Latest news with #PedroSánchez
Local Spain
15 hours ago
- Business
- Local Spain
Inside Spain: Another bid to limit foreign buyers and house brands rule
If foreign property buyers from wealthy Western nations currently feel targeted by the Spanish government, it's not hard to understand why. In April, Pedro Sánchez's administration scrapped the golden visa residency scheme which gave non-EU nationals Spanish residency in return for buying property worth €500,000. Last week, the ruling Socialists officially lodged their proposal to charge a 100 percent tax on non-EU non-resident property buyers, effectively doubling the price they pay for homes in Spain. There have also been proposed foreign property ownership limitations put forward by authorities in the Canaries and the Balearics. And most radical of all was the suggestion submitted by Catalan separatist party ERC to require actual foreign residents to apply for a permit to buy a Spanish property if they haven't become permanent residents yet. In other words, if they haven't officially resided in Spain for five years. This proposal was rejected by Spain's Congressional Housing Committee in late April, but now ERC are trying to get such a law passed only in Catalonia. The idea is the same as that shelved a month ago - a regional authorisation system whereby foreigners planning to buy a home would first have to prove their eligibility by applying for a permit from the housing department of the region where the property is located, in this case Catalonia. The criteria for this would be first proving five years of continuous residence in the country, so it would exclude those with a temporary resident card from being able to buy a home. The initiative will be debated in the Catalan Parliament next week. 'You can't have a situation where a firm on the other side of the world buys real estate for speculation,' ERC MP Mar Besses said. ERC's Secretary General Elisenda Alamany has also defended the proposal by saying that 'we want people who buy to show their commitment to the city (Barcelona), as it's the way to guarantee our identity and communal lifestyle.' Both points made by members of ERC are certainly valid and understandable, but they seem to be more directed at investment companies as opposed to the temporary residents who they are looking to stop from buying homes. Can their residency in the northeastern region and desire to buy a home there be considered 'speculation'? Just as is happening with the crackdown on Airbnbs in Spain, the lines between huge businesses focused just on profits and people with one or two homes in Spain are becoming blurred. Protestors hold a banner reading 'The neighbourhood is not for sale' during a demonstration to demand better access to housing in Barcelona on November 23, 2024. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) In other matters, there was a time not long ago in Spain when buying Mercadona's Hacendado house brand was almost seen as defining one's class or socioeconomic status. The idea for many was that if these marca blanca (house brand) products are cheaper, they must be of a worse quality. It's a silly concept most of us are guilty of at some point, one which doesn't factor in the lower cost of distribution, packaging and marketing for supermarkets who produce their own products. Fortunately, through a combination of necessity and change of mentality, Spanish shoppers have gotten over their prejudices about house brands. Spaniards buy 20 percent more house brands now than they did in 2003, representing 44 percent of their grocery shopping, according to a study by Kantar for Spanish business daily Expansión. In some cases, the percentage is even higher: Lidl (82.1 percent), Mercadona (74.5 percent), Carrefour (40 percent), Día (57 percent). And according to their findings this shift isn't just about tightening one's belt because of the rising cost of living, although they admit that this has been the catalyst. Supermarkets in Spain have developed their own premium differentiation strategy - with different categories of house brands - which has broken the traditional monopoly of the big name brands. Now the marca blanca isn't 'the worst option' but the 'cheapest option', and this change of perception makes a difference. Unfortunately, the downside of improving house brand products - whether in reputation, appearance or actual quality - is that they've been getting more expensive. Then again, what hasn't?
Barnama
2 days ago
- Politics
- Barnama
Spain And Slovenia Call For Immediate Ceasefire In Gaza, Sanctions On Israel
MADRID, May 30 (Bernama-WAFA) -- Spain and Slovenia called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the imposition of sanctions on Israel, during a joint press conference held Thursday in Madrid by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Slovenian counterpart Robert Golob. According to Palestine News and Info Agency (WAFA), Sánchez stated that both governments agree on suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, imposing an arms embargo, and enacting sanctions against individual Israeli officials. He emphasised that Spain and Slovenia share a common stance on the humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinian people. He also reaffirmed that their formal recognition of the State of Palestine nearly a year ago was grounded in a commitment to human rights and international law.
