Business Over Tapas

Editorial:

As the United Kingdom decides to leave the EU for an unknown future, Spain quietly celebrates thirty years membership in the European Union. Here in Spain, a country ‘without any major anti-EU political party’, Europe has been without doubt more than kind. For the many EU citizens who choose to live in this fine country, the influence of the European Union on our rights and our privileges is equally obvious and evident.

Housing:

‘The Spanish government has used drones to discover more than 1.69 million homes are not paying sufficient taxes, it has revealed. The unmanned aerial vehicles revealed improvements to people’s houses that they had failed to declare to the tax office, such as extensions and swimming pools...’. A report from The Local. The story is also covered by El País here.

‘New data ... has found that there has been a 700% increase in Brits wanting to sell their Spanish home since the June 23rd referendum. According to the findings, there has been a massive surge in enquiries from Brits worried about the impact of Brexit. Many want to sell their Spanish properties and come back to the UK as they are concerned about both visa and tax implications when the UK exits Europe...’. Found at Property Reporter.

‘Maintaining a holiday-home in Spain costs €1,791 per year on average, according to research by a Spanish consumer organisation. Community fees are the biggest chunk of holiday-home ownership expenses, costing between €200 and €1,140 per annum, reveals the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU). That range applies to typical condominium expenses, so a big villa on a luxury gated development would cost considerably more than that to maintain. Utilities are another big cost, which the OCU estimate at €600 per year on average...’. From Mark Stücklin’s Spanish Property Insight.

‘A study by the holiday-home rental platform HomeAway reveals that demand for holiday lets in Spain has exploded this year. Spaniards themselves are the biggest market for holiday rentals on the Spanish coast. Local demand is up an annualised 52% so far this year, with 77% of enquiries made on holiday-homes in Spain, and 23% for homes outside of Spain.

HomeAway analysed enquiries made by locals and foreigners to evaluate market trends this year...’. From Mark Stücklin’s Spanish Property Insight.

‘Owners of holiday accommodation must give the police details of all clients who stay there

The police are working closely with the tourism authorities to monitor the more than 5,660 properties in Malaga province which are registered as holiday accommodation...’. Found at Sur in English here.

A notice from the AUAN’s president, Maura Hillen, on her blog explains the victory of the changes in property rules in Andalucía: ‘On Wednesday, 20th July 2016, the Parliament of Andalucía approved a bill to modify three articles of the planning laws of Andalucía (LOUA) to permit the regularisation of isolated residential properties located on illegal land divisions (parcelaciones urbanisticas) on non urbanizable land (suelo no urbanizable). The bill was passed with the votes in favour of PSOE, PP and Ciudadanos and the abstention of Podemos and IU...’. But... as Europa Press reports, the AUAN does not see this result as ‘the end of the battle’ for those with ‘illegal homes’.

Tourism:

How many extra tourists will Spain get this year thanks to unrest elsewhere? So far, reckoned by El Mundo, about 2.2 million...

There is an essay, over at Nexotur, on the ongoing threats against the freedom to travel.

Collaborative tourism – where we swap our homes for the holidays – is growing in Spain with BlaBlaCar reporting a remarkable growth this year in homes on offer in Spain. Republica has the story here.

Finance:

As Brussels reacts to Spain’s failure to contain its deficit, sixty investment programs have been frozen by the European Commission. These programs are to do with education, formation, infrastructure and rural development. The report at El Confidencial here. As for the ‘fine’ to be imposed from Brussels, the figure has now been published. It’s zero euros.

‘Spain’s six leading banks all set to pass the EU’s stress tests. Bankia, BBVA, Santander, CaixaBank, Popular and Sabadell will receive good grades when results are released on Friday’. Headline from El País in English.

Politics:

Around 40% of Spaniards would not bother to vote if a third general election was called, says El Huff Post quoting a polling group called NC Report here.

‘Spain’s incoming batch of 138 women Deputies will occupy nearly four of every ten (39.42%) seats in Spain’s new XII Congress, reflecting a greater percentage of women legislators in the country’s lower house of parliament than the 25 percent average for other national legislatures across Europe and greater even than the 37 percent enjoyed by women in the European Parliament in Strasbourg...’. From Progressive Spain. Not altogether surprising, considering the silly boy/girl election law in this country.

