A digest of this week's Spanish financial, political and social news aimed primarily at Foreign Property Owners: with Lenox Napier and Andrew Brociner. For subscriptions and other information about this site, go to businessovertapas.com, email: lenox@businessovertapas.com - Note: Underlined words or phrases are links to the Internet. Right click and press 'Control' on your keyboard to access.
Editorial:
One of the pleasures of life in Spain (we are told) is watching British TV. Now the switch-over from the S.E.S. Astra 1N and 2N satellite transponders to the new replacement Astra 2E "tight-beam" senders took place last night (Wednesday). The much-advertised so-called 'saviour' of ex-pat viewing habits, in the form of IPTV suppliers' promises saying all that's needed is to purchase new equipment from them to connect to a standard internet router and thus receive programmes streamed on the Internet, is, unfortunately, pure catch-penny fantasy.
The terms of most Internet Service Providers for their subscribers' use in normal web-browsing, e-mail traffic, watching occasional YouTube films, etc., excludes regular and extended-period streaming of live TV programmes, since mass connections by thousands of potential viewers to an Internet server in order to watch gigabytes of TV picture data will instantly wipe out said server.
It is a golden opportunity to turn to the far more relevant Spanish TV, or to read a good book, or to enjoy the evening's sunset with a glass of wine on the terrace.
Housing:
'Brits aiming to buy property abroad are more likely to set their sights Spain rather than traditional favourite France, research suggests, despite recent woes including a Spanish property crash and foreign owners being duped into buying on protected land.
The top reasons for moving overseas are for better weather and a less stressful way of life, the survey of 3,000 people by Rightmove Overseas found. Spain topped the poll of places new buyers want a holiday home despite the problems suffered by UK owners of Spanish property in the financial crisis...'. From This is Money.
'64% of European investors expect that the prices of homes situated in prime areas of Spain will increase during 2014, while 38% believe that this trend will also be observed in the secondary segments. At the same time, 92% of these investors predict that the price declines will persist in the outskirts of cities.
These are the conclusions included in the report entitled ‘Estate Assets Investment Trend Indicator 2014′, prepared by Ernst & Young, which analysed the opinions of 500 executives from 15 European countries, and in which it indicates that 93% of the investors expect the prices of offices and shopping centres located in prime areas to increase this year, and 84% expect the same for hotel assets in these locations...'. From Kyero.
'The Vice-secretary for Territory, the Environment and European Affairs of the Andalucian PP, Alicia Martínez, asked that the President of the Junta de Andalucía, Susana Díaz, before proposing new urban development models “should offer solutions to the 300,000 families affected by their 'illegal' housing situation,” which comes from “the model of Socialist urban planning over the past 30 years in Andalucía"...'. From El Almería.
Property lawyer Gerardo Vázquez spoke at a two-day meeting in Seville held between home-owners' associations and representatives of the Andalucían Administration. An excerpt: '...What will the Administration do? Could it condemn hundreds of thousands of homes to this legal limbo? Or is it going to tear down hundreds of thousands of homes, or maybe just demolish a few? Which ones? Where? When? Are there preferred municipalities? Of course not, yet a solution to this problem must be made. You can't demolish thousands of homes. And if they can't be demolished, then they must be regularized as far as might be possible.'... More on this at El Indálico.
From the AUAN (representing home-owners in Northern Almería): 'The three principle political parties in Andalucía have met independently with the main associations of those affected by illegal housing in Andalucía in the past few days. Representatives of AUAN used their visit to Seville to meet with representatives of the PP and IU. And on Friday, AUAN met with the Secretary General of the PSOE in Almería José Luis Sánchez Teruel; The Secretary of Municipal Politics Adela Segura; the Mayor of Albox Rogelio Mena, along with other mayors and council members of the Valle of Almanzora. Sánchez Teruel said that the meeting was 'necessary to speak to those affected and to understand the situation'. He indicated the 'willingness' of the Junta to 'advance the search for solutions' and offered the affected the possibility of meeting with those responsible in the Andalucian government to discuss the solutions and proposals that the government is currently considering'. (More in 'Essays' below).
Residents of the Axarquía (Eastern Málaga) aim to raise 20,000 Euros to defend the legality of their homes in Strasbourg after the annulment of more than a dozen building licences in the town of Alcaucín. The money is being collected by the local property-owners' association SOHA (Save Our Homes in Axarquía). '...The money will be used to hire legal experts from various Spanish and British universities and ex-members of some of the highest courts to demonstrate 'defencelessness' of these residents when they appeal to the European Court of human rights..'. From La Opinión de Málaga.
In the province of Ávila and on the outskirts of the city, the demolition of 73 buildings has been ordered by the mayor. The buildings – a mixture of homes, cottages, warehouses and so on built on rustic land – were originally ordered to be removed twenty years ago, but evidently, no one took any notice. The story here.
