Despite claims by Spain’s acting minister for industry, trade and tourism, Reyes Maroto, on Thursday that “no one” in Spain sees a short term crisis coming, the big bananas in Brussels do not agree.
Yesterday, the European Commission warned EU member states should be prepared for “all scenarios” as the European economy continues to decelerate and is not expected to pick up in the near future and Spain is one of the countries forecast to default the most - politics aside.
The European economy has entered a new period. While output grew over the past decade, with solid figures seen in recent years, “this is not the case anymore,” warned Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.
And that has been, or rather is, the case in Spain. While output may be rising, consumption has been steadily falling which means people are not spending and that has a knock on effect on business revenue and jobs, not to mention confidence.
One of the main sources of concern for the EU executive continues to be the ongoing global trade tensions and Spain has been threatened with tough sanctions by Trump unless, according to him, the country stops funding the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and approve the extradition of former Venezuelan spy Hugo Garvajal, wanted on drug smuggling charges in the US.
Never mind Brexit, looks like Europe’s got bigger problems.