Mixed views

In these difficult economic times I often find myself turning to my bank manager for some words of comfort and reassurance. A few months ago when there was mounting concern about the state of Spanish banks she quietly pointed out that British banks were not exactly in great shape either, two were infact owned by the tax-payer. Good point but some times we Brits forget the obvious! Watching the news on Tuesday night the protest outside the Spanish parliament in Madrid was the top British story which was quite revealing because there are no shortage of headlines at the moment. I mentioned this state of affairs to a Spanish colleague who said that perhaps Britain should concentrate on its own economy rather than worrying about the Spanish economy, afterall, Britain wasn´t even in the euro. Good point. Now, obviously the Spanish realise that their economy is in a bad shape but they are rather amazed at the so-called negative headlines which appear in the foreign media. Infact, one leading Spanish newspaper said that the “Anglo-Saxons” were trying to talk down Spain. Now, this is total rubbish. But I do believe that Britain is rather keen to show the fact that the euro hasn´t been a great success. It underlines the fact that Britain´s decision not to join the single currency was a wise one. Spain also doesn´t want to talk down its own economy. All-in-all it is one giant economic mess that Britain and Spain need to resolve.