Thesis Corporate Excellence The image of Spain, generated and maintained by the most influential business periodicals in the world, has suffered a progressive and profound setback during the last several years. Such is the conclusion of the author of The Image of Spain in the Leading Economic Periodicals PhD thesis, which analyses around 1,300 articles about Spain published in The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. If in the end of 2007 Spain projected an image of an attractive, dynamic and solvent country, largely due to the dynamic activity of its enterprises abroad, in the following years the perception changed radically, and according to the author, the evaluation of Spain today may be labelled as unfavourable. Thus the image of Spain has suffered a profound setback which may accelerate in the medium term. However, despite this general deterioration of the image, Spanish companies such as Banco Santander, BBVA, Telefónica and Iberia have managed to distance themselves from the negative image of the country and have been given neutral or positive treatment by the two analysed periodicals

1. Thesis
Strategy Documents
T02 / 2011
Ricardo Leiva
Reputation
Spain’s image in the world’s
leading financial press:
Analysis of Spain’s presence
in The Wall Street Journal
and Financial Times
The image of Spain, as generated and disseminated through the world’s most
influential business publications, has undergone a steady and profound decline in
recent years.
Abstract Telefónica and Iberia have managed to distance
The image of Spain, as generated and disseminated themselves from the country’s poor image by
through the world’s most influential business receiving neutral or even positive treatment by the
publications, has undergone a steady and profound two/three periodicals analysed.
decline in recent years. Such is the conclusion
reached by the author of the PhD thesis “La imagen Chapter Summary
de España en la Prensa económica de referencia With a view to defining and contextualising
mundial” (Spain’s image in the world’s leading the nature of the journalism practiced by The
financial press), in which he analyses around 1,300 Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, the
articles on Spain published in The Wall Street publications subject to study in this thesis, the
Journal and Financial Times in 2007, 2008, 2009 author begins by analysing the characteristics
and 2010. By the end of 2007 Spain presented and nature of the financial and business press,
itself to the world as an attractive, dynamic and conducting a review of the three data sources that
solvent country, especially due to the dynamism make up today’s business journalism: economic
of its business sector, but over the ensuing years information, financial information and business
the picture changed dramatically and, according information.
to the author, it is now seen in an unfavourable
light. Spain’s image, therefore, has experienced a In the second chapter, the author analyses the
severe and rapid downturn that appears difficult to background and describes the nature of The
counteract over the medium term. Nevertheless, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, and of
despite this general deterioration, Spanish their publishers: News Corporation and Pearson,
companies such as Banco Santander, BBVA, respectively.
Document prepared by Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership, citing the doctoral thesis “Spain’s image in the world’s leading financial press: Analysis of
Spain’s presence in The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times” by Ricardo Leiva.

2. Spain’s image in The author shows the impact Spain’s image has media as brokers influencing consumers’ decisions
the world’s leading had on the country’s economy (macro and micro) and perceptions is the so-called “country of origin” or
financial press: and analyses the state-of-the-art of the so-called “made in” effect. This is a phenomenon that was first
Analysis of Spain’s
presence in The Wall “country of origin” effect. He runs through the addressed by scholarly marketing journals in the 1960s
Street Journal and conclusions reached by the main instances of to refer to the specific economic impact that might
Financial Times research that have analysed how the image of arise through the identification of a product with its
nations and national stereotypes, disseminated, country of origin. It was noted at the time that national
amplified and reinforced by the world’s press, may stereotypes, disseminated, amplified and reinforced by
have very specific effects on world trade. the press, could affect consumers’ purchasing decisions
and perceptions regarding imported products. The
Since the first empirical research into national and political and economic authorities in a common
cultural stereotypes in the United States in the market could go to great lengths to tear down trade
1930s, the press has been assigned a key role in the barriers, for example, but if consumers continued to
propagation and consolidation of mental images prefer local products out of mere ethnocentrism, such
that end up having a real impact. The author efforts would come to nothing.
