Editorial:
A New Year is always the time to make promises: we make our 'resolutions' and of course politicians, presidents and Royalty must do the same. Some of these promises can be fulfilled, some may be harder to keep than others and then there are some that are little more than pure fantasy. Spaniards are running out of patience though (in this election year), so it's important that the promises made by their leaders are, for once, largely made good.
Housing:
Urbanismo Patas Arriba is a site which is against urban speculation, illegal building and corruption. In short, it's not very tolerant of spoiling the countryside. Here it rails against Spain returning to unbridled construction while apparently forgetful of the recent building 'bubble'. An excerpt: '...To consider the ladrillo (brick) as the only solution for all our ills, including unemployment, is simply an aberration without limits. It must be borne in mind that in this country there are about five million empty dwellings (finished 3.6m + 1.4m half-built) and that no priority has been given to put them into operation, for example with appropriate urban rehabilitation programmes, so further construction merely aggravates the situation further, with new urban profiteering in building and land occupancy...'.
'BBVA Research has warned that changes in property taxes introduced by the government in the latest tax reform may drive down house prices in the short term, and argue it would have been more advisable to increase tax revenue via property rates (known as IBI in Spain).
In its latest bout of tinkering with the tax code, the Spanish Government has eliminated the inflation-relief coefficient on property sales, whilst the abatement coefficient that reduced capital gains on properties acquired before 1994 now only applies to the first €400,000.
BBVA Research point out that some tax breaks still remain in place, namely when a vendor sells a primary residence and uses the proceeds to buy another main home, or if the vendor is over 65 or disabled...'. Found at Mark Stüklin's Spanish Property Insight.
'In June 2013, the government changed the rules for its booming holiday rentals market and Spain’s 17 regions were tasked with regulating their own private landlords. Eighteen months on, Andalucía is set to introduce its own regulations. There has been much speculation about the motive behind the law change. Was it to ensure owners would declare their income? Yes. Was it to introduce a minimum standard of quality in tourist accommodation in Spain? Yes. Was it due to pressure from the hotel industry? Probably…'. Opinion at The Olive Press.
'With visitor numbers rising and its economy improving, 2014 has been a fantastic year for Spain and as 2015 looks set to be even better, overseas property demand is likely to rise says Taylor Wimpey España...'. Puff piece from Opp-Connect.
Tourism:
Tourism has broken records this year with increased foreign visitors (65 million are estimated for 2014) and, better still, they have been spending more this past year, with almost 60,000 million euros bestowed in the first eleven months. Story at El País here.
Finance:
The Government has raised the monthly minimum wage in 2015 from 645.30€ per month to 648.60€, which works out at around an extra two cents an hour.
Business Week reports on the massive rent rise for many shopkeepers from January 1st, with an arresting photograph.
Medical instruments, procedures, pharmaceuticals and anything to do with patients' care has seen an increase in IVA from January 1st from 10% to 21%. Only products to do with disabilities remain at the lower level. Private hospitals can expect an increase in basic costs of around 0.8% thanks to the increase.
He's considered as 'Spain's Greatest Usurer'. He's called Antonio Arroyo and he lends money against properties. In an interview with Sr Arroyo, El Mundo asks how many loans has he made against properties – around 1500, of which he has foreclosed on about 25%...
Politics:
While the authorities are making (or rather, 'have made') some effort to encourage EU citizens, and citizens of certain other countries, to register themselves on the town hall padrón before the end of the year and to similarly register to vote in the upcoming local elections (foreigners can't vote in autonomous or national elections), there is a complaint coming from Spaniards who live abroad. They, it seem, are not encouraged by any campaign to register at their nearest consulate-run census. Which is why only 1.84% of them voted in the last General Election. Émigrés had until December 30th 2014 (!) to register if they wished to vote in the autonomous elections of next May 24th. (Under a law of 2011, permanent residents abroad may not vote in Spain's local elections). There are 1.8 million Spaniards living abroad, according to estimates. More on this here and here.
Spain's new King Felipe VI has attacked corruption across the country in his first Christmas Eve message. The king refrained however from directly referring to his sister, who is due to stand trial for tax fraud. ... The investigation into Princess Cristina - which began in 2010 - is one of the reasons why her father, Juan Carlos, abdicated in June...'. From BBC News.
Mariano Rajoy made a televised address last Friday in which he stated that his current priority was to “recover the standard of living for Spaniards that was lost during the crisis.”. You can find more on this, plus Rajoy's view of the last year and his plans for this year at El País in English here. Twenty sentences from the King's speech collected by El Huff Post here. Five uncomfortable figures that the President failed to mention since his arrival in La Moncloa at El Diario: falls in employment, in social protection and in availability of potential workers, plus an increase in poverty and job precariousness. The article here.
PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez has been quite explicit about a possible coalition with the PP after the General Elections (pencilled in for December 2015). 'Not a chance', he says.