'In the wake of recent inaccurate reports in the UK press about the banning of holiday rentals in Spain, The Local talks to property expert and blogger Louise Brace to set the record straight on what ex-pat home-owners really need to focus on. In June 2013, Spain overhauled the rules for its booming private holiday rentals market, handing over control of the sector to each of Spain's 17 regions. The government said the move was about improving the quality of Spanish tourism while many saw it as a way for them to harvest more tax. Whatever the reasons, the changes sparked plenty of confusion among Spain's ex-pat home-owners'... Read the story at The Local, here.
Tourism:
From El País: 'There are few things that the richest in the world can not buy. And over the last few months there are now two less: European citizenship and residence. To the indignation of Brussels, with a million odd euros you can buy a perfectly legal passport in Malta. Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece are among other countries where, for the right money, you can obtain residence or even become nationalized'... (Which explains those strange new neighbours of ours with the Rolex watches and gold teeth). There is a useful guide to the different opportunities in a graphic, here.
'You can now take sealed aerosols, baby products, specific dietary drinks and medicines over 100ml when flying from Spanish airports'... From David Jackson.
Employment:
'While the figures have moderated, the year of recovery has begun for the labour market as any other in the crisis. In the first month of the year, 184,031 jobs, an average of 6,000 per day, were destroyed and unemployment across the country increased by 113,097 people, nearly 3,700 each day. The discouragement among the working population continues, since only six out of every ten people who lost their jobs in January have bothered to pass by the unemployment offices to sign up, either because they believe that they will not find work or because they have moved abroad or because they already won't receive any dole money...'. El Mundo reports.
Corruption:
'Ninety-five percent of Spaniards believe corruption is generalized, according to the first continent-wide study on the issue by the European Commission. Only respondents in Greece (99 percent) and Italy (97 percent) outdid Spain. The report, which was presented on Monday in Brussels, underscores the magnitude of the issue in Europe: three out of four EU citizens believe corruption is an institutional problem.
In two areas of the survey Spain topped the charts. Asked if the level of corruption has risen in the past three years, 77 percent said yes, more than in the other 27 member states. Two out of every three respondents said that corruption affected their daily lives, more than in any other nation'... From El País in English.
Today, Thursday 6th February, the oddly called Gürtel Investigation is five years old. It's a case of massive corruption and complication, with 187 accused, out of which, 74 are or were politicians. The first arrests in the Gürtel Investigation were ordered by Judge Báltazar Garzón in February 2009, including Francisco Correa, a Valencian businessman accused of arranging commissions and pay-offs. The same Judge Garzón was inhabilitated as a judge for eleven years for ordering illegal wire-tapping. Judge Pablo Ruz is now in charge of the case (which includes the Bárcenas inquiry) and a resolution is expected soon. More here at El Mundo. But all is not yet written. On Monday, the Police accused ex-Minister Francisco Álvarez-Cascos of receiving commissions in the past.
White Elephants:
The 'top of the fiasco list' according to a whimsical piece in The Local: 'The builders of a 9.4km (5.8 mile) toll road designed to absorb the bulk of the traffic between Madrid and Barajas airport have declared a debt of €550 million as a result of runaway construction costs and the unforeseen preference of motorists for using the free road that runs alongside'...
Politics:
The Spanish foreign minister José Manuel García Margallo talked to The Financial Times about up-coming plebiscites last week: '...“If Scotland becomes independent in accordance with the legal and institutional procedures, it will ask for admission [to the EU]. If that process has indeed been legal, that request can be considered. If not, then not,” he said.
While he refused to comment directly on whether Spain might veto Scottish accession to the EU after an independence vote, he insisted the cases of Scotland and Catalonia were “fundamentally different”. Madrid would continue to resist a Catalan plan to hold its own referendum on independence less than two months after the Scottish vote in September, he said'... More on this at El Mundo. A recent TV debate between ex-President Felipe Gonzalez and Catalonian leader Artur Mas is discussed here (in English).
Following the removal of Pedro J Ramírez from the helm of El Mundo, El Espía en el Congreso suggests that the next thorn in the Government's flesh to be removed is a hugely popular television commentator called José Miguel Monzón Navarro, better known as 'El Gran Wyoming', who has a daily TV program called 'El Intermedio' on 'La Sexta'. The owner of the TV channel also owns La Razón newspaper, firmly to the Right. '... "Pressure on us is terrific," says a Senior Executive of the television company...'.
Courts
An interesting story about the judge who twice (unsuccessfully) jailed a banker, and is now himself under investigation, highlighting Spain's troubled justice system from The Wall Street Journal: 'A judge whose probe of alleged financial misconduct made headlines last year is fighting to avoid expulsion from Spain's judiciary. His alleged offence, according to prosecutors: He improperly sent a banker to jail. The judge, however, believes he's being punished because the banker was politically connected.
Government prosecutors say Judge Elpidio José Silva overstepped his authority by wrongfully arresting the banker, who is now free, and should be disbarred for 30 years. The 54-year-old judge says the accusations are politically motivated and part of a wider pattern of obstruction of justice...'. Later: the banker in question, Miguel Blesa, is again 'an official suspect in the sale of complex preferred shares to financially unsophisticated customers, judicial sources said Tuesday' (From El País in English).