Saba Yemen
2 days ago
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Spain & Slovenia demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza & sanctions on Israel
Madrid - Saba: Spain and Slovenia have called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the imposition of sanctions on Israel. This came during a joint press conference held by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Slovenian counterpart, Robert Golob, on Thursday in the Spanish capital, Madrid. Sánchez stated that the Spanish and Slovenian governments agree on suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, banning arms supplies to Israel, and imposing sanctions on individuals. He explained that the two countries share the same vision regarding the tragic situation faced by the Palestinian people. For his part, Golob affirmed that Slovenia, alongside Spain, will continue to defend the fundamental values of international law, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the swift delivery of humanitarian aid. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Local Spain
2 days ago
- Business
- Local Spain
Foreigners could avoid Spain's 100% tax by buying new builds
There has been anger and confusion following the Spanish government's decision to move forward with a proposal to tax new non-EU non-resident home buyers 100 percent on the value of Spanish property, an idea first proposed by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in January as a way of limiting "foreign speculation" in the property market. However, after experts have consulted the legal text, it has emerged that there may be a way for some of these foreigners to avoid Spain's 100 percent tax: by buying a new build property. Despite widespread confusion online, the draft text clarifies that the proposal is not to double the property transfer tax (ITP, which is 6 to 11 percent of the property value depending on the region) as many had previously thought or hoped. Rather, the draft bill is that the 100 percent tax would apply to the taxable base of the property (the value of the property, in other words), which would effectively double the price for these buyers. The Local has spoken to property experts and reported on this in detail to avoid doubts, which you can read about here and via the link below. The measure will affect 'second hand' properties in Spain but not new builds directly from developers, something that could price people out while allowing wealthier foreigners to bypass the proposal. The price of new build housing in Spain is 44 percent more than second-hand housing on average and 10 percent more than the high it reached during the property bubble, according to a report by valuation firm Tinsa. The tax is essentially a surcharge that doubles the original price but is not without its loopholes: the tax will not affect non-resident non-EU nationals who buy housing directly from a developer. Nor, although only in some cases, will it affect sales when both seller and purchaser are entrepreneurs or professionals. The distinction is due to VAT rules in Spain. This means that only new builds would be safe from the price doubling as "new properties are subject to VAT, and the Spanish legislator can't easily interfere with that," Mallorca-based lawyer Alejandro Del Campo of DMS Consulting tells The Local. Spain's Register of Tax Advisor Economists (REAF) has presented its first assessment of the proposals, and explains that the new tax does indeed contain a legal loophole. Raquel Jurado, a technician in REAF's research department, told Spanish daily El País that "as VAT cannot be touched, because it is aligned, all sales that are taxed by it will be outside the complementary tax." Similarly, Jurado states that transactions in which the seller is a businessman, entrepreneur or professional should not be affected by the new tax either. "If the property is sold by an entrepreneur who is not a developer, the transaction would be subject to VAT in theory, but exempt in practice. And if it were bought by another businessman, this exemption could be waived in order to pay VAT and thus avoid the supplementary tax," she says. It's worth noting that, despite the alarm caused by the proposed measure, the proposal is exactly that for now: a proposal. It will still need parliamentary approval before it becomes law, something far from certain in the complicated Congressional arithmetic of Spanish politics. Sánchez has in the past been accused of performative politics in terms of property market measures, such as with the decision to axe the golden visa. legal experts who also believe the measure will end up in the courts. "When the time comes when someone who has paid double the value of their property wants to sell, will they find someone to buy it? Will they lose money?" Fernández stated, also stressing that the measure "penalises" investment by non-resident non-EU foreigners.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Leo Varadkar: The EU needs to ‘grow a bit of backbone' and stand up to Israel
