Just a couple of weeks after marches across Spain to protest against government proposals to raise the retirement age, Labour Minister Celestino Corbacho is now suggesting that workers take out a private pension plan to supplement their state pensions.
In an interview with regional television station Telemadrid, Corbacho insisted a private pension scheme would never substitute the state system, but advised workers to seriously look at ways of compensating for the drop in income suffered as a result of retiring.
The minister said that the pension system is guaranteed until 2025. However, after that date, demographic factors make it impossible for the system to continue to provide the same benefits to an increasing number of pensioners with greater life expectancy.

People who want to become ‘Good Samaritans’ and donate a kidney to a sick person will soon be able to do so. Spain’s National Transplant Organisation (ONT) announced recently that donors who want to give up a kidney would be able to put their names on a list under a new policy that will be adopted soon. The first such ‘Good Samaritan’ is a person from Andalusia who currently undergoing a physical to determine if he is a qualified donor and ensure he or she won’t have any psychological effects, said ONT president Rafael Matesanz.
The person who decides to donate a kidney won’t know the identity of the recipient, who will be the patient that needs it the most, Matesanz said.
Of the 22,000 people who are on the waiting list, about 4,200 are considered in critical condition and currently under dialysis.
The ONT president said that it wasn’t unusual for many people in Spain who approach the organisation to donate their organs while they are still alive. But doctors only opt for the kidney because an individual can survive with just one.

Turespaña, The Spanish Institute of Tourism, has launched an innovative online campaign on social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube promoting the country under the heading: “Spain, a country to share”. The campaign aims to completely change the way in which the country communicates and promotes Spanish destinations, going beyond the classic idea of Spain as a destination for sun and sand. It focuses instead on the concept of Spaniards sharing the hidden gems of their country with those who visit, such as unspoilt villages, the best gastronomy and ancient culture and traditions. Armed with this information travellers to the Iberian Peninsula will become connoisseurs of the best places in the country.
As part of the campaign Turespaña has launched several online tools to ensure the message reaches as many people as possible.
On facebook Spain already has its own Fan Page: www.facebook.com/spainacountrytoshare where residents and tourists alike can upload photos and make suggestions on sites that are not to be missed. Locations in Spain are proposed and ranked according to categories including: The best beach on our shores, The best sunset in Spain, The most original patron saint festival, The best place to get away from everything and The best restaurant. In order to encourage feedback from those willing to visit Spain, Turespaña has launched a new internet site through which potential visitors can pose questions and receive an immediate answer: www.formspring.me/ilovespain There is also a new micro-site in English atwww.spainacountrytoshare.com with unique, entertaining, and highly useful tourist information for those who would like to visit Spain.
Finally, The Best Feeling Ever is an online application exclusively designed for those willing to visit Spain. It allows them to participate in several activities, and not only will they improve their knowledge of Spain, but they will be rewarded with incentives such as the possibility of winning a free week-long vacation in Spain for three years in a row.
In order to win the prize they will have to receive points by eagerly engaging in the activities and making the other users vote for them.
It is very simple, you only have to go towww.facebook.com/spainacountrytoshare and open the application “The best feeling ever”.
So if you have friends or family that would like to visit Spain now is great time to encourage them to come, not only will they have great holiday, help kick-start the economy, they may win three holidays to boot.

Spanish home prices continued to fall in February, with the market still adjusting to weak demand due to the recession along with a massive oversupply of housing. According to figures released recently by leading appraiser Tinsa, house prices fell an average 5.5 per cent last month, compared with the same month a year earlier, matching the decline seen in January.
Tinsa said its real-estate markets (IMIE) index has now dropped 15.4 per cent from the end of 2007. Prior to that, the market enjoyed a decadelong boom, which was brought abruptly to a halt as slowing demand conspired with the impact of the global credit crunch. Prices have now fallen for more than 21 months in a row, although the pace of decline has begun to slow from the double-digit rates seen in the middle of last year.
Some experts predict house prices may have to drop by some 30 per cent in real terms in order to eliminate an estimated glut of some one million housing units built up during the boom. Demographic projections suggest long-term sustainable demand for housing in Spain at around 400,000 units a year. There have been some timid signs of something of a recovery of late.
According to Housing Ministry figures released last week, home sales rose for the first time in three years in the fourth quarter of 2009.