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Expat Spain News
Latest 10 news items tagged Spain
15 May at 6 PM 2013
New Spanish property investment visa draws Chinese and Russians
The Spanish government’s latest scheme to reinvigorate the country’s dying property market is drawing a rush of interest from non- European Union investors. The property investment visa guarantees residency permits to buyers of Spanish homes costing more than half a million euro, and is set to become active from July. Automatic residency is granted to owners of said property, and is also to be extended to spouses and children, although it will only be valid for as long as the property is owned. The finer details of the plan are...
13 May at 6 PM 2013
Brit expats in Spain should think again before fleeing
For many British expats living in Spain, the newly-introduced financial reporting requirements have been the last straw, but taking expert advice may be the answer. According to the Foreign Office, full- and part-time expats in Spain number around 800,000, with permanent resident numbers set between 250,000 and 400,000. Accountancy firms estimate that a high number are seriously considering leaving the country following the introduction of the new tax regime. The law states that any foreigner living in Spain for more than six...
10 May at 6 PM 2013
Lloyds snubs expat customers with sale of Spanish banking network
A new blow to British expats living in Spain came with the news that Lloyds Bank is preparing to sell its 28 Spanish branches to Banco Salvadel, Spain’s fourth largest bank. Concern is rife in the Spanish expat community, as the branches mostly served around 50,000 expat mortgage clients. Formerly under the Halifax banner or as Lloyds branches, the 28 banks will be sold for a £250 million loss due to the drastic fall in the Spanish property market. Expats whose mortgages are held by Lloyds are worried that a bureaucratic...
2 May at 6 PM 2013
Expats fear savings grab after Spain asset declaration deadline
Now that the deadline for overseas residents in Spain to declare their assets has passed, many expats fear a Cyprus-style savings grab will result. The new Spanish tax rules affect an estimated 200,000 Britons with homes and businesses in Spain, many of whom are desperate to leave as rumours of a savings grab continue to circulate. With the Spanish unemployment rate at 26 per cent and property prices still falling, the country’s economy appears to be teetering on the brink. Expat residents have been forced to declare all overseas...
1 May at 6 PM 2013
Expats flee Spain as unemployment soars and property prices crash
According to figures issued by Spain’s National Statistics Institute, the total population of the country has fallen for the first time in 150 years. As Spanish unemployment soars to over 26 per cent and the country’s economy staggers, a total of 206,000 residents have given up and left. According to the figures, the entire drop represents foreign residents leaving the country. From the year 2000, Spain experienced a rapid rise in its immigrant population, mostly fuelled by migrants from Spanish-speaking countries in South...
24 Apr at 6 PM 2013
UK Foreign Office moves to warn expats on Thailand road deaths
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is pushing a road safety campaign to alert tourists and expat residents overseas about dangerous drivers and road conditions in several countries. The move comes as a response to reports of a high number of Britons in popular holiday and expat destinations being killed or injured in road accidents. The countries considered the most dangerous have been identified as Australia, Thailand and Spain, all of which have road accident and fatality number far higher than those in the UK....
16 Apr at 6 PM 2013
Expats with homes in troubled Eurozone states face threat of wealth tax
Following the EU’s Cyprus savings grab, expat residents in other troubled Eurozone countries may be subject to a wealth tax on their properties in support of possible bailouts. Senior advisors to the German chancellor Angela Merkel are strongly suggesting that wealthier households in weaker Eurozone member states should be forced to contribute to the cost of future bailouts. The council of advisers, known as the Five Wise Men, is known for testing out new policies due to be officially adopted at a later date. The proposals raise...
12 Apr at 6 PM 2013
Cyprus banking crisis causes expats to consider asset diversity
Difficult times may be ahead for many thousands of expats who believed that banks were the safest place for their savings and investments. In the wake of the ongoing banking crisis in Cyprus, expats living in many favoured destinations are being advised to diversify their assets to prevent being caught in a similar trap. It’s slowly being realised that bank deposits are no longer a safe, risk-free haven, especially as the waves of the 2008 financial meltdown continue to break over a number of European countries. Of major concern...
11 Apr at 6 PM 2013
Dublin seminar explores reasons behind the present Irish Diaspora
Four leading social scientists met yesterday at Dublin’s Trinity College in an attempt to quantify the many reasons behind the rush to emigrate now referred to as the modern-day Diaspora. The symposium is slated as part of Dublin’s Trinity Week 2013 programme during which eminent academics gather to examine issues of concern to Ireland and the Irish peoples. In contrast to those leaving during earlier Irish Diasporas, contemporary migrants are mostly degree-level professionals, highly-skilled in skilled in their fields....
7 Apr at 6 PM 2013
