The poster, for those that aren’t yet amazing at Spanish, reads, “Stop The Crisis, Start A Company”!
Just the ticket I’d say… the country is in economic ruin, you’ve just lost your job, things are looking pretty bleak… I know, why not start a company! After all, that’s easy in Spain – hardly any paperwork involved, and you only need €3,000 in cash or usable assets lying around to get going!
This should solve the country’s economic gloom in no time 
Ryan
26 Oct 09 at 4:45 pm
he he he…
Tom
26 Oct 09 at 4:50 pm
*Ahem* Minuscule correction: it’s three Madrdid-based agencies behind this campaign, not la Moncloa (http://www.munimadrid.es/portal/site/munimadrid/menuitem.650ba10afbb0b0aa7d245f019fc08a0c/?vgnextchannel=6091317d3d2a7010VgnVCM100000dc0ca8c0RCRD&vgnextoid=63ea06ef2d0c2210VgnVCM1000000b205a0aRCRD)
Simon
26 Oct 09 at 5:29 pm
Is it just me, or does the graphic not leave you feeling as though they want you to become a lightning rod?
Bill (Legazpi)
26 Oct 09 at 6:37 pm
@Tom – I couldn’t get your link to work, but this one works for me:
http://www.munimadrid.es/portal/site/munimadrid/menuitem.650ba10afbb0b0aa7d245f019fc08a0c/?vgnextchannel=6091317d3d2a7010VgnVCM100000dc0ca8c0RCRD&vgnextoid=63ea06ef2d0c2210VgnVCM1000000b205a0aRCRD
The page praises the “wonderful” design and slogan for the campaign, but doesn’t mention what (if any) financial incentives there are. Maybe the council has just introduced a nice new tax for new start-ups and would like more people to start paying it?
Jon
26 Oct 09 at 6:53 pm
always look on the bright side of life… and like Simon says: don’t use an umbrella in a lightning storm!
Erik R.
26 Oct 09 at 7:12 pm
Bitter much?
Ben Curtis
26 Oct 09 at 7:20 pm
@Tom – Good point, it’s a local council thing: “promovida por el Ayuntamiento de Madrid” http://tinyurl.com/ylbhajl
Abi
26 Oct 09 at 8:35 pm
Well, maybe starting a debt collection agency might be what they were thinking of…
Chiny
26 Oct 09 at 9:56 pm
Oh woe… I have a long way to go in being “amazing at Spanish”. Why is “creer” not in the imperativo, hmm, or maybe even in the subjuntivo if it is that unlikely (cree in either case). Sigh.
Chiny
26 Oct 09 at 10:17 pm
Oops, “crear”…
Bill (Legazpi)
26 Oct 09 at 11:13 pm
@Chiny – “crea” is the informal, 2nd person, imperative form of “crear”
Jon
27 Oct 09 at 12:12 am
@ Erik R. “bitter much?” – a pint will do fine to start.
Graham
27 Oct 09 at 12:39 am
Mmmmm!!! Probably not the best time in the World to start the campaign. Saying that the sentiment is right. Spain needs to get its collective ass into gear as regards working for oneself rather than wanting to be a civil servant.
BrianA
27 Oct 09 at 10:59 am
Looking on the bright side. There is no shortage of suitable business premises right now.
Dan
27 Oct 09 at 12:33 pm
This campaign (“The objective is to encourage people to see entrepreneurialism “as a form of confronting the current situation and becoming owners of their own fate”), suffers from the usual Spanish problem, which is politicans spending other people’s money on giant ads or buildings or graphic designs and thinking that’s the problem fixed.
There’s a reason why the Spanish don’t work for themselves. I’ve tried it and it turned out to an exercise in futility with what seems like every level of government having you in their sights, big companies pulling your leg (to put it mildly), and as a reward for “confronting the current situation” the ex-self employed don’t get any benefits. At all.
One of the first things the government could have done a couple of years ago which could have saved jobs and companies is enforce payment from the government to suppliers and between businesses within 30-60 days. It still hasn’t got through the senate…
Ben Curtis
27 Oct 09 at 12:55 pm
@Brian –
@Dan – Yes, it’s amazing the 30-60 day rule hasn’t gone through, I think that has resulted in the collapse of endless entrepreneurial ventures.
SpanishFootsteps
2 Nov 09 at 1:09 pm
From my experience with setting up a business in Spain, the country will probably be exiting the recession before you actually get all the paper work completed. But hey at least you’d be keep busy……
BoutiqueSpain
4 Nov 09 at 3:11 pm
Maybe the lightening symbolises all the red tape and administration you have to go through in order to set up a business in Spain?
Cari
11 Nov 09 at 1:55 pm
Buenos días a todos.
Soy una chica española (de Murcia, una región al sureste de España). He encontrado este blog navegando por Internet, y me parece muy interesante, sobre todo porque puedo ver la perspectiva que se tiene de mi pais desde fuera de nuestras fronteras.
Hablo y escribo inglés bastante bien, pero quizás os atraiga la idea de que alguien escriba en español en este blog. Igualmente, puedo corregir alguna traducción que sea errónea, o pueda dar lugar a interpretaciones incorrectas.
Respecto al anuncio, efectivamente estamos pasando una crisis muy importante que está afectando negativamente a todos los sectores. Mientras en otros paises la recesión ha acabado, en España seguimos en recesión. En Murcia no hay este tipo de anuncios (sólo en Madrid, al tratarse de una campaña publicitaria local). El problema es que, aunque hagan campañas y anuncios que quedan muy bonitos, la realidad es que no hay ayudas para crear empresas, y los bancos han “cerrado el grifo” del dinero, por lo que al pequeño empresario le es muy difícil soportar la presión.
Espero seguir comentando este blog.
Saludos cordiales.
Ben Curtis
11 Nov 09 at 4:27 pm
Hola Cari, bienvenido a NFS, y gracias por tu primer comentario
James Baker
6 Dec 09 at 3:32 pm
An odd poster but surely the right idea – Spain needs a dash of entrepreneurial spirit right now, but rather than just Soviet-style exhortation some practical help like a suspension of social security contributions for start-ups would be good. I am more optimistic than I was about Spanish business in 2010:
http://spanishinsight.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-does-2010-hold-for-spanish.html