Editorial:
They always say (well, every fourth year they do, anyway) that, thanks to all the new road-works, presentations, openings, tax-benefits, new jobs and, in short, gooey public attention being thrust upon the citizens by their indulgent leaders, there really should be elections every year. So cynical. This is very much an election year, with local, regional and national elections upon us, and we shall be well-served for a time (until the bunting is taken down).
Housing:
Is the Spanish Property Market returning to glory, asks NuWire Investor. The affirmative article ends with this: '...For Spain, the UK has long been a major source of property investors as well as tourists. 2015 is forecast to see a big surge in investment from UK buyers, partly thanks to changes to pension rules. Pensioners in the UK will now be able to take part of their pension pot as a lump sum for investing as they choose, and Spain is expected to prove an attractive market'.
Quoting an article in El Mundo, Mark Stüklin's Spanish Property Insight says that the newspaper '...reports the year is kicking off with optimism after green shoots appeared in 2014, and a new property market cycle has begun … Experts forecast increasing demand driven by price stability (no longer falling), cheap and accessible finance, and a rising supply of new building projects...'.
With the Pound riding high against the Euro, The Telegraph says that 'Ex-pats are taking advantage of high house prices in Britain and buying in southern Spain once again...'.
...and for those buying a home in 2015, some points to remember from El Mundo. Meanwhile, for those renting, here's an appropriate article at The Local.
San Fulgencio in Alicante, the most British town in Spain (We're not kidding, 77% of all residents there are foreign, and that's just with information from the padrón, which always understates the foreigners...). The story here.
Typically Spanish considers the new tourism law in the Valencia region which obliges all owners who rent to register. A larger picture comes from Spain-Holiday.com: 'It’s been 18 months since changes to the LAU (Spanish Tenancy Act) were introduced, affecting Spanish holiday rentals. In this time Spain-holiday.com has been working its way across the seventeen autonomous communities to find out exactly how the legislation has been interpreted and what a holiday home-owner should do to apply for their licence...'. Find out what are the rules for your region.
La Voz de Almería reports on 'stress, ill health and ruin': the other face of the property boom... An interview with two pensioners who are part of the Rambla de Oria case (Almería hinterland) where the state prosecutor is seeking demolition of five houses. The case was temporarily postponed last week to allow the court to consider arguments submitted by lawyers acting for the home owners. The reality is that it is very hard on elderly settlers to be forced to live, probably for the rest of their lives, under the stress of 'owning' (hah!) an 'illegal house' in a country which has little respect for them.
Philip Smalley, President of SOHA (Save Our Homes Axarquía), has granted an interview to La Opinión de Málaga about the issue of illegal homes in eastern Málaga, where some 15,000 homes are patiently waiting for the Junta de Andalucía for 'regularization'. He says '...nothing has happened since the Junta announced a change in the LOUA (rural planning laws) last September to expedite the solution to our problems. We are today at point zero. We are dead in the water. We don't know where we are going. Those many citizens who tell us that the people of Andalucía are better than their rulers have got it right...'.
'Some 4,500 illegal homes in Conil (Cádiz) are close to regulation. This week the town hall will make public its incorporation in the Junta decree, approved in 2012 which gives the green light to solve the cystic problem which has affected numerous villages in Andalucía; the existence of more than a quarter million homes without licence in 332 municipalities (42.83% of the total number) have responded to the Junta’s call...'. From Typically Spanish.
'A dozen ex-pats have had a stunning victory against Cajasol bank and a defunct property promoter. An Estepona court has ordered Manilva Costa SA and Cajasol – now known as Caixabank – to return €600,000, plus interest, to 11 British ex-pats who bought properties in the Jardines de Manilva development...'. Found at The Olive Press.