follows on from this by relating the concept of
national stereotype to the country of origin effect, It is due to the proven existence of the country
which has a bearing on people’s perception of of origin effect that over the course of the years
imported products and their responses to them. He attention began to be paid to the marketing of
also analyses studies and articles on Spain’s image places and to the definition of a country image. If a
abroad written by social scientists and economists. country image improves, it may boost the export of
products and services. If a country image worsens,
In economics, the circumstances and attitudes it may be detrimental to those businesses seeking
of market players form a loop in which they feed to sell their products and services abroad.
back off each other, acquiring a life of their own.
George Soros (2008) used the term reflexivity to Based on this conceptual framework, the author
describe this two-way connection between reality asks the following questions: What is Spain’s
and thought: economic events and the personal current image abroad? To what extent has that
interpretations of market players interweave and image changed due to the economic crisis? How
generate a new subjective reality, which nonetheless is Spain treated by the world’s most influential
has objective and concrete consequences and business newspapers?
repercussions. Market stakeholders base their
decisions on their own perception of events and In order to respond to these and other related
not on the real situation that appears before questions, in Chapter IV of the aforementioned
them. In view of this circularity, their decisions thesis, the author analyses all the articles published
influence the real situation, which is once again in The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times
interpreted personally. between 1 October and 31 December 2007,
2008, 2009 and 2010 that contained the words
This two-way interaction between economic and Spain or Spanish in the heading and/or in the
financial reality and the perception market players first two paragraphs, referring to the printed or
have involves several brokers. Among these, the digital versions of each one of the two periodicals
media are beginning to be acknowledged as the (www.wsj.com and www.ft.com).
most important ones. However, they do not only
report events. They also re-shape them. They Method used
not only report on reality, as they also create it: Regarding methodology, the author explains that
“The way journalists portray themselves as merely all the articles were collected by a daily review of
messengers lacks consistency”, wrote Manuel the digital edition of the two periodicals in question
Conthe, the former chairman of Spain’s Security and by trawling through the Lexis-Nexis Academic
and Investments Board, “they are not pizza delivery database and the Factiva subscriber browser
drivers, but rather pizza chefs”. provided by Dow Jones (publisher of The Wall
Street Journal).
Robert J. Shiller would agree with Conthe.
According to this economist, although the media The result was the coding of a total of 1,299 units
like to present themselves as independent observers of information, or articles, discarding duplications
of market events, they are an integral part of these (same content in the printed and online versions, for
situations (Shiller, 2005). The media not only example, or the same content published by different
present the platform upon which market events international editions, as The Wall Street Journal
are reported and discussed, they also play a crucial and Financial Times have editions in the US, Asia
role in the gestation of those very events. and Europe that share a lot of their content).
One field in which empirical research has been Further discards involved those articles including
conducted into the role played by images and the the word Spanish to refer to the language or to
Thesis 2

3. Spain’s image in the Hispanic community in the US. Only those Each article, or unit, underwent a strictly
the world’s leading articles published in English were coded. The quantitative analysis, being classified as positive,
financial press: outcome of this analysis was a league table of the negative or neutral, or a mixture of these. If the
Analysis of Spain’s
presence in The Wall Spanish companies, people and issues of greatest presence was clearly detected of an opportunity
Street Journal and interest and importance according to The Wall and/or strength regarding Spain, the unit was coded
Financial Times Street Journal and Financial Times. as positive. If, on the other hand, a weakness and/
or threat were clearly singled out, it was classified
While the influence of the two newspapers as negative. If no clear identification was made of
analysed is undeniable in qualitative terms (they a strength, weakness, opportunity or threat, it was
are the most trustworthy media according to codified as neutral. If the same article mentioned
numerous surveys, for example), as regards Spain a strength or opportunity and also a weakness or
the author also posits that their influence is also threat, it was considered mixed.
quite considerable in quantitative terms. Thus,
among all the newspapers in the United States Within the countries in the eurozone, Spain
and United Kingdom, The Wall Street Journal and is one of those of greatest interest to The Wall
Financial Times are the newspapers allocating the Street Journal and Financial Times. As shown in
most amount of copy and resources to reporting on Table 1, until 2007 there was a close relationship
Spanish affairs. between the size of each economy and the volume
of information eurozone countries generated in
According to the royal institute, Real Instituto the world’s most influential business publications.
