Editorial:
According to a study by the AIMC, which controls media topics, 68% of Spaniards are crazy about football. Better than 8.8 million Spaniards regularly read football news and around 20% of the entire country will attend football matches. Eight out of ten Spaniards regularly watch football on the TV. The most popular newspaper in Spain is Marca, a sports paper with three million readers a day, almost twice the number who read El País. Wow!
Housing:
Dwellings on sale for under 100,000€ are enjoying a 'boom' in Spain, according to El Mundo, which quotes a property portal called Globaliza and its director Fernando Pinillos who says 'the fall in prices to below this psychological price have been common enough, with some dwellings dropping by 50% or more'. '64% of our total sales are in homes at under 100,000€' says a specialist property agency called Grupo Tecnocasa.
'After five years of double-dip recession, Spain’s economy seems to have stopped sinking. But the recovery will be a prolonged one. Despite having fallen almost 40 percent since the housing bubble burst in late 2007, home prices in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy are expected to drop by another 10 percent to 15 percent before they stabilize. “Recovery in the housing sector in Spain hinges on an improvement in employment and access to credit, both of which are prey to uncertainty,” Souheir Asba, an analyst at Societe Générale, said in a note...'. An interesting list of reasons 'why' follows. The article comes from Investing.com
'The main Spanish property news last week involved Spain's high street banks. The banks are finding it harder to offload their property assets and, with prices hitting a low point, the returns are smaller than ever. Slowing bank sales doesn't really surprise us. At this stage in the recovery, the best properties have already been cherry picked, leaving a larger percentage of lower quality or uninhabited urbanizations on sale..'. From Kyero.
'International property consultants La Vida are advising investors considering a golden visa in Europe to carefully consider their options before travelling or committing to a property investment. Independent advice is key to selecting the most appropriate residency scheme and La Vida is unique in providing this by offering services in more than one European country. "We find so many investors ill-advised on any particular programme because most real estate agencies operate in just one city or region" says La Vida MD Paul Williams. This applies also to law firms who are based in one country and qualified to advise on the laws of that country but no other...'. Story 'Spain or Portugal?' from The Sacramento Bee.
'Save our homes in Axarquía have been finding difficulties in contacting the Junta de Andalucía, who have ruled that some 16 properties in the village of Alcaucín must be demolished. They say the building licences granted by the previous Socialist administration in Alcaucín were illegal, and some of which were on protected land.
The group of local residents has appointed a new funding chief in an attempt to raise enough money to take the case to the European Court. Philip Smiley, Chairman of the group, has commented, ‘If the Junta de Andalucía won’t listen to us face to face, perhaps they will in the courts’.' From Typically Spanish. Here's a video from the BBC on 'illegal homes'.
Tourism:
'European airports that experienced higher growth in traffic in 2013 include the principal airports of Turkey and Russia, while in the European Union (EU), in general terms, traffic has slowed. In Spain, the airport of Alicante is the only Spanish airport appearing in the top five in its category by growth'. Analysis from Hostelsur.
Finance:
'The economy will begin to create jobs "in a sustained manner" in 2014 for the first time since the onset of the crisis, with a GDP of 0.9% growth, and will continue to improve in 2015, with an increase of 1.9%. But these advances 'will not reduce the current 25% unemployment rate significantly' says a report from the BBVA...'. El Mundo has the story.
'Despite some green shoots of recovery, unemployment is still a very real problem for Spain, as more and more people have lost hope of finding a job. A significant 10% of Spanish households are without an earner, a phenomenon which is only getting worse, and agriculture is the only sector not beset with job losses… so much for the much vaunted recovery. The unemployment rate is finally decreasing, the labour market is beginning to stabilise and the Government has predicted a timid, yet very real 0.7% economic growth for the year. But ordinary Spaniards still feel mired in the crisis that has dominated headlines and discussion in Spain for the last four years...'. An interesting analysis on Spain's uncertain future from The Olive Press.
'The Government has not only turned to increases in IVA, income tax and company tax to help balance the public accounts. Hacienda has resorted to a huge increase in fines, penalties and surcharges – up by 20% – since the beginning of this legislature...'. Expansión explores how the drop in taxes following the recession has been balanced by an agressive increase in fines. In the first eleven months of 2013, the figure for fines etc collected was 1,205 million euros.
