Particularly among the young, English speaking, outward looking people in the tech community where I spend a lot of my time, there was a lot of attention was paid to a recent article in The Economist on France. It referred to “two Frances” but not in terms of left v right but in terms on insiders v outsiders. Increasingly, this true also for Spain.
The insiders are made up of assorted hangers on and bureaucrats whose motto is “what we have, we hold”. While the outsiders are dynamic, confident, global village types whose motto “just leave me alone to get on with things”
The next parliamentary elections are due in March 2012 and the current Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has said that he will not stand. As yet, it is not certain who will be the candidates of the leading two political parties, but if those names are Mariano Rajoy and Carme Chacón, then you are dealing with two classic “insiders”. Both are lawyers with no life experience outside politics and limited experience overseas.
There is very little evidence that either of them will prioritise the problem of “crowding out” where the state suffocates entrepreneurial initiative. Worse still is the optics. How come these two are all that a country of passion, of expertise of global relevance can come with? It would seem therefore that we are in for a sclerosis of sorts. Reforms in the area of labour law, competition law and education are unlikely to take place with the necessary force. In terms of both human
and natural resources, Spain does have the wealth but it is the waste of talent that is the most frustrating part, the lack of a commitment to high standards.
There are however glimmers of hope. Mostly the young are off and with an attitude perfectly captured by an interview in the El Pais newspaper “Si España no quiere saber nada de mí, yo tampoco quiero saber nada de España” (If Spain does not care about from me, I don’t care about Spain”). But when they return it will be to a country with a large market, good infrastructure and a great love for life.
It is also these three things that attract so many foreigners to live Spain. Unfortunately, there has been a tendency to think that if you leave your own country there must be something wrong with you. I know many people with the skills in area where the Spanish are poor (e.g. International Marketing, foreign languages) whose skills are not being harnessed.
This will change and will benefit all. Executives in Spain are mainly male, middle aged and Spanish. And as yet there has not been a Tidjane Thiam or an Indra Nooyi moment.
There is no doubt that the short term will not be pretty but for me, medium to long term I’m betting on Spain. I didn’t come here for the ham, the sun and nightlife. I came here to work in the capital city of the worlds eight biggest economy. The potential is there and that for me is the crucial point. That is why I continue to live.
Joe Haslam is orginally from Ireland but now lives in Madrid. He is a Vice President at Stratemic Capital a boutique VC firm specialising is Disruptive Innovation investments. He is also a Professor in the IE Business School International Center for Entrepreneurial Management and a Mentor in the IE Venture Lab.
http://www.ie.edu
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