Elcano, which produces the quarterly Permanent The three largest economies in the eurozone were,
Observatory on Spain’s Image Abroad in the respectively, the ones heading the leader board
International Press, over half the news items on of countries with the highest news coverage1.
Spain published in the United Kingdom appear Nevertheless, Spain at that time received less
in the pages of the Financial Times, which alone coverage than it deserved in view of the size of its
publishes more information on Spain that all the economy: it was the fifth country in the eurozone
other British newspapers together. Likewise, The most often mentioned by The Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal is the one that provides the and Financial Times, behind countries with a larger
most coverage on Spain in the United States: one GDP (Germany, France and Italy, respectively) and
in three articles on Spain published by the US press also behind the Netherlands, which nonetheless
appear in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. had a lower GDP than Spain.
Table 1: Coverage of eurozone countries in WSJ and FT
Position Position by
Position by News coverage News coverage
Country by news coverage news coverage
GDP (1) in 2007 (2) in 2010 (2)
in 2007 in 2010
Germany 1 2,124 1 3,181 1
France 2 1,828 2 1,765 3
Italy 3 1,101 3 1,302 6
Spain 4 857 5 1,757 4
The Netherlands 5 969 4 735 8
Belgium 6 189 8 229 10
Austria 7 176 9 177 11
Greece 8 176 9 3,089 2
Finland 9 243 7 256 9
Portugal 10 143 10 817 7
Ireland 11 388 6 1,675 5
Slovakia 12 22 12 33 14
Luxemburg 13 66 11 79 12
Cyprus 14 21 13 61 13
Malta 15 19 14 9 15
(1) GDP 2009. Source: World Bank
(2) Number of articles published throughout the whole year by WSJ, FT and The Economist with the names of
each country in the heading and/or in the first two paragraphs, following the method described in the thesis.
Thesis 3

4. Spain’s image in In the last quarter of 2010, however, The Wall Spain’s future was symbolically linked to the fate
the world’s leading Street Journal and Financial Times paid a great of those other countries that were being bailed
financial press: deal more attention to those countries with a out financially. On 22 October 2010, for example,
Analysis of Spain’s
presence in The Wall sovereign debt crisis, and relatively ignored some The Wall Street Journal published an article
Street Journal and of those nations that had received greater coverage called “Portugal Faces Growing Pains” (Barley,
Financial Times because of the size of their economies. 2010) and its first paragraph mentioned Spain
as one of the countries that was also causing
Greece, the eighth largest economy in the concern in the region. The same association was
eurozone, is the most significant case in this respect. made on 29 November 2010, when the Financial
Until 2007, Greece generated an interest that was Times published the article “Ministers sign off on
commensurate with its economic size. In 2010, €85bn Ireland deal”, in which it was said that the
however, with the debt crisis and the financial agreement was signed “in a bid to head off further
rescue, Greece became the second country in contagion affecting borrowing for Portugal and
terms of news coverage, leapfrogging over much Spain” (Tait, Chaffin, Peel & Brown, 2010).
larger economies, such as France, Italy and Spain.
The most mentioned companies
Ireland is another significant case: it has the Table 3 shows that in the last quarter of 2010
eleventh largest economy in the eurozone, yet in Moody’s was the company most often mentioned
2010 it stood in fifth position in terms of news in the news on Spain, thereby temporarily
coverage. The same applied to Portugal: it is the taking pole position from Banco Santander, the
tenth largest economy in the eurozone, but in 2010 Spanish company with the greatest international
it was the seventh country most mentioned by the recognition and presence during the previous four
two/three business publications analysed. years analysed.