The Prosecutor's Office is against giving a pardon to ex-judge Baltazar Garzón since, says the Office, there are 'no reasons of justice, equity, or public interest to waive the penalty of eleven years of inhabilitation imposed on him by the Supreme Court in 2012' (Found at El Mundo).
Essays:
1 'Illegal Homes'
2 Expatriate voting rights
YOUR HOME IS ILLEGAL FROM HERE TO ETERNITY IF YOU ARE ON THE WRONG TYPE OF PLOT ACCORDING TO THE JUNTA
From the AUAN, 3rd February 2014
In the latest twist to the illegal homes saga, the home-owners association, AUAN, reveals that some of its members in El Fas, Cantoria are facing allegations from the regional government that their homes are still illegal because they were constructed on the wrong type of plot. Even though the home-owners, British pensioners, have been living in their homes for nearly 10 years they have had their services disconnected whilst the proceedings rumble on.
An irregular plot, known as a parcelación urbanistica, is alleged to occur when a piece of rustic land is divided in order to construct houses. According to AUAN such land divisions are commonplace in the Valley of Almanzora, with around 30 similar examples of these land divisions in Albox alone affecting some 278 properties.
The AUAN members, with the help of the association and its lawyer Gerardo Vazquez, have presented legal objections to the town hall of Cantoria arguing that the proceedings should be archived and that basic services such as electricity and water, disconnected via an injunction as a result of this case, should be restored to these properties.
As Maura Hillen, president of the association explains ‘The Junta alleges that this type of land division is never proscribed from prosecution. But, if murder can be proscribed after a period of time, why not illegal land divisions for goodness sake? Anyway what exactly is the point of pursuing this case? Does this mean that the government is going to enforce this legislation whenever they feel like it from here to eternity against thousands if not hundreds of thousands of plots where there is an irregular land division? Are they going to challenge everyone or are they just going to challenge a few? If so, why just a few?”
Mrs Hillen concluded ‘Home-owners cannot afford to less this pass unchallenged. We do not agree with the regional government’s legal position on irregular land divisions and we believe that we have clear legal arguments to support our view. Our association is supporting this particular case because the outcome affects so many others in similar circumstances.’
'Britain is “punishing” its expatriates for leaving the country by denying them the right to vote, the European Commission has said. The Government should overturn a law which strips UK citizens of their right to vote if they have not been on the electoral roll for the past fifteen years, Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner said. Britons who retire abroad are treated as “second class citizens” because of rules that run contrary to European principles of freedom of movement, Ms Reding said'... (From Survive France). In a comment to the above, a quote from Sir Roger Gale MP: 'In the interests of democracy all UK citizens, wherever they may reside, should have the right to vote in both UK parliamentary elections and in a future EU referendum if, as I hope, there is to be one. In most developed democracies citizens have the right to vote in perpetuity. In the UK that right, for those overseas, is limited to 15 years and the registration system is far too complex'.
Euractiv sets out Ms Reding's case: 'The European Commission has issued guidance to member states that currently have rules preventing their citizens from voting in national or regional elections because they live in another EU country.
At the moment Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Malta and the United Kingdom have all applied voting regimes which prevent their citizens from taking part in national or regional elections as soon as they leave their home country.
According to the Commission, such rules negatively affect the EU's free movement rights and go against the founding premise of European citizenship which is meant to give citizens additional rights, not fewer'...
Various:
'Residents of Valencia and the Balearic Islands have become embroiled in a dispute with the Spanish government after it gave approval for an oil drilling project in the gulf of Valencia. Cairn Energy is planning to drill for oil in the waters off the coast of Ibiza, a project that could have a devastating environmental impact'... From The Olive Press.
Canal Sur, the Andalucian television, managed a daily shortfall of 72,300€ during 2013 or 26.4 million euros, according to El Mundo.
For those concerned about watching British satellite TV in Spain, This web-page seems to have the 'low-down'.
Now, run the bulls in Houston... The Guardian tells of an attempt to export Spain's jolliest fiesta to Texas and elsewhere. '...Houston was the first of 10 Great Bull Runs scheduled across the US in 2014. The next is in central Florida on 8 March. The tour debuted last year in Virginia and Georgia and is the brainchild of Rob Dickens and Brad Scudder, two thirty-somethings who trained as lawyers before they became entrepreneurs seeking to turn thrills into profits...'.
A Spanish writer, Juan José Téllez, wants to open up Spain to Gibraltar. His new book is called 'Viaje al Corazón de Gibraltar'. He says: 'Gibraltar and its surrounding towns seem like a couple sleeping in separate beds. Historically, they are very close, but their people have been sequestered everyday by the major diplomatic and military interests arranged in offices in Utrecht, Madrid or London. It has never taken the local people into account'... El Almería has the story.
The meat is easy enough to translate, but what's that fish called in English? Eye on Spain has the complete list.
Finally:
A short and gloomy video about housing in Spain here – trailer for a film by Gereon Wetzel called 'Houses For All'. The story of greed and empty houses is carried in Urbanismo Patas Arriba.