El Economista in a leading article says: 'The underground economy and pensions jointly contribute to avoid a great social uprising, but things won't last much longer'. The article gives some illustrations of the problem, including '... In addition, certain media groups, mortgaged to the current political powers-that-be, are servilely contributing to further degenerate our undemocratic system...'.
'...As a result, citizens are arriving at the conclusion that Spain should be reconstructed financially, politicly and morally; and that the two main parties in power will not be the architects of these most necessary changes...'.
'Panama has reached partial agreements with Spanish construction company Sacyr that halted work to expand the Panama Canal in a dispute over a huge cost overrun, its administrator said on Wednesday. Agreements in principle have been reached on some issues although others remain outstanding. But the Panama Canal Authority will not negotiate forever and does not rule out resuming the mega-project on its own in a week if a final accord is not reached, administrator Jorge Quijano told reporters.
He spoke after holding video-conference talks Tuesday with executives of the Spanish-led consortium hired to expand the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific so it can handle larger ships...'. From The Local.
White Elephants:
'The AVE high speed train line between Almería and Seville has been abandoned by both the central government and the Junta de Andalucía Tuesday, throwing away hundreds of millions of euros of taxpayers money. The central government officially renounced any plans to invest further money into the AVE Andalucía inland line, cancelling a projected investment of a further 280 million euros. This decision will stand until a new transport plan which is expected for 2016. So far, 1,337 million euros has been spent on this line...'. From David Jackson. More on this at Cinco Días.
Politics:
'Ex-pats... could have their own MP under Liberal Democrat plans for overseas constituencies. British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg wants MPs representing British nationals in Europe, Africa and North America in order to create a ‘fairer’ Parliament.
British ex-pats can currently still vote for fifteen years, with their votes counted in their old constituency. Under the Lib Dem plans, expected to be approved at the Spring party conference, MPs would provide ex-pats with a voice back in the UK...'. From The Olive Press. A good idea?
A new leader for the Andalucía Partido Popular has been chosen by Mariano Rajoy: the youthful and energetic Secretary of State for Social Services, a Malagüeno called Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla. He will go head-to-head (if ratified in the Andalucían party conference early next month) with the equally young President of the Junta Susana Díaz.
'...Spain's government has approved a draft bill that will allow descendants of those Sephardic Jews who were expelled in 1492, under the crusading Catholic rule of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, to seek dual citizenship. The new law would offer the prospect of an EU passport to up to 3.5 million people worldwide, many in Israel but others thought to reside in France, the United States, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina and Chile...'. From The Telegraph. This peculiar bill might as well be extended to that other group expelled from Spain at the same time, many of whom famously still hold the keys to their homes in Granada, the Moors...
"Five centuries ago, the expulsion happened partly because the Iberian rulers wanted the Jews' assets. Now we see efforts to welcome back the Jews partly for the same reason." — Michael Freund, chairman of Shavei Israel, quoted in an interesting article called 'Sephardic Jews are Welcomed Back – Maybe' by Soeren Kern.
'MPs voted on Tuesday to push forward with a bill that limits the power of Spanish judges to pursue criminal cases outside the country, a move that human rights organisations said would end Spain's leading role as an enforcer of international justice.
Last month, the ruling Partido Popular tabled a fast-track legal change to curb the use of universal jurisdiction, a provision in international law that allows judges to try cases of human rights abuses committed in other countries. Since being adopted into Spanish law nearly two decades ago, the doctrine has allowed Spanish judges to reach beyond their borders and investigate serious human rights abuses in countries such as Argentina, Rwanda and Guatemala...'. And, of course, Tibet. Story at The Guardian.
'Spanish MPs narrowly voted on Tuesday to continue moving forward with legislation to drastically limit access to abortion in the country. In a secret ballot, initiated by the PSOE, MPs voted 183 to 151 against abandoning the proposed changes to the abortion law. Tabled in late December by the governing Partido Popular, the legislation seeks to enact some of the toughest abortion legislation in Europe. Widely attacked by women's groups as a step backwards, the changes will make abortion illegal except in the case of rape or when there is a risk to the physical and mental health of the mother. Any woman wanting an abortion would require two doctors to verify these circumstances were being met...'. From The Guardian. Meanwhile, the PP Councillor Davinia Saorín, from Calasparra, Murcia, described abortion on Tuesday as 'killing a human being: as an act of terrorism'. Video here.
