The Spanish news is understandably full of the horror of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since readers can find similar stories throughout the international press, we won’t get into it here.
Editorial:
Somebody was asking on Facebook – is it easy to move to Spain and get a job? I answered with that old chestnut: ‘the only way to make a small fortune here, is to start with a large one’ (cue laughter and approval from the usual suspects).
For Northern Europeans, their money here is good – after all, whose isn’t? One can buy something, a car, a box, a shirt or a meal – as long as they take it away with them shortly afterwards. A house though, and here’s the problem, it doesn’t move.
In the old days, when houses sold for pocket-change (I once bought three houses in a row in a pueblo, with views, two floors and electric, for the equivalent of a hundred pounds), the money was welcome enough, but now we have los nietos, the grandchildren, saying ‘Oh, why did abuelo sell the family farm to the ingleses all those years ago for just half a million pesetas?’
‘And they still don’t speak Spanish or even help us with the olive-pickin’.
It’s probably a small gripe.
We open a bar, but only our fellow foreigners come and drink in it. A local story goes that Gordon – who had run The Navy Bar since God was a Boy – was feeling exceptionally seedy and, one thing and another, he hadn’t been around for a few days to the nearby Gabila’s for his morning carajillo.
‘What’s up’, asked El Gabila, in that slow Spanish which is reserved for foreigners after he bumped into Gordon one day in the supermarket, ‘why haven’t you been to my bar in the last week?’
‘Well’, asked Gordon reasonably, ‘in the twenty years I’ve been open, why haven’t you ever been to mine?’
Our Facebook friends who want to move here from the UK might want to take note.
If they open a bar, they will compete with all the other guiris for the tourist trade, and if they stay open in the winter, then they can expect that the expats will drift in once the sun disappears (around half past five); but they won’t get the local trade – and nor indeed will the restaurants (although my mate Juan used to agree enthusiastically with me about ‘los fish y pips’ down at Mervyn’s).
So some of us turn to plumbing (no Spaniard would employ a British plumber – for two reasons – only the second one being the paperwork), or they seek work as a mechanic, or a psychologist or a set designer. Maybe a crooner down at the campsite or an English teacher. How about an air traffic controller as somebody was asking today on Fb (after all, she points out, I speak pretty good Spanish)?
Of course, some of us do make a living: real estate or selling adverts or house-cleaning or putting in satellite systems, but our clients will all be fellow-foreigners.
The best way to live in Spain is of course with money coming in from abroad. Either a decent pension, or an income from business interests or, hey, even a monthly remittance from an angry parent… It’s all good.
Maybe one can swing one of those working-from-one’s-computer jobs from a nice place in Mallorca. These days, it all done on the phone…
If all fails, we must turn our talents to other ends. Ripping off gullible people is so easy (‘Ah yes, I speak the lingo, I’ll get you a deal’).
You see those stories every week in the local free press.
But we will have to prey on our own nationals, because the Spanish won’t fall for it. Then, if things turn out badly, there’s always the panicked ‘midnight runner’. Load up the car and head for the frontier.
‘How’s Bob, I haven’t seen him in a while… Say, isn’t that his cat?’
The times I’ve been swindled here has always been by fellow Brits. Once for quite a lot.
But don’t let me put you off. Spain is a great place to live; it’s just not a great place to make money.
Housing:
Spanish Property Insight looks at the property sales numbers and finds them good. ‘Foreign demand for Spanish property has recovered powerfully from the lows of the coronavirus pandemic ending last year on the highest note since 2007, when the Spanish housing bubble was beginning to deflate. Foreign buyers acquired 18,156 Spanish homes in the last quarter of 2021 according to the latest report published by the Spanish land registrars’ association…’. The Brits return as the leading foreign buyers in the 4th Quarter.
Tourism:
Who is buying up the hotels in the Canary Islands? From TheNews24 here. ‘If the hotels continue to pass into the hands of large companies and investment funds from outside the Islands, the Canary Islands will be 40% poorer as the income that comes from owning the property will go outside the Archipelago. It is more serious than we think....’
The Murcia train station is closed for… the next three years! We read that ‘after 157 years of uninterrupted service’, there’ll be no trains arriving or leaving as ADIF builds a long approach tunnel to the station. (I used to take that train up to Madrid, to arrive in the downtown station of Atocha).
Finance:
‘Sánchez proposes a pact to freeze wage-increases to "avoid an inflationary spiral" and he presents a National Plan against the Impact of the War to control price hikes. The Government also extends the discount of the electricity social bond for vulnerable groups and continues the reduction to 10% of IVA on the electricity bill for another four months’ says El Mundo here.
