Spanish banks lending over 100% on repossessed properties

 

Spanish Banks are prepared to lend over 100% on their own properties that have been repossessed, it has been revealed. They are also selling them at rock bottom prices to attract buyers so that they can reduce the amount of property on their books. According to Adam Cornwell, managing director of Feltrim International these are quality properties in desirable areas. Recent reports from a leading risk adviser say banks have around €30 billion worth of property that they can’t sell.   ‘Whilst Spanish mortgage lending is not expected to recover in 2012 due to high unemployment and limited bank funding, financial institutions have to optimise their balance sheets,’ said Cornwell. ‘To incentivise quality buyers they are prepared to offload these homes at rock bottom prices and with the highest mortgages. If a bank is prepared to lend all of the money, more than 100%, on a project that has fallen to 50% of its value five years previously then it must have the confidence that the market has reached the bottom and that the properties will regain value in the not too distant future,’ he explained. Examples include a luxury beachside development close to Marbella at 50% off the developer’s 2007 price plus a 110% mortgage option with two years interest only. A one bedroom penthouse in Soto Serena, designed by archtiect Melvin Villarroel, with landscaped gardens, pools, gym and sauna, is available for €184,000 compared with €368,000 in 2007. ‘We are now in a situation where the best units in these marked down resorts are selling fast, just like in the heady days of the property boom when the best off plan units were snapped up fast, albeit now they have the peace of mind of something complete and tangible,’ explained Cornwell. ‘Investors can buy using very little, or none, of their own capital with the risk being entirely taken by the bank. This simply does not happen in any other distressed market in the world,’ he added. He pointed out that Marbella is regarded as safe a location with excellent infrastructure, licensing issues have been resolved under the new urban plan (PGOU) approved in 2010 and tourists come in a steady stream attracted by more than 70 golf courses, year round sunshine, endless beaches and no frills flights.   In 2009 Ryan Air established a base at Málaga Airport and the carrier now operates 39 routes whilst over recent years Delta Airlines has added a direct flight to JFK in the United States, Saudi Arabian Airlines fly direct to Jeddah and Riyadh and Aeroflot has introduced direct flights to Moscow. On top of that €109 million plan to expand Marbella’s fishing port has been given the green light. The long planned transformation of La Bajadilla into one of the most luxurious marinas on the Mediterranean can now take shape after the Junta de Andalucia, Marbella town hall and the Nasir Bin Abdullah & Sons Consortium signed a contract allowing construction to begin.   The plan, which is expected to take four years to complete, includes a commercial area of 23,000 square meters, a five star hotel and three times the current number of moorings including access for cruise ships and mega yachts.

Two members of the Italian mafia have been arrested in a Marbella villa.

 

The two Italians are from the Mazzarella clan of the Camorra mafia and were arrested last Wednesday morning by UDYCO police on the Costa del Sol working with Italian police. They face charges of belonging to a criminal organisation dedicated to the traffic of drugs into Europe from Morocco. They have been named as Clemente Amodio and Pasquale Mazzarella. European arrest warrants are in place and the two men have been taken to Madrid where the National Court will handle the extradition. The Italian anti-mafia prosecutor has said that these arrests are more confirmation that the south of Spain in general, and the Costa del Sol in particular, has become one of the favourite refuges for members of the Camorra. Meanwhile in a separate incident, police have arrested a 24 year old Frenchman, named with the initials Y.K. in Torremolinos. He’s wanted in France on charges of attempted homicide and drugs offences, and was seized on December 28 after being stopped at a routine control. Police noted that his driving licence photo looked nothing like him.

50 year old buildings in Spain to get an ITE inspection

 

Buildings which are more than 50 years old are to be obliged to have a so-called ITV/MOT inspection from July. The new legislation affects buildings older than 50 years in towns of more than 25,000 inhabitants. Buildings will be obliged to display a certificate before any flats can be sold. The ITE Inspección Técnica de Edificios has been in existence for some time, but only from July 7 2012 will it become obligatory. The buildings will be subjected to a complete technical inspection by a competent architect or engineer who will draw up a report on the state of the building, indicating any deficiencies detected and whether they are serious or not. In the case that work needs to be done, a further inspection is needed when the work is completed. Fines of 1,000 – 6,000 € are envisaged for those who don’t comply. The process will have to be repeated every ten years.

King Melchor had a heart attack and died while sitting atop his float.

 

Drama of an unexpected sort in the Valencia town of Pobla de Farnais, during the Three Kings Parade on Thursday night. Levante EMV reports that King Melchor had a heart attack and died while sitting atop his float. The man, who was in his 50’s and a great fan of the local fiestas and traditions is reported to have told people to carry on with the procession, although he was not feeling well. Finally witnesses reported that J.M. Martínez fainted and fell unconscious from his chair.

Prison for father and son in connection with Barcelona Senegalese killing

 

Two of the four people arrested in connection with the death of a Senegalese man, Ibrahima Dyey in Barcelona last Tuesday have been sent to prison on remand, while the other two have been granted provisional release by the judge in Instruction Court 12 in Barcelona. The father of a gypsy clan, Antonio F.P., is one of those being held in custody, along with one of his sons, 28 year old Antonio F.G who is believed to have actually carried out the killing. The tragedy has caused serious friction between local gypsy residents and the Africans in the Besòs district of the city. The judge ordered that the other two sons face charges of making threats and causing injury and they have to report every day to the court. Their passports have been removed and they are not allowed to leave Barcelona, or be closer than 500m to any of the witnesses called to the court.

Shoe shop chain Barratts Priceless makes 1,600 staff redundant

 

The high street gloom deepened on Friday as more than 1,600 workers at shoe chain Barratts Priceless were made redundant and 400 jobs were put at risk following the collapse of toy chain Hawkin's Bazaar. Barratts' administrators Deloitte said the 1,610 full- and part-time staff who manned its 371 concessions in stores such as Dorothy Perkins would be paid up until the end of Saturday. The Bradford-based shoe group collapsed this month when 170 of its 3,840 staff were laid off and 18 of its 191 stores closed. Deloitte partner Daniel Butters said it was hopeful that some retail jobs could be saved as the administrators were in "active discussions to rescue a significant part of the remaining business". The jobs blow came as restructuring specialist Zolfo Cooper was formally appointed at Hawkin's parent company Tobar, which also owns toys and children's accessories retailer Letterbox. The group, which also has a home shopping arm, employs 380 full-time staff at its 65 stores and head office in Beccles, Suffolk. The failure of Hawkin's, following the crucial Christmas trading period, is the second among retailers this week: fashion chain D2 Jeans has also folded. D2's administrator BDO immediately closed 19 of its 47 UK stores, making more than 200 employees redundant. No job losses have been announced at Hawkin's, with Zolfo Cooper saying the business would be run as a going concern. The 55 "pop-up" stores Hawkin's opened for Christmas, which employed 400 temporary staff, will close as planned. Zolfo Cooper's Peter Saville said: "Hawkin's has experienced exceptionally challenging trading conditions of late. At this stage we intend to continue to trade the component parts of the group whilst we seek a buyer for all or parts of its operations." Hawkin's was set up in 1973 and sells quirky toys, gifts, games and gadgets using the tagline "things you thought had gone forever, things you never even knew existed". Insiders suggested that a buyer would be found for at least part of the loss-making business, which at last count had debts of £42m.

Spain sets out 8.9bn euros of new austerity measures

 

Spain's new conservative government has outlined 8.9bn euros ($11.5bn, £7.5bn) in new spending cuts and tax rises to lower the country's borrowing. The announcement is the first in a wave of austerity measures, with a total of 16.5bn euros to be cut in 2012. It also said Spain's 2011 deficit will be about 8% of its output - higher than the 6% seen by the previous government. The Popular Party last month ousted the Socialists from power at elections amid deep economic gloom. The government of new Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to meet Spain's target of reducing the public deficit to 4.4% of gross domestic product in 2012, no matter what. On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria maintained a freeze on public sector wages for another year and ruled out practically all government hiring. "This is the beginning of the beginning," Ms Saenz de Santamaria said. "We are facing an extraordinary, unexpected situation, which will force us to take extraordinary and unexpected measures." Taxes on the wealthiest Spaniards will also be raised for at least two years, raising 6bn euros, she said. Spain's borrowing costs have jumped in the last year - reaching as high as 6.7% for 10-year debts - as investors feared that Spain might join Greece, the Irish Republic and Portugal in needing a bailout. The country's economy has shrunk sharply since a housing bubble burst in 2008, and it has an unemployment rate of 21%, the highest in Europe. The austerity measures have sparked a number of large protests across the country.

600,000 people kick the habit in first year of Spain's extended smoking legislation

More than 25% of the Spanish still smoke however

EFE archive

Around 600,000 people have given up smoking since Spain’s tougher smoking legislation, which bans smoking in all closed public spaces, came into force on January 2, 2011. The CNPT National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking says that 500,000 fewer packets of cigarettes have been sold during that time.

They said in their provisional results released on Tuesday that hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction have dropped by 10% and for asthma attacks in children by 15%.

The Committee notes that the legislation has not had a negative effect on bars and restaurants, nor on tourism which rose by 7% in 2011. Compliance with the law is high, and ‘it has been accepted by the Spanish as if it were natural, apart from some isolated incidents’, they said.

EFE however reports that, despite the news, more than 25% of the Spanish are still smokers. It compares with other countries such as Canada, Australia and Switzerland where the rate is below 15%.

Spanish Monarchy reveals budgets and costs for the very first time

This year the global cost was 8.43 million €.

The Spanish Royal Family - Photo EFE

The budget for the Spanish Royal Family has been published and placed online for the very first time in a new effort of transparency and shows the global cost of the Royal Household in 2011 was 8.43 million €.
The amount of that going to the Royal Family is 814,128 €, 9.65% of the total budget, while other personnel costs were 4,039,000 or 47.89%.

Other current costs for services were 3,275,000 € or 38.83% of the total, and in addition there were 100,000 € for royal investments and 206,000 for a contingency fund.

The accounts show that the King himself gets 140,519 € as a wage, and then 152,233 € for representation expenses.

The Prince of Asturias gets half the amount assigned to the Monarch, while the Queen, Princess of Asturias and the Infantas Doña Elena and Doña Cristina only get representation costs in proportion to activities each year. The total budget this year for those costs had a limit of 375,000 €.

Iñaki Urdangarin and Jaime de Marichalar do not get any income from the royal budget.

The royal household has made it clear that both the King and the Queen, as well as the other members of the royal family are all subject to tax, and annually present an IRPF income tax declaration.

By the way to compare, the British Royal Family spend 32.1 million pounds, abot 40 million €.

Minimum wage in Spain to be frozen for 2012

The wage will remain at 641 €

Photo EFE

Unions sources say that the Government is to freeze the minimum wage for 2012 at 641 €. The inter-professional minimum wage in Spain is one of the lowest in Europe.

For 2011 the minimum wage for 12 monthly payments in Euros, according to Eurostat is as follows.
Luxembourg – 1,757.50
Ireland – 1,461.80
Holland – 1,424.40
Belgium – 1,415.20
France – 1,365.00
U.K. – 1,138.50
USA – 940.40
Greece – 862.80
Spain – 748.30
Slovenia – 748.10
Malta – 664.90
Portugal – 565.80
Turkey – 384.80
Croatia – 381.10
Poland – 348.60
Czech Republic – 319.20
Slovakia – 317
Lithuania – 281.90
Hungary – 280.60
Estonia 278.0
Lithuania 231.70

The Minimum Wage in Spain has been losing purchasing power having been increased in both 2010 and 2011 at less than the IPC inflation rate. This year annual inflation in November was 2.9% at the end of November, so minimum wage workers are set to lose even more purchasing power.

For workers who are part time for the same company and do not exceed 120 days a year, the minimum wage is 30.39 € a day, and for those domestic workers who are paid by the hour the minimum is 5.02 € per hour worked.

Both the CCOO and UGT unions had written to the previous Minister for Employment, Valeriano Gómez, calling for the minimum wage to be inflation linked. In that letter the unions said that the economic crisis ‘cannot be used as an excuse to forget the objective of reaching a minimum wage which is 60% of the average wage in the country’.

Man arrested for domestic violence murder in Sevilla

The victim is his ex partner and Spain's 60th victim of domestic violence this year

The building in Marchena where Inmaculada D. was killed - EFE

Domestic violence in Spain claimed the year’s 60th victim on Tuesday night when a 29 year old woman, Inmaculada D., died at the hands of her ex partner in Marchena, Sevilla. Her killer is named as Fernando F.G., who is also her distant uncle and the father of her three year old daughter.

The victim was stabbed to death and her current boyfriend received treatment for a minor stab wound.

EFE reports that after the stabbing the assailant went to a local bar before returning to the scene of the crime, a flat on Calle Maestro Moreno Torroba, where he was arrested by police without putting up any resistance. It’s understood that he had been under a distancing order since the summer.

A minute’s silence was held outside the Town Hall building in Marchena on Wednesday and three days of official mourning have been called in memory of Andalucía’s fifteenth victim of domestic violence this year.

Blanco faces charges of influence peddling and bribery

Ex Minister for Development, José Blanco - EFE

The Supreme Court has opened a criminal process against the ex Development Minister, José Blanco, in the so-called Campeón Case.

Blanco faces charges of influence peddling and bribery in the case which comes out from the investigations judge, Estela San José, from Instruction Court 3 in Lugo, who presented her report to the prosecutor at the end of November, suggesting the case be continued. Several businessmen have accused the ex Minister of carrying out efforts in their favour in exchange for money.

The instructing judge in the Supreme Court will be the magistrate, José Ramón Soriano.

The highest judicial authority is Juan José Martín Casallo, following the Attorney General, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, excusing himself from the case given his friendship with Blanco.

Blanco commented on Wednesday night, ‘I have the security that the investigation is going to clarify the false accusations’.

Spanish Royal Family pose for the press at the Marivent Palace

The Spanish Royal Family on the steps of the Marivent Palace in Mallorca today - Photo Ballesteros/EFE

This year the traditional summer photo has a new arrival - the Infanta Sofía

In what some people consider to be the most awaited photographic moment of the year, the complete Spanish Royal Family has posed for their traditional summer photograph.

As usual it took place at the Marivent Palace on Mallorca, the traditional summer holiday destination for the royals.

This year there is a new arrival in the family group, the Infanta Sofía who was born to the Princess of Asturias, Letizia Ortiz, on April 29th this year, and who has become third in line to the throne.

Iñaki Urdangarin has been indicted

The Duke of Palma will appear in court on February 6

Iñaki Urdangarin - Photo EFE

Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma and son in law of King Juan Carlos has now been indicted and called to declare to the court in Palma de Mallorca on February 6.

Judge José Castro is investigating him for alleged crimes of misuse of public funds, fraud, falsehood and perversion of the course of justice. He will have to ‘explain the final destination of the public funds received in Valencia and the Baleares and the fiscal treatment of the same’. The judge is also set to ask him whether there are any profits from the money received.

The case is a separate part of the Palma Arena case against the ex President of the Baleares, Jaume Matas and has been named by the police as ‘Operación Babel’.

The case summary, which includes part of his business interests in the Nóos Institute has now been published. It contains more than 2,000 sheets of investigations and indicates possible criminal activity linked to what should have been a non-profit organisation of which the Duke was President.

A statement from the Zarzuela Palace has said they ‘respect the actions of the judges’.

Corrupt judge allowed back into the judicary

Francisco Javier de Urquía has been found guilty of accepting bribes

Francisco Javier de Urquía - Photo EFE

The Supreme Court has decided to rehabilitate the Judge, Francisco Javier de Urquía, despite him being found guilty on two occasions of accepting bribes when he was the judge in the Instruction Court 2 in Marbella.

The High Court of Justice in Andalucía considered the judge had accepted 73,800 € from the man at the centre of the Malaya case, Juan Antonio Roca. The money reportedly helped him to by a property in exchange for judicial favours. A few days after the payment of the money, he blocked a Marbella TV station from showing an uncomfortable documentary on Roca.

In the Hidalgo case Urquía picked up 60,000 € for granting bail to three of the accused. He was instructing that case on money laundering of drug trafficking profits.

The Supreme Court has ruled however that having a criminal record does not mean you cannot hand out justice, and that Urquía can return to the judiciary as the 21 month suspension handed down has been served.

It’s the second time the 43 year old judge has got a favourable resolution from the Supreme Court, and where he has a third one still pending. But if a second charge against him becomes firm, then he will be suspended again as a judge.