The Spanish Chamber of Commerce (SCC) (5 Cavendish Square, London W1M 0DP) is an independent, not‐for‐profit (“sin animo de lucro”) organization which specializes in promoting trade between Spain and the UK. Its Honorary President is HE the Spanish Ambassador; its President is Sr D. Juan Perez Calot of the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya. A formal, colour portrait of King Juan Carlos graces the preliminary pages. This well printed, advertisement‐bedecked directory, mainly in two‐column format, was compiled on the basis of information supplied in June 1996, one assumes by the 1,000 companies listed. The basis of selection is neither stated nor apparent. Many concerns with long‐established trading links with Spain are absent. These include, in the book trade, Dolphin Book Company of Oxford and Tredˆwr Blackwell of Oxford, Heffer of Cambridge, and Grant & Cutler of London.
“Images from the Chamber” celebrates in colour photographs some prominent visitors to events arranged by SCC. These VIPs include Felipe Gonzalez, Jose Maria Aznar, Don Juan de Borbon, the ennobled Margaret Thatcher with her trusty Dennis, and “el Sr Portillo” returning to his roots. Companies are first listed by NACE code, followed bilingually by the field of activity (for example Production of salt). Each entry, averaging nine lines, gives company name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and the name of a contact. A small proportion only of entries also have informative summaries of company history and functions. This practical and useful section forms the bulk of the directory.
“Part two: companies listed alphabetically” is arranged by the first element of the company name. This has the effect of virtually losing such as J Bibby & Sons plc, and J Henry Schroder & Co. Ltd under J. There are some puzzling spellings, such as Mondragon Corporation Cooperativa. The main blemish to an otherwise helpful, though limited, guide is the infuriating disregard of or, at best, inconsistent marking of stress and tilde. Pérez, Cámara, and Gómez are written correctly, but Alberto Roldan Ibanez, Pablo Bertran de Heredia y Renteria and many more are wholly without their diacritics.
Future editions need to expand coverage considerably. NACE code 80.21, General secondary education, deserves more than its present five entries, with only South Bank University and University of the West of England, Bristol to represent the tertiary realm! The absence of Liverpool, Oxford, Cambridge, University of Wales Cardiff, King’s College London and all the other important institutions disseminating knowledge of Spain in all its diversity suggests that inclusion in this directory may have been by subjective choice (even, perhaps, by payment for space) rather than by any objective process of merit assessment.
Large commercial libraries may find this still to be developed guide quite useful, as far as it goes.