'What’s a government to do when the people take to the street to protest the way the country is being run? A sensible government would change policies to appease the people it is committed to serving. Alternately, a government could take Spain’s current approach, which is to start fining and arresting people for protesting in the first place. Yes, that will solve the problem! Spain is showing signs of fascism with its new anti-protest legislation nicknamed the “Gag Law.”...'. From the left-wing site Truthout.
Between wages and 'extras', Spain's parliamentarians cost an annual 18 million euros, about 4,500€ monthly per deputy. Nevertheless, the annual employment cost of the Congreso, including support staff, rises to around 35 million a year. Figures from Público.
Reuters introduces Podemos here. The party, says the agency, 'offers a whole new way of thinking about politics'.
Corruption:
The Mayoress of Alicante, accused of various wrongdoings, threw in the towel last week (shortly after reading Business over Tapas) and announced her resignation... on Facebook! The comments that follow her posting all seem very favourable towards the politician. A background to the story, which involves improper favours by the PP ex-Mayoress shown to a local businessman, can be found at El Mundo, here.
Hackers, apparently from Russia, have managed to either view or even wipe clean certain files held by the Anti-corruption Prosecutors offices in Madrid and Barcelona. Particular interest from the hackers appears to do with a Mafiya group operating out of Mallorca.
The sluggishness of Spanish justice is attracting foreign money launderers, says El Confidencial here. The intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force says that Spain has created a strong system to combat money laundering and financing terrorist, but criticises the slowness of the judicial system here as well as the (apparent) soft sentencing...
What is to be done about the public dissatisfaction with our politicians and the apparent swing towards Podemos? The Parliamentary groups in representation are discussing in an all-party group how to clean up their reputation and practices. Several measures have since been agreed, including a ban on banks writing off parties’ debts. Story at El País in English.
Various:
Spain has thirteen more airports than necessary, according to experts from the EU (100,000 passengers a year or less). They cost the State some 50 million euros a year. The airports are Badajoz, León, Burgos, Salamanca, Logroño, Vitoria, Córdoba, Albacete, Huesca, Lérida, Ciudad Real, Castellón and Murcia-Corvera.
The Guardia Civil are playing their part in keeping the Government in funds, collecting some 380 million euros in fines, according to VozPopuli.
Uber, the economical citizens' car-transport alternative, much abused by the taxis, saw its web-page closed down by judge's order. The company initially said that it will continue to operate in Spain, but by Wednesday this week, it announced a 'temporary closure of its activities'. My cynical comment on The Entertainer Online here.
Some of Spain's daily newspapers, bona fide members of the AEDE which managed to arrive at that arrangement with the Government which caused Google Noticias to close, concerned by their fall in visitors, have taken to advertising themselves on the Google search engine...! PR Noticias notes that newspaper sales continued to plummet in November..
Another ramification of the 'Canon AEDE' which saw off Google Noticias, has also seen off Yahoo España with a hundred jobs lost.
Another interesting article criticises the Canon AEDE, from Astrofísica y Física (!), a science blog, which wonders who or what can be quoted and where: Wikipedia, or foreign websites, Facebook or what? The Government, having forced the law, should reveal who, what and how much (and to whom)! Furthermore, it asks, can someone collect money off a second party for quoting a third party – me for instance? Can I link to my own articles on another site I manage? How much will I have to pay, I wonder? Astrofísica y Física winds up by saying they will never accept or use any reference to AEDE sites now or in the future.
BoT is a newsletter, by the way, rather than a web-site. Anyone who reproduces this on the Internet must take appropriate responsibility...
Pedro J Ramírez, the ousted director of El Mundo, says his new digital newspaper, to be called El Español, will launch next October – just in time for the national elections...
According to the German site Heise-Suche fines of up to 600,000€ may be levied on those who protest peacefully in Spain!
'Spain's Catholic Church and Andalucía’s Tourist Board are locked in a bitter dispute over the renaming of Cordoba’s most iconic building. The row centres over the removal of the word ‘mosque’ from the title of the city’s famous Mosque-Cathedral, even though the cathedral is actually built inside a mosque. The region’s tourism department has filed a complaint with Church authorities over what it believes are moves to ‘blot out the building’s Islamic past’...'. Found at The Olive Press.
The Twelve Bells of New Year (when Spaniards eat twelve grapes to bring good luck) were reduced by a late advert on Canal Sur, the Andalucian television, to just the last three, chocking an entire community! The head of programming has now resigned...
So, why has Gin and Tonic become such a fashionable drink in Spain all of a sudden? Ellie Baker explains from a barstool at the Bristolbar in Madrid here.
Darkness and light in Goya's paintings (from The New York Review of Books).
Blogs are diary postings about a given subject. Here is a list of good Blogs on Spain for some refreshing non-commercial reading taken from Lenox' site The Entertainer Online.
A list of Spain's ten top ski paradises here.
A romantic trip around Spain? Here's the answer from Route Perfect, a useful result which you can change to suit your purpose. Sounds interesting...
Finally:
Cuba's Polo Montañez and his 'Amanece Nuevo Año' – A New Year Begins – here on YouTube.
*Business over Tapas is at Facebook here with regular updates.
Si (
No(