Associations representing those affected by the issue of illegal houses met with senior British diplomats in Málaga on the 20th January to provide a briefing regarding issues affecting their members. “We briefed the diplomats on our situation and what progress has been made after many, many years to resolve it. Which is of course, very little” said Maura Hillen, president of AUAN. Present at the meeting were the British Ambassador, Simon Manley, the Head of the Diplomatic Services and Policy Advisor to the Foreign Secretary, Sir Simon Fraser, the British Consul, Charmain Arbouin, the President of AUAN, Maura Hillen and the President of SOHA, Phil Smalley. (Press release).
ABC calculates that a Spaniard will work for an average of 7.8 years on his life merely to pay for a home (it was 13.6 years back in 2007). This average varies according to region, with Murcia being the cheapest and the Balearic Islands the most expensive.
The Chinese magnate Wang Jianlin, who has just bought 20% of the shares of Atletico de Madrid for 45 million euros, says he will invest at least 3,000 million euros in a giant gaming complex to be called Eurovegas, in Campamento, an estate south of Madrid, if his negotiations with the Spanish authorities prove a success. Wang also owns the Edificio España skyscraper in downtown Madrid. More at the ABC.
From The Guardian: 'The costa del concrete: the Mediterranean coastline then and now – in pictures'. Here.
Tourism:
Indignation in the Balearic Islands over a British TV show called 'Blue Go Mad in Ibiza' (promo video here) which suggests that it's all rather a boozy mess there – an impression which couldn't be further from the truth (ahem!). El Mundo is suitably indignant.
The International Tourist Fair, the FITUR, starts in Madrid next Wednesday 28th until Sunday, February 1st with over 9,000 exhibitors. All those towns with a thirst for tourism will send a few councillors and friends to man the stands (and have a jolly time in Madrid besides).
Finance:
The IMF has revised its growth forecast for Spain upwards and expects the country to grow by 2% in 2015. The CNBC adds a note of caution: 'After battling a financial crisis, burst property bubble and recession, Spain now appears to be on the road to recovery but some analysts have warned it could be a bumpy ride, with the dangers posed by deflation looming large. Despite a high-profile banking crisis and property meltdown just three years ago, the Bank of Spain now expects the Spanish economy to have grown by 1.4 percent in 2014, and to expand by 2 percent in 2015, led by domestic demand...'.
Beware of easy money, says El Diario redundantly as it explores the world of easy loans, often seen on TV or in popular magazines, some of which can legally charge up to a whopping 7,896% TAE (annual percentage rate of charge) per year.
Spain imports 99.5% of its crude oil and gas from abroad, with only enough local production, as the ABC colourfully puts it, to fill one tanker. The annual cost to Spain is 41,000 million euros. This explains the high interest in finding reserves off the Canary Islands (which has now been abandoned by Repsol). With Brent currently at around $50 a barrel, Spain could be saving something like 10,000 million euros this year.
Wealth, having it all and wanting more, is the title of a recent report from Oxfam which states that, by 2016, 1% of the world will be wealthier than the remaining 99% and that Spain is the second highest 'unequal' country in wealth in Europe (after Lithuania). The subject is also treated by El Huff Post, which points out that the tax system in Spain is partly to blame for the huge gap between the poor and the wealthy here. Wolf Street weighs in on the subject: '...In 2009, the richest 80 people, based on the Forbes list of billionaires, sat on just under $1 trillion in net wealth, the report found. By 2014, their pile had doubled to $1.9 trillion. At the same time, the pile that the bottom 50% carves up amongst each other actually declined a smidgen, leaving them with less than half of the global wealth. So the 80 richest folks own more than the poorest 3.5 billion folks combined...'.
Politics:
'Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy revised up his 2014–2015 jobs growth forecast on Sunday as the country heads deeper into election territory. Spain will have created one million jobs in two years by the end of 2015, said a bullish Rajoy in a wide-ranging interview with Spanish news agency Efe on Sunday...'. Found at The Local.
Maura Hillen, President of the AUAN (Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora – No!), will run as an independent behind the Mayor of Albox, Rogelio Mena PSOE in the local elections of May 24tth. Story at Europa Press here.