The Consumer Price Index rose in February to an inter-annual average of 7.4%: its highest rate in 33 years.
Employment rose in February by 67,000 says elDiario.es here.
Los autonomos – the self-employed – will now be on a new scale for their monthly contribución. From ECD here: ‘The Government introduces a new bracket for the self-employed. The lowest section, with those who claim net returns of 700 euros per month or less, will pay just 204 euros’.
From Sur in English here: ‘Spanish MPs have approved amended rules for the Modelo 720, the infamous form for those living in Spain who have assets - such as property, bank balances or shares - in other countries over a certain value’.
‘Bank nationwide will soon be required by law to put measures in place that guarantee everyone can use their services, even the elderly, technologically-illiterate and those with disabilities or diversities. Spain's government has released details of new procedures all high-street financial entities will be obliged to follow to ensure 'inclusiveness' – that nobody is left out in the cold from a basic public service that is as essential to daily living as electricity, water, telecommunications and transport…’ Think Spain has more. ‘Autonomous governments, councils and municipalities pay banks to maintain ATMs in towns’, says elDiario.es here. ‘The massive closure of offices has left a large part of the Spanish territory without this basic service, a problem that administrations are trying to tackle with public money and pilot initiatives with uneven success’.
Politics:
The story so far… we left Pablo Casado last week walking out of the Cortes’ Wednesday session, his head held high. By Thursday, a plan had been thrashed out – Casado could stay as titular leader of the PP, but without any power. The party would be run by the PP member of parliament Cuca Gamarra in a caretaker roll until the party congress in early April could vote in his successor, with Galicia’s Alberto Núñez Feijóo pencilled in for the job (Isabel Díaz Ayuso insists she is not in the running for the position, although, says Moncloa here, the Feijóo camp are worried that Ayuso might be swept in by public acclaim).
Isabel Díaz Ayuso might even be a good choice. She is popular with the public and would probably keep the Vox out of action. Unfortunately for her, although she defeated Pablo Casado, it looks like it was a pyrrhic victory. From El Confidencial (paywall) here: ‘Ayuso remains under suspicion in the PP. No one will place a bet on her without knowing just what the legal future of her brother's turbid businesses will bring’. An inquiry in the Madrid regional parliament into the story of Ayuso’s brother and his ‘commissions’ – called by the PSOE and its allies – has been scotched by the PP and Vox says Público here. Indeed, Ayuso has called for those within the PP who have plotted against her to be ejected from the party says La Vanguardia here; with the list of plotters including Pablo Casado! ‘If you chuck me out of the party’, said Pablo Casado on Sunday, ‘I’ll say that it was because of my opposition to corruption within the PP’.
From ECD here: ‘Pedro Sánchez postpones the Debate on the State of the Nation until June to prevent Santiago Abascal from appearing to the media to be the 'leader of the opposition'. He also seeks to give time for the PP to have a president and achieve a strong spokesman in Congress to avoid being accused of an unfair "advantage" over the conservatives’.
El Plural says that El Mundo has published the documents held by Pablo Casado relating to the commissions taken by Ayuso’s brother – the start of all the fuss.
Over in Galicia, Feijóo needs to find his own successor within a month says elDiario.es here.
Back in Madrid, Ayuso asks her councillors not to discuss any commission her brother might have taken for the face-masks. ‘We’ll never know how many lives he saved’ she points out. El Mundo has the story here.
From CadenaSer here: ‘The experts agree: Santiago Abascal rattles the communist ghost to erase his own connections with Putin. The leader of Vox claims that Sánchez is unable to defend Spain’s role in NATO because Russia's main allies are within the government’. Thus arises the question as to who (if anyone) supports Vladimir Putin. El País points the finger at Hazte Oír, the far-right anti-abortionist group (part of the World Congress of Families - Wiki). Generally speaking, of course, the problem comes from those pesky communists, although oddly, the Faro de Ceuta seems to think it’s the local Voxers. Not that Vladimir Putin is a commie (nor even a member of Podemos) says Público here. (I read a US-produced meme yesterday that said that Vladimir Putin was the current ‘soviet’ leader. Probably more people saw that than saw this).
March 8th is International Women’s Day. We can expect large crowds and demos, including ‘Mujeres Contra la Guerra’ here, and a hundred other reasons here.
Catalonia:
‘The Mobile World Congress returns to Barcelona amid Covid-19. Up to 60,000 attendees are expected at the 2022 trade show’. Item from Catalan News here. The show opened on Monday and ends this Thursday. The Russian pavilion was – unsurprisingly – closed.