'The year before an election is a year full of projects. This premise is still being strictly adhered to, despite the economic difficulties from which town halls cannot escape. Time is flying past and in May next year voters all over the country will be going to the polls to choose their local mayors. It is time once again to gather up and put into effect projects that will make the local population feel good about the work carried out by their council. However, there is only just over a year to do this, because the law prohibits the inauguration of new projects during the few weeks preceding the elections...'. From Sur in English.
Courts
A poorly written but interesting item from a Spanish lawyer writing in Eye on Spain: 'Chamber for Civil Matters of our Supreme Court passed last summer a decision against a Property Valuation Company, for damages resulting from an over-valuation of several properties. The Highest Civil Court found out that the value assigned to those properties were well above the market value.
The damaged party? A bank. Yes, incredible as it sounds. Bank as damaged and causer 50/50...'.
Colin Davis writes in his blog Thoughts from Galicia that '...Princess Cristina duly went to court Saturday, to answer questions about the business owned by her and her husband which is implicated in corrupt practices. To no one's great surprise, she said she loved her husband so much she did everything he asked her to, without question. Other than that, she was 'evasive', according to one of the interested parties who was allowed to attend. It's all a complete waste of time, of course, as the Princess indisputably cannot be guilty. We know this because the President has told us she is innocent. Not just 'deserving of the presumption of innocence' but certainly innocent. Perhaps he knows something that we don't know. After all, the State Prosecutor has striven manfully to stop the Princess getting this far, on the basis that he feels she has no case to answer...'. A blow-by-blow version of the Royal court appearance is available at El País in English here.
Tax
'The OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, granted Spain the top rating for transparency and exchange of tax information. The 6th meeting, held last week in Jakarta (Indonesia), issued the first overall ratings of fifty jurisdictions around the world, guaranteeing the results are fair and consistent across these jurisdictions...' From Kyero last November.
It’s a safe bet this “exchange” will be a one way street - no matter how “transparent” Spain is said to be, it probably won’t in practice hand out much info, since this place is no tax haven and it doesn’t have a lot of rich Spanish ex-pats who have gone away to other places - most have stayed here because they can do so well by greasing the right palms and stuffing their money into offshore accounts and never owning up to having such assets, etc. (see the recent GRECO and ECASE reports on corruption, etc.). Many of the wealthiest Spaniards, according to media reports, have their money elsewhere and despite exercises such as the tax amnesties and the threats under the asset declaration process, the tax mafia here have come up quite empty handed - about 4% of those who should have done so, as media reports have it, told the Finance dept. about assets held outside Spain. Not long ago, it was reported that about two thirds of Spanish companies listed on the IBEX and all but one major Spanish bank operated in tax havens. Will the exchange of information deals make much difference?
The finance dept. however assumes that non Spanish people resident here have assets in their former home countries and will see how they can be grabbed. Easy to do at little political risk in a country where the large number of ex-pats have no, and it seems diminishing, clout at the polls.
Will Hacienda hire thousands of tax inspectors just as the financial advisory services here would have one believe there is no escape from the 720 process, so they can drag in scared customers? One “infomercial” article currently running in several papers is titled “Foreigners in Spain: Main target of the tax authorities.” Probably quite accurate in that sense.
Currently there is no new information as to what may be happening in Brussels regarding the various complaints and petitions presented against the asset declaration process here. The MEPs already seem to be in pre election mode, looking at only issues that will serve to promote their profile and re-election prospects. Is this one of those? (Anon.)
'According to Government sources, in order to reassure millions of mortgage holders, the Ministry of Finance announced that it does not plan to eliminate the deduction in income tax for home purchase retroactively. The PP Government abolished the income tax deduction for home purchases, for new purchases made from 1st January 2013, but there are still many Spanish mortgage holders who bought their property before that date who continue to enjoy this reduction, which fixes the maximum deductible at 15% per taxpayer based on a maximum of 9,040 per year, i.e. about 1,350 euros a year...'. From Kyero.