El Diario notes the rise of a conservative party in Spain called 'Ciudadanos'. It asks, 'is Ciudadanos the new Podemos of the right?' The party currently lies 4th in voting intention, with about 8%. La Marea also profiles the rise of Ciudadanos.
The President of the Junta de Andalucía, Susana Díaz, spoke in Málaga recently about the strength of the local business there, saying that 'Málaga is the jewel in the Spanish economy'. Sur in English has more. Ms Díaz, now with deep problems between her PSOE and the coalition IU, may call for early regional elections, but now there is a further complication, as this week, she announced her pregnancy.
'Friendly fire' is the title of a piece in El Huff Post about plots from within the PSOE to weaken or remove Pedro Sánchez as Party Leader. Meanwhile, we hear that the last president of the party, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, recently held a secret meeting to discuss the future with none other than the leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias.
The World Social Website is worried that Spain is using the excuse of the Paris attacks 'to clamp down on democratic rights' at home.
'Spanish party Podemos has criticized some of Goldman Sachs' investments in the country: Bloomberg News doesn't like that', says Telesur here.
Spain and Greece, the same only different. An article about the challenges from the Left, at the El Cano Royal Institute written by William Chislett.
Elections 2015:
Local Elections – 24th May. EU citizens and certain others, resident in Spain, may vote.
Autonomous Elections – 24th May (Except Andalucía, Catalonia, Galicia and Euzkadi).
Andalucía – Now appears likely to call snap elections soon...
Catalonian Elections – 27th September.
National Elections – Between 20th November and 20th December (probably).
Corruption:
The ex-treasurer of the Partido Popular, Luis Bárcenas, gave an interview recently from prison to the ABC here against the advice of his lawyer Javier Gómez de Liaño, who has since broken with his charge. Bárcenas, in the interview, says that he is used by politicians as the figurehead of the Gürtel Case, 'look, they say, we've got the big fish in the jail'. 'So why aren't I treated like Rodrigo Rato?', he asks. 'They all knew where the money came from, and where it was going,' says the ex-treasurer about his political cronies. As the Prosecutor asks for prison sentence of 42 years for the ex-treasurer, El Confidencial thinks that 'the Bárcenas bomb' could explode in the faces of the PP during the autumn campaign.
*But Wait: Tuesday. Luis Bárcenas has been set a conditional bail of 200,000€ to regain his freedom (here at Bolsamanía). He is expected to be released today, Thursday.
The Xornal de Galicia has a special edition devoted to corruption within the Partido Popular in the region here.
Catalonia:
The elections called for September 27th in Catalonia are just a drive for independence, which could easily backfire, says Reuters caustically.
Courts:
The anti-corruption prosecutors '...request a total of 123 years and 4 months in prison for Francisco Correa, the supposed brains behind Gürtel, the corruption inside the PP, and 42 years and six months for Luis Bárcenas, the ex-treasurer of the conservative formation who hoarded 48 million € in Swiss bank accounts...'. From Typically Spanish. More on this with El Mundo.
Facu Díaz, the comic whose video sketch on La Tuerka landed him in trouble (see last week's BoT editorial), has now been forgiven by the Audiencia Nacional after making a declaration there last Thursday. Like all good comedy, it no doubt boiled down to just a question of timing.
The definition of 'terrorismo' has been broadened by the Government to include crimes associated with abortion, damage to the foetus, genetic manipulation, acts against 'public order' or against the 'social harmony' or the creation of a grave sentiment of public insecurity or fear – which includes violent labour disputes and escratches (mini-demonstrations usually outside a politician’s private residence). More at Cuarto Poder.
Helga Schmidt, the director of the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, was arrested on Tuesday following a search of the premises by the Unidad de Delitos Económicos y Financieros (UDEF) the 'fraud squad' from the police. News from El País (See last week's BoT).
'A Spanish court has jailed a German property developer for defrauding seven British families out of more than half a million pounds for homes that were never built. German Heinz Wilfert was sentenced to six years in prison at the hearing in Alicante for conning clients by lying to them he had the go-ahead to build the houses to get his hands on their cash...'. From The Daily Mail.