‘The Spanish Government will veto the terms of any Brexit negotiation between the UK and the EU that sought to include Gibraltar, Spain’s acting Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo said last week. The minister said once the UK activates the withdrawal process under Article 50 of the EU treaty, the European Council must agree the broad terms of the withdrawal negotiation “by unanimity”...’. From The Gibraltar Chronicle.

The various ex-politicians currently on the boards of IBEX-35 companies, between them, took home 25 million euros last year says Público.

The Vatican has intimated that it is not convinced that the eccentric Acting-minister for the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz, is the right person to become Spain’s ambassador to the Holy See. The politician is a hard-line member of the Opus Dei and is the government’s preferred choice for the position. El Diario has more.

Corruption:

‘Almost 30,000 Spaniards whose deaths have been officially registered continued to receive a state pension in 2014, costing the state some €300 million a year, according to a new report by Spain’s Audit Office. The survey, for the year 2014, found a series of “holes and deficiencies” in the way Spain’s Social Security system updates deaths of pensioners, and outlines a number of recommendations to prevent money being paid to people who have died...’. The story from El País in English. So what happens to this money – is it kept by the banks or somehow taken by crafty relatives... or was it never paid? In short, is it missing, or isn’t it? The report doesn’t say.

‘Spain's governing People's Party (PP) will go on trial for destroying two laptops used by a former treasurer who is already being tried for his involvement in an alleged party slush fund, a Madrid court said on Tuesday. The PP would be treated as an individual and brought to trial with the party's new treasurer, Carmen Navarro, on charges of perverting the course of justice and destroying the two laptops, the court ruled...’. From Reuters.

As part of the perennial illegal financing scandal in Andalucía, the Servicio Andaluz de Empleo doled out over a hundred million euros to a clutch of 45 companies which ‘were close to the PSOE or the Junta’, says the Partido Popular in an article in El Mundo. The PP wants each and every one of these operations closely investigated.

A ‘think tank’ called the ‘Red Floridablanca’, critical of the current politics of the Partido Popular and keen to open up the party to internal democratic processes, had all of its documentation relating to the PP stolen last week. Nothing else was taken from the office of Isabel Benjumea, the group’s founder. Story at El Mundo here. Coincidentally (we hope), the home of Juan Pablo Lozano, the senior anti-corruption investigator for Murcia, had his home burgled last weekend. Ignoring any jewellery, TV and other items, the burglars only took his personal computer with information on all inquiries into corruption throughout the province. Lozano later admitted that he kept a back-up copy of all his files on a pen-drive. The Story at La Crónica.

EMG says that María Seguí, the director of tráfico (the DGT), has resigned after a misunderstanding about giving some investigative projects to her husband. Sometimes, these things just don’t work out. During her tenure, traffic deaths have dropped in Spain to their lowest levels since 1960.

Catalonia:

‘Support for Catalonia's independence from Spain has grown in recent months, a survey showed on Friday, with people in the north-eastern region in favour of a split overtaking those against one. The poll comes eight months into a political deadlock at the national level after two inconclusive general elections that have left parties jockeying for power and so far unable to form a government...’. Found at Reuters. A report from The Guardian goes further: ‘Catalonia tells Spain it will push for secession with or without assent. Government says hostility from Madrid has left it with no choice but to use democratic mandate to pursue independence’. On Wednesday, the Catalonian Government approved a plan to go ahead and defy the Spanish Constitution. Next step: a public referendum on a unilateral declaration of independence. Dangerous waters...

Courts:

‘Eleven jailed in stamp scam, one of Spain's 'biggest frauds'. Spain's top criminal court said Wednesday it had sentenced 11 former executives of stamp firm Afinsa to up to 12 years in jail for their role in a vast scam that ruined thousands of savers...’. Over 190,000 people in Spain and Portugal were defrauded from their savings between 1998 and 2006. So, justice is slow... Story at The Local.