Spain followed the same trend, although its rise On 15 December 2010, the US credit rating
was less pronounced: it rose from fifth position agency Moody’s announced that it was reviewing
in 2007 to third in 2010 in the country ranking its rating of Spain’s government debt. From then
according to news coverage. on, whenever The Wall Street Journal or Financial
Times reported on Spain’s macroeconomic
Table 2 confirms that news interest in Spain situation they reminded their readers, for
rose sharply in 2010: there was a 91% increase contextualisation purposes, that Moody’s was
in news items as regards 2009. Today, Spain is reassessing its rating of Spain’s government debt
a much more important country for The Wall and that the outlook for this examination was
Street Journal and Financial Times than it was in negative. Spain’s fate became directly linked not
2007. In the last quarter of 2010, the Financial only to the situation in Portugal, Ireland and
Times published almost twice as many articles on Greece, but also to the downgrading that Moody’s
Spain as in the same period in 2007. In the case was applying to those countries in the eurozone
of The Wall Street Journal, the increase was even with the highest levels of risk.
more significant, as in 2010 alone the periodical
published more news items on Spain than in the For example, on 22 December 2010 The Wall
three previous years combined. Street Journal published an article called “Moody’s
Warns on Portugal”, in which it said that Moody’s
The considerable increase regarding Spain, shown was considering downgrading its rating on
especially by The Wall Street Journal and Financial Portugal’s government debt. The second paragraph
Times, is explained largely by the repeated mention in the article also reminded readers that a week
of Spain in the news in the last quarter of 2010 earlier the rating agency had also decided to do
referring to the debt crisis in Portugal, Ireland and the same with Spain. The Wall Street Journal
Greece. Whenever there was a report on what was and Financial Times did the same dozens of times
happening in Portugal, Ireland and Greece, there during that period: reminding readers that Spain
was also a mention of the possible contagion that was being exposed to a threatening test and that
might be affecting Spain. this examination might constitute a serious blow
Table 2: Articles on Spain, its companies and people
Newspaper 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
FT 168 165 186 304 823
WSJ 56 49 90 232 427
Economist 7 22 10 10 49
TOTAL 231 236 286 546 1,299
Thesis 4

5. Spain’s image in
the world’s leading
Table 3: Companies most often mentioned in articles on Spain
financial press:
Analysis of Spain’s Company 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
presence in The Wall
Street Journal and Santander 14 40 13 31 98
Financial Times
Moody’s 0 0 1 47 48
BBVA 2 3 11 16 32
Telefónica 12 4 10 6 32
Iberia 7 4 5 3 19
Ferrovial 4 2 7 5 18
S&P 1 0 11 5 17
Iberdrola 7 1 4 4 16
Repsol 2 5 2 6 15
ACS 0 0 0 13 13
Zara 2 2 4 2 10
Endesa 5 1 1 0 7
Other non-domestic 80 74 104 217 475
Other domestic 37 34 53 54 178
None 58 66 60 137 321
TOTAL 231 236 286 546 1,299
to investors’ trust in the eurozone. Something Caixa, Caja Madrid and Sacyr, among many others.
similar, albeit less significant in quantitative terms, The category “other non-domestic” includes those
occurred in 2009, when Standard & Poor’s (S&P) companies with interests, business or plans in
announced it was also reassessing Spain’s ability Spain, such as British Airways (due to its merger
to repay its debt. Finally, in 2009 the S&P rating with Iberia) or more recently Hochtief (as it is
agency became the second most cited company in in the sights of Spain’s ACS). This category also
news on Spain (occupying the same position as includes analyst and consultancy firms that are
BBVA). The following year, however, S&P did not cited as sources because they give their opinion
have such a high position, and it is to be expected on the economic or business situation in Spain
that the same will apply to Moody’s when the news and Europe.
coverage in 2011 is analysed.
