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... Not by chance, the two giant banks, BSCH (ex-Santander) and BBVA (formerly Bilbao Vizcaya) began life on the well-off north coast. ... It is much smaller, but it exists: La Caixa, biggest of 40-odd mutually owned savings banks, cajas de ahorro, mostly local, many small, that still thrive and even multiply.
Start with the private-sector banks. ... The two big fish were both hatched in 1999, after a series of mergers, often with large but undynamic ex-state banks. ... That is one oddity: the cajas can buy banks, but banks cannot buy cajas, these being mutually owned. ... And while the big cajas buy or act like banks, the little ones compete, with branches all over Spain to catch migrants from their home base. ... Given the rush of Spanish bankers, of both sorts, into telephone and Internet banking, there could be upsets ahead. ... In regional “development” banks? Let the red-inked and malodorous history of the banks formerly run by Brazil’s constituent states be a warning. ... In retailing, for instance, El Corte Ingles and Carrefour’s Spanish arm operate nationwide; Caprabo, with sales of over $1 billion, is essentially Catalan. ... But the key is simple: Spanish business is still run by its bosses (or, at times, politicians), not stockmarket analysis. ... Even now just three shares, Telefonica and the two big banks, on some days account for half of all share deals. ...
The employers lament
All of Spanish business lives with, and dislikes, labour arrangements familiar in mainland Europe, but startling to Britons or Americans: two big trade-union confederations, and in some areas a regional one too; industry-wide wage negotiations; works councils in all businesses with 50 employees or more, if 10% of them want it; above all, costly rules on lay-offs.
Approximate Word count = 1213
Approximate Pages = 4.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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