Brexit:

Petition: Expat pensioners living outside the EU do not get the annual increase. According to UK law, after Brexit the Government is free to stop pension increases to those in EU countries without reference to Parliament. This is the petition wording:

‘Depending on what treaties are agreed for Britain's exit from the EU, some British pensioners living in the EU may lose their annual State pension increases. We call upon the Government of the United Kingdom to commit to maintaining these increases for all British pensioners living in the EU’

The chief ‘Brexit’ negotiator for the European Union has been announced. He is Frenchman Michel Barnier. See what we can expect here.

Various:

A feature at El País in English: ‘A sea of plastic along Spain’s Mediterranean coastline. Researchers find similar levels of waste to those in saturated areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans’.

Spain will have to treble its efforts in reducing emissions to enable it to meet the European Union's carbon footprint targets, according to the acting environment ministry. Following measures announced by the European Commission in order to meet the COP21 Paris Summit Agreement, member States are required to cut CO2 emissions recorded in 2005 by 26% before the year 2030 - a target environmental experts believe is easily workable, but which presents Spain a daunting challenge...’. From Eye on Spain.

‘...Just two weeks ago, when President Obama visited Spain, the gift he received from Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the upstart left-wing political party Podemos, generated controversy. The present was a copy of the book “The Abraham Lincoln Brigade: A Picture History,” and in it, Iglesias penned a dedication to President Obama: “The first Americans who came to Europe to fight against fascism were the men and women of the Lincoln Brigade. Please convey to the American people the gratitude felt by Spanish democrats for the antifascist example provided by these heroes.”...’. From The Conversation: an article about the Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War.

From Sur in English: ‘The National Police have warned that organised groups of false gas inspectors are operating in the area (Costa del Sol) and targeting elderly residents as their victims. The "inspectors" turn up at the homes of their victims announcing that they are from the gas or electric company and that the inspection, to be carried out by law every five years, is due. The con men charge sums, known to be as high as 400 euros, for their inspection and often steal jewellery when the occupant of the property is not looking...’.

Spain is well-known for its illegal booze, which explains why so many bottles of superior stuff have an ‘un-refillable’ topper. This was introduced in the seventies by the manufacturer of ‘Gin Rowlins’, which unfortunately wasn’t enough to save the company. A recent report in El País shows why this feature is so popular with manufacturers (even if it does tend to make the alcohol spill all over the counter): According to an estimate from EU, Spain loses 1,300 million euros each year in fake booze and wine sold over the counter.

‘Because it was both professional and efficient, the Spanish Inquisition kept very good records. These documents are a goldmine for modern historians who have plunged greedily into them. Thus far, the fruits of that research have made one thing abundantly clear — the myth of the Spanish Inquisition has nothing at all to do with the real thing...’. From an article at Crisis Magazine.

Any old cinema buffs out there? Italian star Terence Hill is to direct a cowboy flick – a spaghetti western – in Tabernas Almería this autumn! Story at Almería Hoy

‘The Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, has incurred the wrath of Morocco by referring to the ‘occupation’ of the Western Sahara and recalling the uncertainty that has surrounded the status of this territory for over 40 years...’. From ElCano Royal Institute.

‘Tips for the Heat – Summer under the Spanish Sun’, from Piccavey.

‘The current financial crisis has thrown terminology from the business pages onto the front pages of newspapers, with jargon now abounding everywhere ... Here is a guide to many of the business terms currently cropping up regularly, as well as some of the more exotic words coined to describe some of the social effects of the financial crisis...’. From the BBC.

See Spain:

Well, it’s been a while now and one must try and forget the pain... apparently a Viking raid on Orihuela (Alicante) in the ninth century is featured in an interesting exhibition at the Museo Arqueológico de Alicante (MARQ) called ‘Vikingos. Señores del Norte. Gigantes del Mar’. Read about it at Efe Futuro. ‘A flota of between 60 and 70 sail and rowing ships with hundreds of these barbarians captained by two of the sons of King Ragnar Lodbrok, Bjorn and Hastein, reached the head of the River Segura at Guardamar in late AD858’.

Finally:

The centre of Palma de Mallorca is ‘collapsed’ by the enormous number of tourists... video from El Mundo.