Melilla & Ceuta:
The Spanish Senate last week voted against the proposal by the PP and Vox to ‘explicitly’ incorporate Melilla and Ceuta under the umbrella of NATO says El Faro de Melilla here.
‘The Government has sent a notice to Morocco about the Israeli-made missiles now being deployed in the Straits of Gibraltar. Following the news that the Moroccan army plans to deploy anti-aircraft systems near Tangier and Nador, a spokesperson said that "Spain will act firmly" if our territorial integrity is violated’. The item comes from the ECD here.
Europe:
From The Guardian here: ‘Britons living in EU can’t keep pre-Brexit rights, European court advised. It’s a blow to UK nationals as the advocate general finds against Alice Bouilliez, who (understandably) objected to losing voting rights’.
Meanwhile, from Infobae here: ‘The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Monday the regularization of all Ukrainians living in Spain so that they can work legally and access social policies. Sánchez, in an interview on Televisión Española, noted that around 100,000 Ukrainians live in Spain and stressed that the Government intends to regularize their situation…’
Well, we couldn’t resist this one. Marine Le Pen (the French far-right leader) shakes Vladimir Putin’s hand in a cordial meeting. The photo shows up in a special election leaflet printed a few days ago by her party, Le Rassemblement National. With things as they are at the moment, the entire run of 1.2 million copies has now been ordered to be pulped.
Guy Verhofstadt looks into the future of the EU in an interesting piece here.
Courts:
El Confidencial takes us to old and falling down courthouses. ‘Courts in ruins or without electric: the lack of funds is suffocating the judges on the Front Line. Employees complain about the lack of investment in the juzgados from the regional governments. "It’s not a vote-winner", they say. The Ministry of Justice accepts that there are structural problems’.
Media:
The peculiar Global247News takes a swipe at the Euro Weekly News here.
Ecology:
‘The European Commission describes the state of the Mar Menor as a "great disaster": seven tons of algae are removed from it every day’ says El Español here, adding: ‘Environmentalists claim that the Government of Murcia attempted to hoodwink a recent visit by MEPs by throwing sand on the beaches to cover the mud’.
Various:
Years ago, I would often meet Spaniards who were working in France or Germany and sending home money to the family. These were the later years of the Franco regime, and many thousands worked abroad. We pick up the story at Eye on Spain here: ‘Little more than ten years since the end of the Second World War, a once broken Germany was experiencing its own economic miracle. It was quickly rebuilding its economy and handed Franco the chance to reverse the ailing fortunes of his country. Jobs in industry were fast being created and Germany’s government was offering their ‘Gastarbeiterprogramme’, Guest Worker Programmes, in the heavy steel industry…’. Here’s a clip with Alfredo Landa explaining how well one can do in Germany from the film ¡Vente a Alemania, Pepe!
The Puerta del Sol – Madrid’s central square – is to be remodelled. The two photos that goes with the article in Madrid Low-cost are a bit shocking. Everything is white and there are no trees. Work starts this month.
The story of the Spaniard who discovered Pompeii is told at Fascinating Spain here.
One out of every three adolescents spends more than six hours a day looking at the screen says 20Minutos here.
Whatever happened to my parcel from the UK? The Olive Press takes a jaundiced look at ADTPostales (here) the agency at the Barajas airport that determines what tax needs to be paid on packages and even – apparently – whether (and when) they can be bothered to send it onwards or not. See the dreadful rating of the customs agent at Trustpilot here.
In Spain, it’s useful to keep the usted and tú separate. Some chap in Lugo called a cop tú and received a 601€ fine (don’t ask) for his trouble.
Being enchufado in Spain means you have useful connections. It’s not easy for a foreigner – after all, you probably didn’t go to school with the fellow who is now the mayor, or kissed his sister, or have a brother-in-law who’s a judge. Or a Guardia Civil captain. Eye on Spain has a ‘how-to’ post on the subject here.
‘No 50th birthday for Spain's 12-year-old president’. Pedro Sánchez was born on February 29th in 1972. A rare leap-year leap-date. Eye on Spain has the story here.
From Vogue (well, the pictures are nice) here: ‘Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, have recently purchased a villa inspired by the Moorish architecture common in Spain during the Islamic rule of the Iberian peninsula in between the eighth and 15th centuries. It leans on the era’s ornate, decadent sense of design, exemplars of which are found most notably in Granada’s Alhambra palace...’
Finally:
The rather gloomy Spanish National Anthem (duh, dum, duh dum, di da da da da daa da da, dum, dum, daa…) is, according to this young musician on YouTube, really an old 10th Century Andalusí song. See if you agree with her research!
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