Spanish Expats in UK Contribute £802 million to British Economy

Expats continue to fund the economy 

Spanish Expats in UK Contribute £802 million to British Economy

The never-ending love affair between the UK and Spain – outside of the occasional spat over Gibraltar – should be a reminder to everyone who wants to spread the idea that Europe is divided that even countries that are as “different” as these two countries have a lot of respect, admiration and love for each other.

Brits are in love with the climate, beaches, hospitality, and traditional foods and wines of Spain. Spain, on the other hand, loves the culture, history, fairness, liberal economic and working conditions and the food and beer of the UK. 

While there are certainly more Brits living in Spain than the other way around, the gap started to close with thousands of young Spaniards moving to Britain to escape the recession and find work. 

Some of those Spaniards are moving back home now the economy in Spain is improving, but data from the HMRC in the UK has shown there are still many Spaniards living in Britain and they are proving to be great for the country. 

The data showed that Spaniards contributed £802 million in taxes in 2014 while claiming only £62 million in benefits. This gave the UK economy a major net benefit and puts the Spanish in sixth place in the list of the top ten countries contributing taxes to Britain. 

France comes top of the list, with French residents paying a whopping £2.3 billion in taxes during 2014, putting them ahead of the Polish, who contributed £2.2 billion. As close as these figures are the net benefit of French expats is much higher than the Poles with a ratio of 25.6 compared to 2.4 for the Poles. This shows that Polish immigrants are more likely to claim benefits compared to French immigrants. 

Spaniards provide a net benefit ratio of 12.9 which makes them one of the best contributors to the British economy according to the HMRC data.

Spanish Economy Growing Three Times Faster than UK

Spanish Economy Growing Three Times Faster than UK

Spain continues its incredible recovery 

The New York Times is calling it the end of a the nightmare, while other media outlets took a more sedate approach to reporting the latest official economic data from the Spanish government; not only is the Spanish economy growing, but it’s growing at a much faster rate than the rest of Europe.

It’s been almost a decade – that’s ten years – since the worst economic crash since the Second World War hit Spain, leaving millions out of work and pushing thousands to just give up and leave Spain behind. Most believed that they would be displaced for the rest of their lives, a sign of just how deep the financial abyss Spain was dealing with between 2008 and 2012 was.

But the slow, steady, sometimes painful reforms to labour and the economy has given Spain the necessary power to climb out of the slumps and post economic growth of 0.9% across the second quarter of 2017.

This figure might not sound impressive, but it’s actually a sign of incredible performance; by itself as well as in a wider context. A growth rate of 0.9% is 3 times higher than the growth of the UK, and around twice the growth of France; which saw economic growth of 0.5% during the same period.

The figure is even more impressive in context, given that Spain was one of the two countries in Europe facing a double dip recession in the credit crunch. This data from the second quarter also marks the continuation of growth pushing economic growth in Spain past 3% for the second year in a row – which would make it the best performing economy in Europe.

Spanish unemployment plummeted to 26% during the worst parts of the crisis. These days unemployment has been brought down to 17.2% and it continues to fall. HIS Markit economist Raj Badiani suggests that the growth of consumer spending regained momentum during the second quarter following strong job creation and the overall financial climate.

It seems the strong performance of Spain may give some inspiration to the new President of France Emmanuel Macron, who is currently considering introducing labour reforms to France that are similar to those employed by Spain since 2010; including loosening employment laws that made it easier for companies to lay off their workers. This has had an effect of companies becoming more willing to hire new staff, knowing that they are not tied down by long-term employment contracts.

The reforms have helped boost the manufacturing sector of Spain, boosting the export economy of the country. Exports are now accounting for around a third of Spanish economic output, higher than the less-than-one-quarter seen a few years ago.

As exports are on the up, the local governments of Spain have also been able to increase tax takes, with the money spreading into the wider economy; as seen in the increase of infrastructure projects being constructed nationwide.

Spain has picked itself up and is looking healthier and more stable than ever.

Survey Finds Spaniards are More Confident About Economy

Survey Finds Spaniards are More Confident About Economy

Spain is back and every sector is on the up.