The large number of articles that fail to mention
Leaving aside the one-off nature of Moody’s any company at all is explained by the extremely
appearance, it is clear that Banco Santander is the high number of macroeconomic articles that do
Spanish company with the greatest international not refer to any one company in particular.
presence, followed at some considerable distance
by the next two, namely, BBVA and Telefónica. The most mentioned people
Banco Santander’s major presence in the most
The individual presence of Spanish companies in respected media in the United States and United
the world’s most influential media is tightly focused Kingdom is endorsed by the position of its
on three, or at the most, five companies, which chairman, Emilio Botín as the second Spanish
means that, according to the author, this ambit national most often mentioned in articles
appears to harbour a phenomenon that mirrors the about Spain, second only to the country’s Prime
football championship, where only between three Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and ahead
and five Spanish teams are in a position to seriously of the Deputy PM for the Economy of the moment
compete at European level, and the same number (Pedro Solbes first and then Elena Salgado), as can
of companies feature prominently in the three be seen in Table 4.
most influential business media on the planet. The
rest are a long way behind and highly dispersed. The wide variety of people featuring in the articles
on Spain or called upon as sources is also very
The vast majority of the mentions are listed high: only five Spanish people have a significant
under “other domestic” or “other non-domestic” presence in the most influential media. Among
companies and “none”. The category “other these, two represent Banco Santander, who are also
domestic” contains those Spanish companies that joined by the bank’s CEO, Alfredo Sáez, in eighth
appear sporadically and momentarily in the WSJ position. The Santander’s three senior executives
and FT. These are, for example, Metrovacesa, la are, respectively, the top three Spanish nationals
Thesis 5

6. Spain’s image in linked to the business world appearing on the list, in the pages of The Wall Street Journal or Financial
the world’s leading which shows how important Banco Santander is Times, within the context of a specific news item
financial press: for The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. related to terrorism or politics, as in the case of
Analysis of Spain’s
presence in The Wall It should be remembered that Banco Santander another Deputy PM, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.
Street Journal and has investments in both the US and UK and it is
Financial Times the largest bank in the eurozone. The most mentioned topics
As can be seen in Table 5, in 2007 only 6% of the
It is somewhat surprising to note that the fourth news published by The Wall Street Journal, The
Spanish national most often mentioned in the Economist and Financial Times on Spain referred
articles analysed is the late dictator Francisco to the country’s macroeconomic situation. A clear
Franco, who still features quite frequently in the majority of the news at that time (52%) reported
world’s press, especially when attempts are made on business developments. Spain’s macroeconomic
to explain the political and cultural context of situation in 2007 was not an issue of any great
modern Spain. This shows just how difficult it is interest to the newspapers analysed, who focused
for the media to put the images and icons of the on what Spanish companies were doing: what
past behind them. they were buying or selling, how indebted they
were, what new markets or industries they were
A considerable number of reports on Spain exploring, and what investment or divestment
mention non-nationals, such as the president of programmes they were announcing or developing.
France, Nicolas Sarkozy. A further large group of
articles does not mention anyone (especially when Interest in the property and real estate market
reporting on macroeconomic affairs or business was also very low in 2007. Much greater
results, for example). The non-national analysts attention was being paid to Spain’s beaches and
and consultants who frequently appear giving an cities, its restaurants and wine, its celebrities and
opinion on the state of affairs in Spain are listed in its architects.
their respective category (non-national analyst).