Various:
According to El Mundo, our electricity bill will be raised by 5% this January, due to the lack of decent wind! With the lack of input from wind-farms, Spain has been obliged to turn to more traditional, and expensive, energy sources.
An interesting article on our friends, the funcionarios: 'Like most civil services, Spain’s bureaucracy wants to bring order to the world and everything in it. But while in other places they seek to do this simply with laws and regulations, Spain adds a wild card to the mix: it gives public servants discretionary powers whenever possible...'. From Legally Yours from Spain.
Ex-pats who have been living in Spain for at least two years and have a driving licence issued in their home countries, should change over to a Spanish licence. A bit more on this at The Costa News.
'If you've ever travelled to a foreign country, you've probably relied on Google Translate. Thanks to a new update, the Translate app should be able to serve your spontaneous foreign-language needs even better...'. From The Daily Dot.
El Confidencial raises a scary point about Britons collecting 'benefits in Spain' called 'Britons which abuse the system', quoting a Europe-wide survey from The Guardian which notes '...the number of Britons (claiming) in Spain is three times that of Spaniards in Britain, and given the demographic differences between these two groups of migrants, the pressure on Spain’s finances is most likely to be on its health service...'. The reality is that there are less than 3,000 Britons claiming unemployment in Spain. As for health service claims, these are fielded by (high) social service payments.
Perhaps the most significant symbol of Euskadi, the Árbol de Gernika, the famous oak-tree in the centre of Guernica, the one from the XIV Century that survived the German bombers in 1937 and is used today to be the backdrop for the oath of office taken by Basque leaders (the lehendakari), is no more. In fact, the fourth Árbol de Gernika has dried out and a fifth will be planted in late February. Story here.
'Spain is one of the cheapest places to live in Western Europe and is 35 percent cheaper than New York according to new figures. A new cost of living index produced by Numbeo reveals life in Spain is a third cheaper than in the Big Apple...'. From The Leader.
'Thousands of ex-pats could be driving illegally without realising they are doing so. Ex-pats registered as Spanish residents for two or more years will have to update their driving licence to comply with EU regulations. The ruling came into effect on January 19 and applies to drivers whose licences are valid for 15 or more years...'. From The Olive Press.
Spain is no place to hide from the Law, says El País, which shows that the Guardia Civil arrested 8,952 fugitives from justice last year.
The Government of Aragón wants to privatise the public water system and has sent instructions to the local town halls on how to bring this about.
A web-page magazine for the elderly, in Spanish, at Senda Senior, for the active among us.
The DGT is going ahead with its plans to lower speeds on secondary roads, occasionally raise speeds on motorways (no one believes this) and to fine people for walking in an improper manner, whether too fast, or in charge of a bottle. Now the Council of State and various ministries, including the DGT's boss, the Ministry of the Interior, are unhappy with the project. See here. (Much joking and laughter across the Internet on this one).
How to become fluent in Spanish here.
Safe mail? Better not be too safe, maybe. '...“The suggestion that somehow protecting one’s privacy is akin to a terrorist act is a new low”...'. Story here.
For a while, it took out full page advertisements in El Mundo, but now a plastic surgery corporation called Corporación Dermoestética (look like a film star, etc), with 80 clinics spread across Spain, has gone bust, leaving a large number of people, who paid up-front for cosmetic surgery, without their new look.
The Barcelona Museo de la Xocolata (All you ever wanted to know about chocolate, here).
The ten best cities to live in Spain (here. Some commercial material)
'Curved lines and coloured tiles have made Antoni Gaudí one of the world’s best-known architects, and millions of people flock to Spain each year to visit his buildings. Now, nearly a century after his death, Chile is set to become home to Gaudí’s first completed project outside his native country...'. From The Guardian. Our Lady of the Angels chapel, based on sketches completed in 1915 by the architect, to be built in Rancagua.
Finally:
Well, it's been a while. Here's Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé with 'Barcelona'.
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