Over half of Spanish people now believe that the economy of the country is doing well almost a decade after one of the worst recessions to ever hit the country.

The survey was carried out by international consulting firm GAD3 and it showed 52.5% of Spaniards had confidence that Spain will be one of the best-performing economies of Europe, a claim supported by leading economists who believe the country really is leading the way for growth.

This represents an 11.3% increase in optimism since the survey was put out last year, and it reflects the experiences of the average Spaniard, as more jobs and improved job security are becoming reality for many people across the country.

A poll that covered just Barcelona conducted by the City Hall discovered Barcelona residents no longer consider being employed and their working conditions to be their primary concern. This is the first that job security hasn’t been the main concern since 2009.

However, the poll also showed that Barcelona residents are starting to feel the pressure of tourism. The city continues to grow as a cultural, beach, and party hub of the world. It’s bringing plenty of prestige and money to the city, but it’s also starting to infringe on the livelihoods of residents.

Tourism concerns hit the top of the polls for the first time in history, causing Deputy Mayor Gerardo Pisarello to declare that the issue has nothing to do with some kind of “tourism phobia” ad that people in Barcelona remain fans of travel and seeing tourists. The condition is one of concrete malaise caused by overcrowding.

Barcelona recorded nine million official overnight stays in 2016, but the City Hall estimates that the real number is closer to 30 million after accounting for rental options including AirBnB and private lets.

Barcelona famously announced that they planned to limit tourism numbers; as the city council have begun to refuse to grant new hotel licenses.

Barcelona’s success has been great for the economy of the city – as it has been great for the entire country – but, much like with the improved job market, the country needs to do some additional work to ensure as many people as possible are helped by the economic benefits.

How the Improved Economy of Spain is Helping Ease Parent-child Relations

Spanish families continue to be close to there children and may live at

home for longer than northern Europeans

How the Improved Economy of Spain is Helping Ease Parent-child Relations

“Too lazy to earn a living” is how one Spanish judge described a 23-year-old woman who requested she could continue to receive financial assistance from her parents.

While the woman in question lost her cases, these cases became common in Spain after the credit crunch and double-dip recession of 2008. It all left many young Spaniards forced to either return home to their parents, or just not leave the nest in the first place in order to keep a roof over their heads.

When you throw in the Spanish culture, which is one where young people will stay with their parents for much longer than people from other European countries, and you have a cocktail of resentment, lost opportunities, and the cases mentioned above – where young Spanish people are considered to be apathetic and lazy.

It looks like things could soon be changing as the economy of Spain continues to improve, the job market is strengthening, and mortgages are becoming more affordable and available.

As Spain puts a high value on strong family bonds, it’s not an uncommon sight to see young Spaniards live at home until their late 20s. However, the recession saw people in their 30s living with their parents – a situation that left all parties involved dealing with a lot of frustration.

Eurostat suggests that the average of Spaniards leave their homes is 29 – which is nine years later than the average Swede and still above the EU average of 28. Spanish laws have always decreed that parents need to provide for their offspring until their children reach a state of economic dependence and are able to fend for themselves.

This vague law features no upper age limit and it’s been taken advantage of a number of times, but there are some exceptions, such as the recent Cantabrian case. The judge in that case exercised the caveat that the law doesn’t apply when the behaviour of a child prevents them from being able to live their lives properly, such as being lazy or being unwilling to seek their own independence.

The economic situation of today has improved greatly, meaning many young Spaniards are running out of excuses for not being independent. This is good news across the long-term as the young Spaniards that are becoming independent today will provide an additional boost to the economy, as well as ease the tensions with their parents generated by living together too long.

The Spanish also place a high value on higher education, with most Spaniards in their 20s still in some form of full-time education.

Strength of Spanish Economy Shown by Increase in Car Sales and Decrease in Illegal Downloads

Strength of Spanish Economy Shown by Increase in Car Sales and Decrease in Illegal Downloads

There was a time during the credit crunch of 2008-2012 that living in Spain was the hotbed of illegal downloads in Europe. From music and films to unlicensed software, Spaniards who found themselves strapped for cash would use internet services to get their hands on the content they couldn’t afford or just didn’t want to pay for.

