boom from the end of the 20^th century and the high prices of oil in the first decade of the new century.

With the beginning of the crisis in Car Hire Spain projection about GDP growth were slashed by half which represented stagnant GDP growth reflecting the growth in population. Then, in 2009 the IMF projected minus four percent growth. The public debt was getting out of control. Also, Spain saw the highest unemployment rates in decades reaching up to 20 percent at certain points.

However, thanks to the more conservative practices of the Spanish banks, timely measures of the Spanish government and help form the European institutions Spain managed to recover from the crisis by the beginning of 2010.

Some forty years ago Spain was in the backwater of Europe. Ever since the end of the 70s the country has went through a dramatic change that has put in among the most developed nations in the world. One area of heavy investment in the country has been infrastructure. Today Spain boasts one of most well-developed transportation systems in the world.

The Spanish motorway is among the best such systems in the world and is the forth longest after the ones in the United States, China and Russia. Here you must take into consideration the size of Spain which is times smaller than that of the other countries. Now Spain has approximately 14 thousand kilometers of high quality motorways.

There is a historical categorization of motorways in Best Car Hire Spain that divides them in autopista and autovia. Autopistas are highways constructed specifically for the use of cars. The vehicles that use them must sustain a minimum of 60 km/p. These roads are now upgrades from older ones but completely new roads. Most of them are toll roads and require a small fee in order for citizens to use them.

Autovias are high capacity roads that are most often an upgrade of an oler existing road. Other vehicles, agricultural machines and bicycles can travel on them under certain restrictions. Because autovias are built on top or following closely older roads they are less sophisticated than autopistas. There acceleration and deceleration lanes are shorter, turns are tighter and steeper, at places there might be no service lane or bus stop locations.

There are many similarities between the two types of motorways. Both are divided highway roads with full access control. Both have at least two lanes in each direction. Speed limit regulated by the legislation in the country is between 60 and 20 km/h.

The European Union countries have created very bold plans about the development and wide use of renewable energy in the union for the future. Among the firsts in this trend is Spain. The county has pledged to produce 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. In the end of 2009 those figures stood at 12.5%. On the forefront of these projects are the autonomous regions of Castile, Leon and Galicia where roughly 70% of all electricity comes from renewable sources.

Wind Energy

Spain is the forth biggest producer in the world of wind energy after the US, Germany and China. Currently, there is installed capacity of 16 MW that is planned to be increased by 1MW every year. The energy produced this way is the third biggest producer of energy in the Spanish economy after gas and nuclear power. There are the highest amount of facilities built in the regions of Castile and Leon, Castile-La Mancha and Galicia.

Solar Energy

Spain is an innovator in the field of solar energy. The country was the first one in the world to construct a photovoltaic energy plant in 2005. This kind of technology transforms solar energy into direct current electricity with the use of semiconductors. Solar panels collect solar energy that goes through a number of cells full of photovoltaic materials such as silicon telluride and copper sulfides. Spain is number two in the world after Israel in the introduction of photovoltaic electricity generators in new buildings and requires the use of solar hot water systems.

A very famous facility is Spain is the PS10 solar power tower near Seville in Andalucia. It uses 624 movable mirrors and produces 11 MWs of electricity. It is the first commercial solar power tower in the world.

Car rental companies that operate in Spain are Europcar, Hertz, Avis, Solmar, Alamo, National and Centauro.

Tourism in Spain has grown considerably during the last forty and has turned the southern European nation in one of the most popular destinations in the world. Currently, Spain is in the top three most popular international destinations after France and the United States. The country attracts tourists with its very good climate, historical, cultural heritage and entertainment opportunities.

The tourist industry in Cheap Car Rentals spain Airport started developing during the late years of the country’s dictator Franco. The first international tourists came from the Scandinavian countries, the United Kingdom, Germany and France mostly drawn by the very good climate in Spain.

According to the World Tourism Organization Spain attracted approximately 52.2 million foreign tourists during 2009. In terms of revenue the country ranks second with 40 billion euro in which represented around 5% of the GDP of the nation. This makes the tourism industry one of the national industries in the country.

Spain is very famous for its summer resorts and beaches. This was the first type of tourism to develop in the country and it has already very good traditions. The mild climate all year round and the many sandy beaches both on the Mediterranean Sea and on Atlantic Ocean create the best facilities for such tourism. Among the most popular ones are Costa Brava, Costa Daurada and Costa del Maresme in Catalonia; Salou in Barcelona; Costa del Azahar, Costa de Valencia and Costa Blanca in Valencia; Costa Calida, Costa Tropical, Costa del Sol in Andalucia as well as other locations in Malaga and Tenerife.

Old cities such as Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and Toledo offer a great variety of historical, religious and cultural sights. There are thirteen Spanish cities in the World Heritage Cities list. Spain is number two in Europe after Spain in terms of number of locations included in the World Heritage list by UNESCO.

Car rental companies that offer their services in Spain are Europcar, Hertz, Avis, Solmar, Alamo, National and Centauro.

Myth – Paella, a seafood dish:

Paella is a Valencian rice dish that has originated in the mid 19^th century in its modern form. Most of the Spaniards regard it as a regional Valencian dish but the non Spaniards think it as a national dish of Spain. Valencian paella with green vegetables, white rice, meat, beans and land snails; Seafood paella – seafood; and Mixed paella – seafood, meat, beans, and vegetables are some of the many types of the Paella. Not only seafood, it can have anything as a topping on it, which you like.

Myth – Spain’s national sport is Bullfighting:

The real national sport of Spain is Soccer or Football and Bull fighting which is also called as “tauromachy” is a traditional spectacle of Spain. There are many bullrings that you may come across all over the Spain but all these were mainly constructed during the rule of Franco.

Myth – Flamenco is Spain’s popular dance:

Flamenco is nearly a 200 year old folk art which is not mainly a dance but consists of dancing. It is particularly an Andalusian art form where it can’t be found much in other parts of Spain. Flamenco consists of four aspects which are the guitar, the vocals, the dancing and the Las Palmas or hand claps.

Myth – Tapas are a particular type of food:

Tapas are not exactly a type of food but it denotes large variety of food items or snacks. It can be cold or warm and it can be anything like brochette, shrimps, Paella and also hamburgers. There are several tapas bars and restaurants present in Spain and normally Spaniards go “bar hopping” and eat tapas.

The best car hire services in Spain are available from Solmar, National, Centauro, Hertz, Europcar and Avis.