Another group contains the sporadic appearance The thematic bias in the three publications
of Spanish nationals who are not linked to the changed the following year, as can be seen in
economy or business sector, but who occasionally Table 5. In the last quarter of 2008, the macro
feature in articles about tourism, cuisine or culture, economy became the second most important topic,
such as the chef Ferrán Adrià, for example. A displacing matters of culture-tourism-cuisine and
further category has also been provided for those politics. There was also an increase in the news
Spanish authorities who appear from time to time coverage of the property sector. The situation was
Table 4: The people most cited in articles on Spain
Person 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
J. L. R. Zapatero 7 21 9 32 69
E. Botín (Santander) 7 7 1 3 18
P. Solbes / E. Salgado 0 2 1 10 13
F. Franco 4 5 1 2 12
A. Horta-Osorio (Santander) 2 2 1 5 10
J. C. Trichet 0 1 0 8 9
A. Merkel 0 0 1 8 9
A. Sáenz (Santander) 0 2 3 3 8
C. Alierta (Telefónica) 6 0 0 1 7
HM The King 5 0 2 0 7
M. A. F. Ordóñez 0 0 6 1 7
Another non-national 75 78 103 225 481
No-one 73 52 65 107 297
Another Spanish business person 30 37 52 42 161
A non-national analyst 6 10 15 69 100
A non-business related Spanish national 10 12 19 15 56
Another Spanish authority 6 7 7 15 35
TOTAL 231 236 286 546 1,299
Thesis 6

7. Spain’s image in
the world’s leading
Table 5: The most interesting topics for WSJ, FT and The Economist
financial press:
Analysis of Spain’s Topics 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
presence in The Wall
Street Journal and Businesses Mentions 120 84 122 155 481
Financial Times
% copy 52 36 43 28 37
Economy Mentions 13 45 58 256 372
% copy 6 19 20 47 29
Culture, Tourism and Cuisine Mentions 37 34 40 60 171
% copy 16 14 14 11 13
Domestic and International Politics Mentions 29 23 41 26 119
% copy 13 10 14 5 9
Property Market Mentions 6 18 6 8 38
% copy 3 8 2 1 3
Terrorism Mentions 8 3 2 7 20
% copy 3 1 1 1 2
Other topics Mentions 18 29 17 34 98
% copy 8 12 6 6 8
TOTAL Mentions 231 236 286 546 1,299
% copy 100 100 100 100 100
repeated the following year, through to the last In 2008, however, this situation was completely
quarter of 2010, when macroeconomic news items reversed and most of the articles began to adopt
rose sharply and for the first time took over from a negative tone, that is, they focused on a threat
business articles. The insistence on associating or weakness. The situation worsened over the
Spain with the crisis in Greece, Portugal and following years until the last quarter of 2010 when
Ireland goes a long way to explaining the situation one out of two articles was negative in tone. This is a
described. Nevertheless, considering the figures for very high proportion of negative articles, as normal
the four years, business news continues to prevail, practice involves newspapers giving a neutral or
as can be seen in Graph 1. impartial treatment to the groups or entities they
cover, as occurred with Spain up 2007.
The tone of the news
The image of Spain projected through The Wall Street When only business news items are considered,
Journal and Financial Times varied considerably however, Table 7 shows that the volume of positive
between 2007 and 2010. As Graph 2 and Table 6 and negative articles is quite evenly distributed.
show, most of the news on Spain published in 2007 Most of the business articles in 2007 had a neutral
was either neutral or positive in tone (with the focus or positive tone, while in 2008 and 2009 there
being on strength or opportunity). was a sharp increase in negativity, returning to a
Graph 1: The most interesting topics for Graph 2: Tone of the articles on
WSJ, FT and The Economist (2007-2010) Spain (% of annual coverage)
2% Business
3% 100% –
8% Economy 11 11 13 13 Mixed
90% –
80% – 15 Neutral
Culture, Tourism 28 23
9% and Cuisine 70% – 42 Positive
36% 60% – 22
Domestic and 21 Negative
International 50% – 24
13% Politics 40% – 24
30% – 50
Property Market 20% – 43
38
10% – 23
Terrorism
29% 0% –
Other matters 2007 2008 2009 2010
Thesis 7

8. Spain’s image in Table 6: Tone of the articles on Spain between 2007 and 2010
the world’s leading
financial press:
Analysis of Spain’s Tono 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
presence in The Wall
Neutral Mentions 97 65 65 84 311
Street Journal and
Financial Times % copy 42 28 23 15 24
Positive Mentions 55 56 61 122 294
% copy 24 24 21 22 23
Negative Mentions 54 89 122 271 536
% copy 23 38 43 50 41
Mixed Mentions 25 26 38 69 158
% copy 11 11 13 13 12
TOTAL Mentions 231 236 286 546 1,299
% copy 100 100 100 100 100
more balanced situation in 2010 with a perfect tie Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to revert the crisis.