Various:
'Just as the Swiss gave the thumbs down to freedom of movement across the EU, a timely new study reveals the benefits EU ex-pats are having on their new communities. The report by the European Commission focused on cities in six EU countries - Barcelona, Lille, Hamburg, Prague, Turin and Dublin - and looked at the impact of EU ex-pats living there.
It concludes that the influx of migrants from other EU countries has had major economic benefits, not least in boosting state coffers...
The study also showed that newcomers have helped “fill gaps in local labour markets, contributed to growth in new sectors and have helped balance out ageing populations”.
Such is the case with EU mobile citizens in Barcelona (26 percent of the city’s foreign population), who the European Commission believe have made a “strong contribution to the increase in the weight of service sectors in the local economy”...'. From The Local.
That New York Times article (supposedly) by Pedro J Ramírez, the ex-Director of El Mundo: 'In Spain, Fired for Speaking Out'.
'There are currently many protests in the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands against potential oil exploration near the Islands. Some famous voices have been added to give visibility and Ibiza, the meeting point for celebrities, is counting on lots of help to generate media noise: from naked celebrity photos with posters of 'Eivissa diu no' ('Ibiza says no') arrived from different parts of the world...'. El Huff Post has the story (and the pictures).
From The Wall Street Journal: 'Anconia Resources Corp is pleased to announce the acquisition of the "Jarositas" exploration permit situated in southern Spain. Anconia has acquired, by way of application with the regional mining authority, an exploration permit in southern Spain called Jarositas, which covers approximately 154 square kilometres of ground prospective for lead-zinc-silver exploration...'. Where? It's in Mazarron, Murcia.
The remains of a superb Roman villa were briefly discovered in Los Mondragones in the province of Granada before the local town hall continued with its project... of building a parking lot. Seems that the Junta de Andalucía gave the 'go ahead'. El Mundo reports.
Citizenship: The rules on accessing nationality are very different from one EU member state to another. Spain offers the fastest route for most of its immigrants from non-EU countries. See here.
'Last week the BBC's channels disappeared and now ex-pats across much of Europe have also lost reception of ITV and Channel 4. The problem is the result of broadcasters switching to a new satellite but experts say that there may be solutions, depending on where you live. Aficionados of British TV in much of Spain were still reeling from the loss of the BBC’s Eastenders and Top Gear from their screens when the curtain also fell on Coronation Street. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, ITV and Channel 4 followed the BBC and switched over to a new orbiting satellite...'. From The Local.
'Spain has more nature reserves than anywhere else in Europe and the second-highest number on the planet, according to UNESCO – and has just added another three to its list.
The world heritage charity says Spain is the 'most active' in its biodiversity programmes, with 45 protected nature reserves – the USA has 47, making it the country with the largest number, and Mexico comes third with 40. In total, UNESCO's natural heritage sites come to 621 and are spread around 117 countries. Three new biospheres in Spain have been added to the list this week - La Granja and El Espinar, in the provice of Segovia, Castilla y León; As Mariñas Coruñesas and Terras do Mandeo, in the north-western region of Galicia, and the Ebro delta in Catalunya...'. Story at Think Spain (and we thought, what with all that fuss from the ecologists about building 'illegal homes' in the Málaga and Almería hinterlands that there were hardly any empty space here!).
Good news for bullfight fans... the Government will soon be dropping IVA on La Corrida to just 10%.
How to move abroad and not mess things up – a guide for Spaniards moving abroad to work written by José Antonio Sierra. José Antonio has himself lived in England and France and for 33 years he lived and worked in Ireland. He has so far produced guides to working in Belgium, Finland, London, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.
Three Spanish books recommended to Business over Tapas about the current political crisis: 'Recomponer la Democrácia' by Andrés Ortega; 'Destruir España (antes de que Ella nos detruya a todos)' by Javier Ríos and 'La Tormenta Perfecta' by Enrique Alcat. Each priced around 19 euros – find them at La Librería de Casarabet in Mas de las Matas (Teruel) here.
Finally:
Buildings that should be demolished, immediately. A list of Spanish atrocities (Personally, I'm fond of a few of them) here.
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