Summits of the EU 's 27 national leaders take place every few months and usually kick off on a Thursday. When Leo Varadkar was attending as taoiseach he was always happier when they started earlier in the week. 'It was great on the rare occasion that you had to be away on a Tuesday or Wednesday, because then you got to avoid Leaders' Questions [in the Dáil],' the former Fine Gael leader tells me. Very few heads of government take questions from the Opposition 'twice a week for several hours', he says. 'It's mostly just theatre, I didn't particularly like it.' More than a year on from his political exit, Varadkar sat down to chat about European politics. We spoke last week, the day after the European Union agreed to a review of its trade agreement with Israel , following growing concern over the war in Gaza . READ MORE This review was something that Varadkar and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez first called for in February 2024. At the time they were ignored. 'I feel more angry than vindicated, because Pedro and I went out on a limb on that and we had very few supporters at the time,' Varadkar says. It was depressing that so many Palestinians had to be killed before other European governments came around to Ireland's position, he says. 'The time has come for the European Union to grow a bit of backbone. I hope this is the start of it.' The EU-Israel association agreement, which includes a free trade deal, is seen as a key piece of leverage with which to exert pressure on Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu 's government. The EU should suspend the accord even if a fresh ceasefire is negotiated between Israel and Hamas militants, according to Varadkar. Israel portrays itself as a western liberal democracy, but is 'none of those things', the former Fine Gael leader says. Varadkar feels European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen gets too hard a time in Ireland over the misstep she made in the days after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023. Comments by the German politician were seen as offering unqualified support for how Israel saw fit to respond. [ Leo Varadkar has more to offer than reality TV shows or doling out PR advice to mega-rich clients Opens in new window ] 'I spoke to her about it and I told her: 'This isn't going to go down well in large parts of Europe',' Varadkar recalls. 'I think since then she's been much more circumspect and careful ... She's a friend of Ireland, and Ireland has done well by the position she's taken on Brexit ,' he says. Brexit comes up several times. The negotiations to sort out the UK's exit from the EU were a big part of Varadkar's first term as taoiseach. It influenced a lot of his thinking during summits of EU leaders, including how he handled Hungary's far-right prime minister Viktor Orban and Poland's then-hard-right government. 'There was an attempt by the British to seek support from Poland and Hungary ... I was kind of limited in my scope for righteousness, given that I needed Hungary and Poland not to be a problem on Brexit, and they weren't,' he says. What's it like inside the room during those summits? 'It's just you in there, there's no officials,' Varadkar says. Leaders still message their entourage of advisers and officials waiting outside the room, though sometimes mobile phones have to stay outside as well. The legwork to tee up a policy shift is done by diplomats in the weeks leading up to a summit. 'The good thing is that it's often just the big decisions and the final calls that are left to the leaders,' he says. [ Varadkar: marriage-equality vote result and hospice opening made my best day in politics Opens in new window ] The need to unanimously agree on foreign policy decisions means one rogue leader – such as Orban – can hold everything up. The Hungarian leader has repeatedly used this veto power to block financial and military support for Kyiv in the Ukraine war. Varadkar does not believe the solution is to just take more decisions by majority vote. 'Maybe make it so that one country can't block something, or two countries can't block something,' he says. We're talking in the cafe of the Sofitel, a five-star Brussels hotel down the road from the EU institutions. National leaders in the European People's Party (EPP) , the centre-right grouping that includes Fine Gael, all breakfast here on the morning of a summit. Varadkar, who stepped down as taoiseach in April last year, says these European political groupings are much more influential than many people realise, even politicians in his own party. 'Any time people talked about Fine Gael becoming too liberal or too left-leaning for the EPP, I took a very contrary view. This is the most influential group, the biggest bloc, it's good for Fine Gael and good for Ireland to be in it,' he says. It's hard to tell whether Varadkar secretly misses being in the thick of it all. He definitely doesn't miss Leaders' Questions.