between positive and negative news. They all highlighted a strength or opportunity
regarding Spain.
Regarding macroeconomic matters, however,
there is no question about the hegemony of General Conclusions
negative news in all the years analysed, as can be This analysis leads to the conclusion that Spain’s
seen in Table 8. In 2010, for example, 7 out of 10 image abroad has undergone a steady and profound
articles on Spain’s macro economy had a negative decline in recent years. Whereas towards the
tone; in other words, they highlighted a weakness end 2007 the country showcased itself abroad as
or threat. This extremely high volume of articles attractive, dynamic and solvent, especially due to
includes all the mentions of the situation in Spain the drive of its companies, in 2008, 2009 and 2010
when referring to the crisis in Portugal, Ireland or the picture can only be described as disastrous.
Greece, or the downgrading of Spain’s sovereign The fact that Spain has been included in the group
debt by Moody’s. Although the general outlook of countries referred to as PIGS (Portugal, Ireland,
in macroeconomic terms can be defined as simply Greece and Spain), being the only one that has so
appalling, it is worth noting that 2010 witnessed far not required bailing out by the rest of Europe,
an increase in positive news with regard to 2009, and that the company mentioned most often in
due mainly to the news on the economic measures articles on Spain in 2010 is Moody’s, proves that
put in place by the government headed by José Spain has now become, in figurate terms, a member
Table 7: Tone of the articles on businesses between 2007 and 2010
Tone 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
Negative Mentions 26 33 44 59 162
% copy 22 39 36 38 34
Positive Mentions 36 22 33 59 150
% copy 30 26 27 38 31
Neutral Mentions 44 20 25 13 102
% copy 37 24 20 8 21
Mixed Mentions 14 9 20 24 67
% copy 12 11 16 15 14
TOTAL Mentions 120 84 122 155 481
% copy 100 100 100 100 100
Thesis 8

9. Spain’s image in
the world’s leading
financial press:
Table 8: Tone of the articles on the macro economy between 2007 and 2010
Analysis of Spain’s
presence in The Wall Tono 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL
Street Journal and
Financial Times Negative Mentions 11 26 46 187 270
% copy 85 58 79 73 73
Mixed Mentions 1 8 7 33 49
% copy 8 18 12 13 13
Neutral Mentions 1 7 4 15 27
% copy 8 16 7 6 7
Positive Mentions 0 4 1 21 26
% copy 0 9 2 8 7
TOTAL Mentions 13 45 58 256 372
% copy 100 100 100 100 100
of the club of countries in trouble; a label that it their country of origin to obtain international
will take a long time to shake off. visibility. Nevertheless, it is very likely that, even
if only slightly, Spain’s image is weighing down on
The general deterioration in Spain’s image, these companies’ reputation.
however, has not greatly affected the country’s
businesses, which have managed to distance A good image always follows on in the wake of
themselves from their country of origin. sound policy. A positive perception tends to be the
Companies such as Banco Santander, BBVA, outcome of a good performance. If Spain is to restore
Telefónica and Iberia appear to confirm they are its image, it will first have to rebuild its macro and
now global brands, being recognised in their own microeconomic foundations and credibility.
right and not having to lever themselves through
Thesis 9

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