Spain wasn’t the only country this trend hit, but it certainly became the leader. Things have changed now, however. As the Spanish economy has picked up, and there are affordable streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix opening their doors, the amount of illegal content downloaded in Spain has tanked.

A survey of over 4,000 Spanish internet users from consultancy firm Gfk shows that piracy has hit a ten-year low in the country. Around half of the people surveyed admitted to still illegally downloading content, saying that they feel they can get anything they want online for free because they pay for their internet connection.

A similar amount of people did say that they would pay for the content if it was cheaper.

The survey suggested that content piracy accounted for around €1.8 billion in lost earnings during 2016. If all the content that was illegally downloaded was paid for legally, then it would have supported 21,000 jobs in Spain alone according to the consultancy firm.

An area of the Spanish economy that is certainly generating jobs is the automotive industry, which kicked off the year to a great start with 7.9% more cars sold in Spain for the first quarter of 2017, compared to the first quarter of 2016.

Car sales – much like property sales – are an accurate sign of how the economy is performing. An increase in sales for cars or homes is always a cause for celebration.

The Spanish Association of Automobiles and Trucks (ANFAC) calculated some 307,911 cars were sold during the first quarter of 2017 in Spain. Malaga topped the charts in Andalucía, with 10,270 new cars sold, followed by Seville with 9,778 cars sold.

See How The Spanish Economy Boosted By Tourism and Exports in the First Quarter

See How Spanish Economy Boosted By Tourism and Exports in the First Quarter

2016 broke all record for tourism and 2017 is looking great too

Following a strong first quarter of Spain, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy increased the economic outlook for the country. The economy was boosted by strong performances in the tourism and export industries.

The government now believes that national GDP will increase by 2.7% in 2017, up from the 2.5% expected at the start of the year. The stronger start to 2017 has been seen primarily in data about flights, hotels, and resorts showing record-breaking levels of tourism.

The Spanish real estate market is also offering encouraging interest and activity.

Rajoy said that the recent data for the first quarter of 2017, as well as forecasts both national and international, were behind the decision to revise the growth forecast.

The optimism matches the optimism shown by the Bank of Spain, which increased its own growth forecast to 2.8% GDP, putting Spain on the course to be one of the major economic performers of Europe in 2017.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published their own sober – if still encouraging – GDP increase. The IMF expects that Spanish GDP will increase by 2.6% this year, which would still leave the country ahead of the UK and USA for the second year in a row.

The Prime Minister expects GDP growth to continue across 2018 and 2019, leading to around half a million new jobs added each year. The result is that another million Spaniards will be in employment by 2020.

There is still some concern over the jobless rate, with Spanish unemployment sitting at 18.6%; one of the highest in Europe. Rajoy told reporters his government is planning a budget that prioritises this figure with plans to reduce unemployment below 16% by 2018.

Data from Fourth Quarter Reveals Strengthening Spanish Economy

Data from Fourth Quarter Reveals Strengthening Spanish Economy

Everything is looking Rosie for Spain

If you were to keep a close eye on the Spanish economy, the recovery might appear to be a little slow. With the benefit of hindsight however, we see that the impressive economic turnaround the country has seen since 2014 is nothing short of special.

Spain is still suffering from low wage growth and a high unemployment rate, but you would have had your hand bitten off if you’d offered the 2016 economic data of the country to anyone – from bank manager and financial analyst to average Joe on the street – from 2010.

Spain saw a welcome increase of 3.2% GDP for two years in a row, and has now reached the point where it is doing far more than just recovering from the double dip recession. Spain is currently on course towards becoming a shining economic beacon of light in the EU.

The latest data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) this week shows that the Spanish economy grew 0.7% over last year during the fourth quarter of 2016. This economic success was fuelled by the success seen in tourism, exports, and industry.

This performance at the end of the year continued the trend that has seen 24 months of sustained economic growth. It’s thanks to this growth that Spain has entered the top three for Eurozone economies. The country has come a long way since the days between 2008-2013 when unemployment rates went out of control, the youth fled the country in the thousands, and everyone responded with scepticism at the prospect of economic recovery.

Things have certainly changed. There is still a high unemployment rate (over 16%) but Prime Minister Rajoy and his labour reforms are helping stem the tide and improve the job market. Spain is also seeing the benefits of the economic recover across the rest of Europe, in particular the boost to Spanish tourism and real estate thanks to all the foreign money flowing in.

Economists in Malta are expecting this year to see a growth of between 2.5-2.7%, which might not be as much as in previous years, but is still a sign of the solidity that would have been just a pipedream four years ago.

Around 74,000 new jobs were created each month in 2016, and it’s expected Spain could see similar results this year. Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos said that quarterly growth could be similar to what was seen last year. Given that the country was dealing with political strife last year and still experienced incredible growth, the estimates from economists could prove themselves to be conservative. No matter what though, it’s hard to deny that Spain has started 2017 as healthy as it's been for over10 years.

Spanish Economy Outperforms Much of Europe with 3.2% Growth

Spanish Economy Outperforms Much of Europe with 3.2% Growth

The Spanish economy is booming.

It’s not often that individuals care all that much about GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Individuals are often more concerned about issues such as cost of living their wages, their job security, their ability to buy the things they need and, of course, their personal happiness.

Given the way that Spain endured a double-dip recession a few years ago, however, one could hardly blame Spaniards for feeling proud and happy of the way that Spanish GDP grew 3.2% during 2016.

The reason why this growth happened is because of the hard work, positivity, and stoicism of the Spanish people. They kept the country moving through the dark times, with some help by government reforms that breathed new life into the labour market.

The National Statistics Office (INE) of Spain reported that the GDP in Spain grew another 0.7% during the fourth quarter of 2016. This means that 2016 was one of the best years for the Spanish economy in over a decade.

This growth stems from the third quarter of 2013, when Spain experienced growth for the first time in over three years. Once the upturn had begun, the growth steadily increased, with only the occasional fall during particularly economic stress.

The resilience of the Spanish economy means that the country has outperformed much of the rest of Europe. It’s expected that this growth will continue through 2017, even if it’s at the smaller rate of 2.7%.

Even so, it would mean that living in Spain could no longer be thought of as a recovering economy. Instead the country is one where growth and confidence are assured. This means great benefits for individual Spaniards, including better job prospects, wage growth, an increase in confidence in the tourism and real estate industries, and just a general improvement to the national mood.

The Spanish economy is doing so well that it’s now performing at 80% of the output of 2008; just a few short months before one of the largest economic crashes in Spanish history. That is certainly worth celebrating.

IMF Praises Spanish Economy Recovery

IMF Praises Spanish Economy Recovery

The Spanish economic recovery has been praised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global organisation dedicated to financial stability. They praised the country for undergoing such an impressive turnaround just a few years after suffering from one of the worst recessions of the modern era.

IMF said in their most recently country assessment that the Spanish economy has continued to recover and create jobs. The reforms and measures taken to improve confidence really paid off for the country. This, combined with fiscal loosening and external windfalls has powered the Spanish economic recovery of the past two years.

IMF also praised private consumption, investments, and exports, with a special mention for the past reforms of the government for being a driving force in bringing success and confidence back to the economy.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was the one running things during the lean years, and is now back for his second term as PM. IMF expects that his second term will be known for further positive news for the economy. The IMF particularly praised Rajoy’s reforms of the labour market in 2012, which IMF says supported job creation and growth.

As great as the praise was it wasn’t entirely universal, as the report made the point that the current political climate isn’t good for reforms. Rajoy may be prime minister, but he doesn’t have an absolute majority so any major changes he wants to make could be blocked by his political opponents including the PSOE.

The IMF also made the point that, while the country has good prospects for medium-term growth, it needs to do something about the high amount of structural unemployment in the long term. IMF suggest taking steps to increase the size of domestic companies and removing the barriers for trade between the different regions of Spain.

Even with these suggestions though it’s hard to deny that the Spanish economic recovery has been both surprising and encouraging. The report from the IMF concluded that employment in Spain has risen over 3% annually, with just over a million jobs created in the past two years; a growth that has been supported by reforms to the labour market and wage moderation.

The Spanish Economy Upturn Creates More Cars and Multimillionaires

The Spanish Economy Upturn Creates More Cars and Multimillionaires

Spain has always welcomed the rich and famous and now the economic recovery means that even the average Spaniards are enjoying having more money in their wallets.

The future looks bright in Spain as all sectors are doing well.

The dark days that used to plague the Spanish economy appear to have lasted from 2009 to 2013. The market really boomed following the millennium with everyone getting their hands on credit and good wages. It looked like the fun would never end. Rising so high just meant that the inevitable crash was so much worse. It was made even worse because the country was finally able to say goodbye to the dictator Franco before everything went wrong.

Spain seems to have learned a lot from the double-dip recession and the country is now heading down the road of growth. Economists across all of Europe are predicting that Spain with its low cost of living will be one of the fastest-growing economies across all of the Eurozone both this year and next year. It’s not hard to see why given how well Spain has been doing in their top industries such as property, tourism, manufacturing and agriculture.

More good news was delivered this week with two additional metrics. Now the official data shows that Spain is selling more vehicles and there are more multimillionaires spreading the wealth.

Car sales are always a good indicator of how much confidence the people have in the economy of their country. When things aren’t going so well, such as when jobs are scarce, pay is low, and credit is hard to find, there’s always a drop in car sales. Many families feel that a car is something they can live without if they need to. Of course vehicle sales start to pick back up when things look better.

The statistics published this past week by the national association of car salesman of Spain; the GANVAM, showed that almost 1.3 million vehicles were sold in Spain between January and August. This is an increase of almost 13% compared to this time period last year. It looks like Spain could very well see more than 2 million cars sold by the end of the year; a feat not seen in seven years.

There’s also a higher demand for new cars with vehicles that are less than three years old accounting for almost a third of those sales.

The Spanish tax agency published data that shows that the amount of Spaniards declaring more than €30 million of assets last year was up 8% on the amount the previous year, which is another good sign the economy is doing better. Even the Spanish property market has finished its 7 year down cycle and is heading up in the right direction.

Financial Times Reporting Tranquil Times for Spanish Economy

Financial Times Reporting Tranquil Times for Spanish Economy

Credit seems to be in abundance in the Spanish economy this summer and the banking system of the country is having quite a tranquil time according to the Financial Times. This increase in consumer confidence has led to a stronger property market and more jobs being created.

The economy in spain keeps going from strength to strength.

Unlike Italy, which seems unable to free themselves from the recession, the three year economic recovery of Spain is nothing short of remarkable.

There’s no more talks of bailouts, the amount of bad loans is down, mortgage lending is up, and according to the latest banking stress tests there’s barely any worry, concern, or drama in the banking industry. To put it simply; Spain is doing pretty well thanks. The bankers have come through the bad times and are now enjoying their own tranquil summer.

Spain was approaching the EU for a €100 billion bailout in 2012. Now the banking sector, along with the property industry, has gone through quite an impressive turnaround. The underperforming branches were closed down and staff were either let go or trained to become more efficient. The banking sector has essentially undergone a renovation and come out looking better for it.

The Financial Times said that Spain became the most over-banked country on Earth during their housing boom of 2004-2008. There was one bank branch per 1,000 residents. There are a lot less banks in the country following the crash. The country went from 46,221 to just over 30,000.

The math buffs will be able to see that’s a reduction of over 30%; a trend that wouldn’t be welcome in other countries. It was a necessary step for Spain to take though. The banks have become a welcome boost to the economy following the reforms rather than a profit-driven hindrance like they used to be. These days credit is flowing more freely to both households and small businesses.

Ángel Talavera, the Eurozone analyst at Oxford Economics, told the Financial Times that you need credit to flow properly to create a functioning economy. This was something seen during the recent economic crisis and now banks are beginning to support the recovery. More new loans are being approved than ever; something unseen for years.

José María Roldán, head of the Spanish Banking Association, backed up Talavera’s words. Roldán said that banks are now in a position to support the economic recovery without any problems. They have gone from dragging down the economy to becoming something more positive after cleaning up their balance sheets.

The data from the latest Banking Outlook of the BBVA showed that lending to Spanish households has risen 21% for this April compared to last April, with the terms offered on these loans being more favourable.

By recovering from such a bad position Spanish banks have become some of the most efficient in Europe. Spain saw a property bubble that led to problems in the construction and real estate sector, but the problems were quite concentrated. These days those problems are gone and everyone is benefiting.

Property, Economy and Tourism All Up For Spain

 Property, Economy and Tourism All Up For Spain

Many industries tend to only focus on the positives and ignore the negatives when the time comes for them to report their news. When it comes to Spain, and especially the property industry in the country, this optimism is only fair.

Spain is the best place to live in Europe

The Spanish property market has been in a pretty bad place for the past several years but the past 24 months have been great for the industry. Spanish property prices reached their lowest point before slowly climbing back up. Mortgages were being approved more and the rates were fairer and foreign investors entered the market once more, along with a rise in domestic demand that was fuelled by the recovering job market and economy.

The past few months in particular have been great for the country as it looks like there’s nothing but good news for the real estate industry in Spain. It’s expected that property prices will continue to rise for at least the next five years. The only potential pitfall was the Brexit vote and, even though Britain voted leave, the Spanish economy, real estate industry, and especially tourism industry was barely affected.

Last week figures from the EU statistics agency Eurostat showed that Spanish property prices were on the up at a faster rate than the Eurozone average. The Economy Minister would also confirm that of the €22 billion in foreign money that was spent in Spain in 2015, a whopping one-third of it was spent on construction.

If this wasn’t good enough the Economy Minster Luis de Guindos would revise his 2016 forecast for the Spanish economy on Sunday. He is now suggesting that the Spanish GDP could rise by 2.9% this year, just above the 2.7% he originally forecast.

De Guindos put this elevated estimate down to macroeconomic projections which should be implemented before the next government institutes a full budget. He is also confident about 2017 and suggests that even if the Eurozone slows down it will not affect Spain much and that the country should still see a GDP growth of around 2.4%.

Another piece of great news for Spain came from the Institute of National Stastistics (INE). They reported over the weekend that the number of tourists visiting Andalucía over the past 12 months had increased by 18.1% year-over-year.

This increase is the highest out of all the autonomous communities in Spain and gave further proof, if any were needed, that the Costa del Sol area is in for a bumper summer this year. In May alone around one million people visited the region. This summer is expected to break the record set last year with an estimated 7 million people arriving.

While most of Europe seems to be facing the gloom of a post-Brexit EU or the doom of terrorism Spain is looking bright and cheery this summer and it’s not hard to see why with the wonderful climate and Mediterranean lifestyle and the cost of living in spain being so good. Its no wonder why so many Northern Europeans want to move to spain permanently.

Spanish Economy Thriving Despite Lack of Government Says Santander

Spanish Economy Thriving Despite Lack of Government Says Santander

It looks like politicians from abroad need to take note – the Spanish economy is doing pretty well despite there not being an official government in the country since last December.

Spain continues to preform very well without leadership !

The leading back in Spain, Banco Santander, has analysed the most recent economic data and found that the economy is doing pretty well without leadership. The CFO of Santander José Antonio García didn’t say the country should stay leaderless though.

He released a statement saying that he hoped there would be a government by the time the second general election was over with in June. He did add that there was no negative impact on the GDP during 2016; a year that has seen Spain not have a Prime Minister.

The economy has been bolstered by the recovering real estate market and is actually performing better than expected. The CFO of Santander told Bloomberg that mortgages have gone up 25%, business lending in Spain has gone up 13%, and this has been happening year-on-year. He sees it as a sign that the Spanish economy is performing very well.

There are more metrics that suggest things really are improving. Property Sales in the Costa del sol and Spain  have gone up 4.4% in the retail sector, suggesting that consumers are becoming more confident in the high street. Mortgage lending also peaked at €5 billion in February. This was the highest that it has been in over six years, which also gives credence to the idea that a strong real estate market is a sign of a strong economy.

Spain will go back to the polls on the 26^th of June to vote once more in the hopes that this time there will be either a clear majority winner or, at the very least, a favourable coalition.

If the first five months of 2016 are an indication though it looks like Spain might not need as much leadership as was first thought. The country is doing a good job of running itself.