Spanish Banking crisis?

[sillydoll]

Evacuation plans for British expats stranded in Spain and Portugal if their banking systems collapse are being drawn up by the Foreign Office. The contingency plans are being put in place to help thousands of Britons if they were unable to get to their money in the event of a catastrophic banking collapse in two of the most vulnerable eurozone economies. Around one million British expats live in Spain.
The Foreign Office is concerned that those who have invested savings in their adopted countries would face losing their homes if banks called in loans and they were unable to access money.
Last week ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded 10 Spanish banks, including Banco Popular.
Among options being considered for a 'nightmare scenario' include sending planes, ships and coaches to evacuate expats - some through Gibraltar.
Small loans could also be made available to stranded Britons and pressure would be exerted on the Spanish and Portuguese governments to allow access to funds to pay for everyday essentials.
Both countries have a deposit guarantee, like the UK, which means depositors are covered for up to €100,000. But in the event of a collapse, most banks would limit withdrawals.
Many expats have retired to the south of Spain on fixed incomes, having used their savings to buy villas and apartments.
A senior Foreign Office source told The Sunday Times: 'The nuclear scenario would be having thousands of Brits stranded at the airports in Spain and Portugal with no way to get money from the cash dispenser and no way to get home.
'Who would be blamed for this? The Foreign Office.
'We are looking at how we can help evacuate them if the banks in Spain and Portugal collapse, getting people cash, things like that, sending planes.'
Expats could face losing their villas and apartments because they were unable to afford mortgage payments or withdraw enough cash as banks tried to stop money leaving the country.
They could also lose savings if banks in either country collapsed.
Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First - foreign currency exchange specialists - told the newspaper: 'Countries have individual safeguards on deposits but for people with large deposits in a bank it would be difficult to say whether all that money would be protected.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1gv45FM2a

 

[Anniesantiago]

I wouldn't mind being stranded on the Camino... but not without cash.

There has been concern in the US about a bank holiday amongst some circles also.
It happened during the Great Depression. Nothing to prevent it from happening again.

 

[jpflavin1]

I would usually not make a comment on articles I have not read. That said, this sounds a little bit like "Chicken little" too me. There were also many "if's" attached to those statements. I wonder about the motivation behind these articles.

There is no doubt the Euro is in trouble and Europe as a whole is going to be in recession for the next few years. That said, news articles using terms like Nuclear, Nightmare and Catastrophic in regards to the Spanish banks are on the verge, imo, of screaming fire in a movie theater.

I hope op-ed's like this do not cause the mass exodus of funds from Spanish banks. This will only exacerbate the existing liquidity problem and probably increase the cost of raising money for Spanish banks. What if all the ex-pats in Spain go and withdraw their funds tomorrow? What would be the impact? What of their Spanish neighbors who face the same issues?

I see no problem with governments planning for worst case scenario's. I do wonder about the motivation behind publicizing those plans.

I still plan to come and spend my share of Euro's on the Camino next year.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Quite right - here are the articles and they are entirely speculative:

The story first appeared in the Sunday Times: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/ and was then repeated on the BBC programme with Andrew Marr when he does a review of the Sunday papers.
The term "Financal Dunkirk" appears to have been coined by the Daily Mail who also picked up the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ivion.html

John

 

[sulu]

I'm sure some of the financial problems have been caused by speculative journalism. I'm not rushing to the airport and I'll just carry on watching Spanish television, which doesn't seem to be spreading doom and gloom. There were crises with British banks and I didn't notice people queueing up to leave the country :?
I hope no-one is going to let these speculations spoil their Christmas!
Sue

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Nor should they. These stories ran in very partisan newspapers which are against all things related to the European Union - I'm convinced they amount to nothing and as someone said elsewhere based on "what if?" journalism to fabricate a story.

 

[Anniesantiago]

As I read through the other articles on that page, it occurred to me that this website is much like the "National Enquirer" news that we have in America that reports "7-headed baby born to Prince Charles" type stories. :roll:

 

[grayland]

As I read through the other articles on that page, it occurred to me that this website is much like the "National Enquirer" news that we have in America that reports "7-headed baby born to Prince Charles" type stories. :roll:

REALLY?? When did that happen. I missed it. :shock: