Business over Tapas Nº 560

A digest of this week's Spanish financial, political and social news aimed primarily at Foreign Property Owners:

Prepared by Lenox Napier.  Consultant: José Antonio Sierra

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Business over Tapas will return on December 12.

Volveremos el doce de diciembre.

Editorial:

Behind the scenes, there are several far-right pressure groups besides some (but not all) of the leading judiciary. The key word these days to those far-right legal efforts is ‘lawfare’ (previously known as guerra jurídica). Many cases are taken on just to put pressure on certain groups – maybe pro-abortion agencies, or comedians or even puppeteers, or Podemos and their splinters (the Caso Neurona was finally binned last week after three years of gratuitous headlines about corruption in the halls of Podemos, the Pablo Iglesias PISA fake commission scandal and some twenty other creative claims against the party which sometimes took years to be put to sleep).

In the shadows, there are various nefarious organisations ready to throw trumped-up accusations, which will provide newspaper space, extra (remunerative) work for the courts and perhaps notoriety for the judge (depending on his – we might say – common sense). Most of these groups are joined at the hip with Mother Church. There’s the Opus Dei of course (the Banco Popular was one of theirs), the divine Movimiento Católico Español (it sells Francoist and Nazi memorabilia to survive), the Sinister Mexican-headed El Yunque, the Hazte Oir (it drives buses around with pictures of children on the sides illustrating the difference between their two sexes, so that you know), the litigious anti-Gay Manos Limpias and then there’s the oxymoron which calls itself the Abogados Cristianos – the Christian Lawyers.

They all know that democracy inevitably has its cracks and its loopholes, and they can sometimes play their extreme politics in the courts – to try to erode the system from within.

Fronting them all are Vox and, when it suits them, the Partido Popular.

Right now, indeed, the PP is busy with its latest broadside on Pedro Sánchez and the presumed ‘high-street of corruption’ of his party (occurring now possibly because they inadvertently lost a political opportunity in their vote to allow prisoners, including ETA prisoners, to be released after a maximum of thirty years). There will be blood.

The Inquisition may have gone centuries ago, but the Church, the Army, the Bankers and the Establishment still hold on to power as they must.

While we patiently wait for the agonising inquiries, fake news, inventions and other material to be waded through in the peculiar case against the President’s wife (whatever it may be… give us time and we’ll find something), or the Caso Koldo and its relation of Pedro Sánchez, or the slightly unlikely story of bags of cash being left by senior PSOE members at head office, or the simmering stories of the President’s brother (dear me, we have been busy); let’s examine another case, which turns on the almost sacred status of a past president of Spain, José Maria Aznar.

A famous TV comedian called El Gran Wyoming put on a priestly outfit the other evening on his late-evening comedy show and produced a skit about how he is the pope of the Holy Aznariana Sect – which offended our friends over at the Christian Lawyers (they should technically have been in bed by then), so much so that they have produced a lawsuit against the comic. Wyoming was evidently surprised by this idiocy and he repeated his ‘High Mass’, with some extra flourishes, the following night. Wyoming also had a word for Judge Peinado (the judge in the case against Pedro Sánchez’ wife): ‘Get yourself ready, there’s another juicy case coming down the line…’

The comic could get as much as four years clink for offending the sensibilities of followers of the Christian faith – at least, the Old Testament ones.

Perhaps it’s time to put some of these more eccentric organisations out to dry.

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Housing:

‘Thousands protested on Sunday (Oct 13) in Madrid to demand more affordable housing, amid rising anger from Spaniards who feel they are being priced out of the market. Under the slogan “Housing is a right, not a business”, residents marched in the Spanish capital to demand lower housing rental prices and better living conditions’. The Business Times here.

‘The rise of tourist apartments and temporary rentals, and in particular their proliferation in violation of the law, has reduced the supply of housing to rent as a habitual residence. In order to tackle the fraudulent use of both types of rental, the Government has initiated the procedures to implement a registration system that will be essential to be able to offer a home on online platforms and that will provide a unique identification number for each property. The mechanism will begin to operate on January 2, 2025, although the initial phase will be a test phase and, therefore, its use will be voluntary for the owners, who will be the ones who will have to request registration…’ Item from 20Minutos here.

From Spanish Property Insight in an article titled ‘British tax-refugees head for Spain’: ‘In the last few weeks the British press has been full of stories of non-doms and British millionaires leaving, or planning to leave the country, to avoid an expected attack on wealth in the pending budget statement…’  I was thinking – what a terrible burden it must be, to not be able or willing to live where you want because of all that damned money you have.

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Tourism:

‘Owners of tourist apartments meet in a bid to overturn council restrictions in Málaga city. Experts from the law firm Martínez-Echevarría chaired a meeting at which they claimed that the actions of the city council and regional government in Andalucía are "completely illegal"’. The item comes from Sur in English here.

 From Schengen News here: ‘EU delays Entry/Exit System launch once again, November 10 is no longer on the table’.

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Seniors:

An article at Infobae says that there are around 100,000 Britons over the age of 65 living in Spain. When their health starts to fail, their problems begin: whether a lack of comprehension in Spanish, or a (likely) shortage of family help, trouble is on the way.

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Finance:

‘Spain looks to immigrants to drive economy’. The BBC examines here the importance to the economy of immigrant workers. We read, ‘…In Spain the controversy is driven in great part by the far-right Vox party, which frequently describes the trend as an “invasion”. However, the arrivals have also underlined a major potential source of manpower for an economy which faces stiff demographic challenges…’

The Director of the Policía Nacional Francisco Pardo answers Vox’s claims that immigration is coupled with delinquency: ‘It’s an egregious lie’ he says. 

The ABC says ‘Inflation takes a breather and falls to 1.5% in September, awaiting the return of IVA to the basic basket. Food prices fall seven tenths to 1.8% annually, although the CEOE warns of the effect of the reversal of the Government's anti-inflationary measures’.

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Politics:

From 20Minutos here: ‘The PP announces a complaint against the PSOE for irregular financing, bribery and influence peddling’.

20Minutos again: ‘The nervousness in Ferraz (the PSOE headquarters is in Calle Ferraz in Madrid) about the scope of the Caso Koldo is an open secret. The socialists try to appear calm, but they already recognise that "no one is free from encountering a case of corruption in their ranks" and that "it's all becoming a bit ugly". In fact, they now defend that what differentiates them from the PP is their way of acting in the face of corruption cases and that they had already demonstrated this with the rapid expulsion of José Luis Ábalos from the party after the indictment of his former adviser Koldo García. And although they insist that they are not worried about what the former minister might say if he finally declares before the judge, it seems that the ramifications of this plot are beyond their control. "We will react according to what comes out," say sources from the socialist leadership…’

The current attack against the PSOE by the Partido Popular comes down to a case of corruption (the Caso Koldo), where the minister concerned, José Luis Ábalos (Koldo García was his right-hand man), was not only promptly sacked by Sánchez (on suspicion) back in February this year, but also ejected from the party – he now continues as an independent. The second string is the bags of cash brought to head office by business-folk keen to deal with one of Ábalos’ lieutenants as reported – exclusively – by a peculiar news-site called The Objective. This may be a bit unlikely, but the PP is betting the house on it.

Catalunya Press explains who is behind The Objective here (in short, the usual suspects).

VozPópuli has: ‘The secretary general of the PP Cuca Gamarra has announced that her party will go to court after learning that, allegedly, "bags full of money" were arriving at Ferraz’.

El Correo says: ‘Ferraz responds to the complaint: "Feijóo has no authority to demand explanations". They dust off the 'Gürtell' plot to counterattack the judicial offensive for the Caso Koldo. (An example of ‘y tu más’, or you did even more than we).

20Minutos brings us ‘The PSOE counterattacks after the PP's complaint and threatens to take Feijóo to court over the improper hiring practices of the Xunta de Galicia’.

The Corner looks at ‘The Corruption Premium’ here.

We might remember that the alternative to the current government would be a mixture of the Partido Popular, Vox and perhaps Alvise Pérez’ Se Acabó la Fiesta. Una trifacha.

As the chances of those sacks of money being left in the PSOE headquarters by friendly businessmen in 2020 begin to look increasingly unlikely, the PP on Wednesday began another attack on Wednesday – this time against the (PSOE-appointed) State Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz – calling on him to resign for ‘revealing secret information’ about Ayuso’s boyfriend and his ‘ático’ – a large apartment bought by a friend – upstairs from his residence in Madrid. ‘García Ortiz has announced that he will remain in office despite the fact that on Wednesday it became known that he has been charged before the Supreme Court for an alleged crime of revealing secrets’, says 20Minutos here.

Opinion from elDiario.es here: Who is really running the PP? It begins: ‘Although it may seem impossible, there is a line of continuity in the erratic and anti-political performance of the PP leadership. This coherence lies in the fact that the final decisions on what to do and how to do it are not made by Alberto Núñez Feijóo and his team, but are imposed on them from outside in the form of pressure to which they systematically give in. Isabel Díaz Ayuso or, better yet, her thinking brain, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, newspapers such as El Mundo, radio journalist Federico Jiménez Losantos and certain talking heads are the exponents of the PP's most right-wing thinking who impose their criteria on Feijóo, without caring that these concessions make him appear more and more like a ridiculous character…’

Rocío Monasterio, the Vox leader for Madrid, was replaced last week by the party president Santiago Abascal in favour of José Antonio Fuster. She has now resigned her seat in the Madrid Assembly.

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Gibraltar:

From EuropaSur here: ‘Spain warns that it would not understand a rapprochement between the European Union and the United Kingdom without an agreement on Gibraltar. “Spain is the country in the European Union with the largest colony of British citizens perfectly integrated among us” said the Spanish Foreign Minister, reminding the British Foreign Office of its munificence.

The Guardian on the subject of decolonisation. ‘…Gibraltar’s residents, workers and visitors however face a more pressing issue than debates over colonialism or football chants: and that is the fallout from Brexit’.

From the ABC here: ‘The UK returns Chagos colony, would this set a precedent for Gibraltar or the Falklands?’ The journalist quotes the British Conservative politician Tom Tugendhat who speaks of ‘Gibraltar being an open wound in our relations with Spain.

After all, ‘Where there’s life there’s hope’ (said Cicero).  

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Middle East:

Following the first incident in Lebanon with the UN blue-helmets (there have now been three incidents), El Periódico says here: Spain "strongly" condemns the Israeli shots fired at the headquarters of the UN mission in Lebanon. Foreign Minister Albares also confirmed that the Spanish UNIFIL soldiers stationed in the area "are doing well". The second attack on Friday is also condemned by Spain says The Diplomat here. Following a third incident, ‘Netanyahu urges the peacekeepers to leave Lebanon’ says elDiario.es.

From Swiss Info here: ‘Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the international community on Friday to stop exporting weapons to Israel, in the midst of an escalation of its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. "I think it is urgent that, in light of everything that is happening in the Middle East, the international community stops exporting weapons to the Government of Israel," declared the socialist leader after being received by Pope Francis at the Vatican’.

From The Times of Israel here: ‘Spanish PM urges EU to accept bid to end free trade with Israel. Pedro Sánchez also calls on international community to stop selling arms to Israel after UNIFIL soldiers were hurt in ground offensive in Lebanon’. Spain has deployed 650 peacekeepers in Lebanon and a Spanish general leads the UN mission there.

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Health:

From El Salto Diario here: ‘Half a year to undergo surgery for a tumour in Andalucía, the region that invests the least in healthcare. A report from Amnesty International once again places the Andalusian region as the region that invests the least in healthcare and where healthcare waits are the longest’.

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Corruption:

‘Immucura Med SL, a Marbella company is investigated for alleged fraud involving its innovative cancer therapy treatments. The business founder and CEO is an investment banker who has managed funds in the Cayman Islands and claims to have been an advisor to the Russian government’. Sur in English has the story here.

The Olive Press has useful advice on how to avoid cyber-scams here. In short, don’t be fooled (because that’s what it is – the scammers are out to fool you). They advise: ‘In the unfortunate event of a scam, cease communication immediately. Report the incident to the authorities and monitor financial statements for unauthorized transactions’.

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Courts:

Abogados Cristianos have not only denounced El Gran Wyoming (see editorial above), but also Menéame for carrying the story. (Me? I’m overseas for a while).

Here’s a short skit with El Gran Wyoming… and… No, could it be? It’s El Juez Peinado!

By a happy coincidence, ‘The chief prosecutor of Madrid who is opposed to investigating Begoña Gómez's complaint against Judge Peinado is Almudena Lastra. A friend of Ayuso’.

Manos Limpias meanwhile has denounced Bárbara Rey (a singer/dancer and one-time girlfriend of the Emeritus) ‘for revealing secrets’. She told the media that Juan Carlos (or rather, the Spanish Secret Service) had slipped her 35 million pesetas to pay off some debts. One would think that the Government or the Royal Family would have made the complaint if they had thought it necessary…

With all the excitement of the cases above, who has time for the ten years and five months prison plus a fine of 25 million euros handed down on Tuesday for the once president of the Valencian Community and one-time national Minister for Employment Eduardo Zaplana (Wiki)? elDiario.es explores the background – showing how Zaplana took commissions and bribes throughout his political life.

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Media:

From El País here: ‘The president of the Prisa Group (El País, Cadena Ser), Joseph Oughourlian, warned this Monday against disinformation as a “serious threat” to democracies. At the opening of the World in Progress Barcelona conference for thought and debate, Oughourlian warned that “Fake news proliferates because it brings extraordinary benefits to those who create it, often unscrupulous media outlets, and also to those who distribute it massively, who put profits before editorial and social responsibility”, and called on institutions and companies to actively participate to prevent these hoaxes (‘bulos’) from damaging democratic systems…’

From The Guardian here: ‘Journalist or Russian spy? The strange case of Pablo González. As a Spanish reporter, Pablo González charmed his way into Russian opposition circles and covered Putin’s wars. Then, in 2022, he was arrested on suspicion of espionage. Many former associates now believe that he betrayed them’.

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Various:

How proper of otherwise it is to give nationalities nicknames… the Latin Americans have a few for the Spanish (and, of course, vice versa). The best known one – often used in Argentina – is un gallego (since a lot of immigrants there were from Galicia). As provides a couple more (polite ones) here, including españolete and gachupín. 

Seville: The anti-graffiti unit has removed nearly five thousand graffiti in the last nine months says 20Minutos here. The equivalent of 60,000 square metres of paint.

‘Thefts on the AP-7 double in two years. Thefts on Catalonia's main motorway reached 2,645 in 2023’. The victims are often elderly foreign tourists says El País here.

The Junta de Andalucía says it will demolish the Hotel Algarrobico sometime next year.

Forget Gibraltar, Catalonia or Olivença, here’s the story of a city which became independent of Spain for six months (1873 – 1874) and planned to become a possession of the United States of America (!). In Cartagena (Murcia’s second city), they still have yearnings…

‘On October 3, 2024, José Antonio Sierra Lumbreras, founder and former director of the Instituto Cultural Español Cervantes in Dublin, and consultant for Business over Tapas, sent a formal request to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility for the Ávila train station to be named “La Estación Teresa de Jesús”.

The proposal seeks to honour the memory of the illustrious writer and religious woman from Ávila, Saint Teresa of Ávila, known worldwide for her spiritual work and her impact on the history of the Catholic Church.

In a recent interview on Onda Medina Castilla y León, Sierra Lumbreras explained the reasons for his initiative, pointing out that throughout his 40 years of life abroad, especially in Ireland, the United Kingdom and France, he observed that, although many knew Saint Teresa of Jesus, few knew that she was originally from Ávila. “This appointment would contribute to reinforcing the identity of the city and giving visibility to the figure of Saint Teresa,” he said…’ Item from La Voz de Medina Digital here.

Was Walt Disney (or his father, perhaps) born in Mojácar? So they say, with very little proof to go on. There’s a huge (and embarrassing) wall-painting on the town art-gallery as you drive up to the village, with a picture of Mickey Mouse and an inscription which says ‘Walt Was Here’. Now, the thing is that the Walt Disney Corp out of Burbank, California, is notoriously litigious and yet… the picture (plus a second, outside the school) has been there for a year now…!  So, even though I don’t believe it, maybe they do.

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See Spain:

‘There are many castles in Spain. In fact, there are more than 20,000 bastions in different states of preservation throughout the country. However, the construction that still reigns over Baños de la Encina (Jaén) has the merit of being the oldest of those still preserved intact in our country. An amazing and truly outstanding milestone’. Nat Geo has the story.

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Finally:

Criando Ratas has a jolly rumba here called Pasa el Canutito.

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