Great News!!

Now, be anywhere, research everywhere picking AWindow Studio from the Active group facility list!

To celebrate it, we will knock off our set up fee to all clients that request AG's video streaming services during 2011.

We are pleased to announce that AWindow has officially joined the Active Group’s facility network, one of the leading global providers of online solutions.

As our clientele is expanding around the globe, the request for Active Group services has grown rapidly. We are so excited!. We believe that being part of the Active Group’s network will contribute to strengthen our position in the international arena.

In this respect, we are proud to offer our clients the most important providers of video streaming solutions, Focus Vision, Active Group and The Stream Team. With these alliances our clientele has a greater choice to join our facility focus group from virtually any place with an internet connection.

Update on immigration in Spain. Impact on samples

FACTS & FIGURES

The times when a physician who looked like a foreigner and spoke Spanish with a heavy accent put recruiters under suspicion and made viewers feel uncomfortable belong to the past.

According to a report published by the Barcelona College of Physicians, foreigners account for 57.8% of the total number of new collegiate members in 2009 (Figure A).

In connection with it, there are two aspects that are noteworthy: first, physicians from Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela account for 75.9% of the total number of foreigners; second is the growing trend of foreigners entering a residency (286 physicians). See figure B.

Statistics also show an increase in the number of women in 2009, which represented over 60% amongst the new collegiate members.

It remains to be known whether or not this trend has reached its peak or will continue growing. However, the understanding of such changes in demography is worthy of notice as they might have an impact on the composition of samples.

It is obvious that the increasing number of foreigners who became collegiate members is not an isolated phenomenon but a consequence of the changes in the migration flows that Spain has experienced recently.

According to the latest data published by the Permanent Observatory for Immigration (OPI), there are 4,926,608 foreign residents in Spain from which 2,401,632 (48%) are individuals who belong to EU member states, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. 

The figure C above shows the largest groups of residents —with legal status by December 31^st, 2010— according to their country of origin. 

Facts & Figures

SALARIES IN SPAIN

The following figures show 2009 salaries in Spain. These data are released here so that practitioners can update their screening requirements according to the latest publication (June 2010) of the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE)

• Standing at 22,511 €, the average salary shows a slight change upwards (2.9%)
• The mode for the same period was 15,500€, which represents, approximately, a net salary of 900€.
• The survey makes evident that women have a lower average salary than men. While the former is 25,001 €, the latter is 19,502 €.
• In May 2011, according to official sources, the number of unemployed was 4.189.659 people.

Celebrate with us the Spring and the upcoming Saint George's Day!

This year we want to share the magic of Saint George’s day with our clients around the globe and to do so the clients who book our facility during April or May will receive the best selling novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind.

This may be hard to understand for those who have never experienced it. Saint George's Day is a popular festive day when book and rose stalls, and, above all, floods of people, take over the streets of Barcelona. The celebration could not be simpler: the ritual consists of going for a walk and buying a rose, a book or both to give to loved ones, family members and friends.

Get ready to enjoy the tradition!

Facts & Figures

HOUSEHOLD & FINANCIAL STATISTICS

The following statements are based on Eurostat Data and come from the latest update on Households and Financial Statistics published by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) dated in 2010.

• Almost 99% of households hold current accounts, saving accounts or deposits and 63.1% of them has at least one credit card. 
• Half of the households has a mortgage debt.  Mortgage on main property is the most generalized type of debt.  
• The number of households who said not to be capable of facing up unplanned expenses stood at 36.7% in 2010 
• According to the subjective perception of the interviewees, Spain is one of the countries where the expenses associated with property are considered heavier in relation to household income.  Associated expenses include mortgages interest or rent, electricity and heating bills amongst others. 
• The overall hardening of the conditions to access credit together with the uncertainty about the future income and the economical situation has contributed to increase the saving rate per household
• Spain is one of the countries where citizens have an easier access to banking services.  This is due to the large number of ATMs and branch offices available to the general public. 

Did you know?

Facts & Figures

# In Spain, there are more bars than bank branches (45,666), shoe and clothing stores (13,746) or Pharmacies (12,900)

# In spite of Andalusia having 15% of all bars across Spain, it is Asturias the region that has the highest rate of bars per person.