Spaniards Return Home for Property and Jobs

Spaniards Return Home for Property and Jobs

The Spanish revival continues with spain being

the best place to live in Europe  

The Spanish population is growing for the first time since 2011, increasing to 46.58 million at the start of 2017, according to the latest data from the Institute of National Statistics (INE).

The reason for the boost is three-fold; an increase in new births, a rise in expats and immigration and – perhaps most significantly – Spaniards returning home after leaving during the tough years of the recession, coming back to enjoy the strengthening Spanish economy.

The increase in new births is a clear signal that the youth of Spain are becoming more confident in their own financial situations, while it’s expected that immigration will rise as the economy grows.

But the biggest impact is coming from the amount of Spaniards returning home. IT’s estimated that over 50,000 Spaniards came back to the country between the first of January in 2016 and 2017. With them comes plenty of positives for the property and job markets of the country.

In the 12 months between the start of 2016 and 2017 for example, the population of the country grew by 89,000. However, there were 375,000 new jobs created in this time period, meaning that with 18.8 million people working in Spain the figuree is the highest it’s been in seven years.

Another important fact is that the employment boom is being seen in more stable industries than before – in the times when the credit bubble burst and destroyed the economy. The increase in jobs across 2017 is being seen in several industries including agriculture, construction, and hospitality. There has also been an increase in the demand for skilled workers.

Changes in Spanish population have typically correlated with changes to GDP since 2008, when both figures plummeted before rising a little in 2010 and sinking again in 2013. The GDP has risen steadily since then, even if the population figures took a little longer to catch up.

The trend is clear for now however; thousands of the young Spaniards who left Spain to make their lives in the UK, Germany, and across Scandinavia are returning home – better for their time away, with more financial stability and an eagerness to contribute to the continued recovery of the Spanish economy.

Javier Díaz Giménez, professor of economics at IESE Business School in Madrid believes that the economy is growing strongly and is much more balanced than it was back in 2007. The labour market by be evolving all the time, but there is no doubt that plenty of jobs are being created across the board.

The return of confident and willing workers is being felt in more than just the job market. The Spanish property market has also been expanding in an encouraging manner for the past three years now, complete with a noticeable increase in domestic buyers across the past 18 months.

Poll Finds 70% Of British Expats Unlikely to Return Home

Poll Finds 70% Of British Expats Unlikely to Return Home

With the wonderful sunshine and Mediterranean lifestyle

its no wonder why no one wants to go back to the cold of

northern europe

The decision to become an expat is not something one takes lightly. It can be stressful to uproot your entire life. If you plan carefully however, then you’ll likely have a positive experience. Things are so good for expats, in fact, that a recent poll of British expats suggested that 69% of them had no intention of ever returning home.

The survey was conducted by the financial services organisation deVere Groups. It found that many British expats are very happy with their current lives as only 10% said that they would consider moving back home to the UK, with only 21% answering “maybe” they would go back.

One of the main reasons that Brits move abroad is to findwork, with just under a quarter of those polled saying they moved for their jobs.

The survey looked at around 1,000 Brits living abroad in countries such as Spain, Australia, the UAE, and South Africa. It shined a light on the main motivating factors behind Brits moving abroad, what the expat life is like, and their long-term plans.

One thing of note was the discovery that 72% of Brits still send some money back the UK regularly, either adding to their savings account or supporting their family members. Of the people polled, 87% of respondents said that they had an easier time saving money after moving, while the majority added that they had a better quality of life compared to life at home.

The CEO of deVere Group Nigel Green says that more Brits than ever are living outside of the UK. There are now officially 5 million Brits living overseas, but it’s believed that the real number is higher as many expats don’t take the time to register themselves with the authorities of their new countries.

Green added that if one were to extrapolate the data from the poll and put it against the number of official British expats, it would mean that around 3.5 million Brits living outside of the UK had no desire to ever come home.

Green said the survey shows that many people considering a move abroad can expect to have a fulfilling and rewarding experience. There are a number of reasons for this, including better career opportunities, a lower cost of living, a higher quality of life, top-notch education and childcare, lower crime levels, and great weather.

Even though many expats currently believe that they will stay outside of the UK – and precious few studies have been conducted on the return rate of long-term expats – there is evidence that suggests more than the 70% of expats indicated in the survey will come home to the UK one day. ManyBritish retirees living in Spain will usually return to the UK when they near the end of their lives, in order to spend time with their family.

Brits Find it Cheaper to Meet in Spain Than Purchase a Return Rail Ticket

Brits Find it Cheaper to Meet in Spain Than Purchase a Return Rail Ticket

Low cost flights continue to be better value

than train tickets in the uk

A few old friends from university found themselves enjoying an impromptu flight to Malaga to catch up after finding that flying to Spain was cheaper than booking a return rail ticket to Birmingham from Newcastle.

Zara Quli and Lucy Walker got the idea after finding out the price of a last-minute train ticket. These prices are shocking, but predictable, given the expensive nature of UK rail travel.

Ms Walker says that it would have cost £105 for a return ticket between Birmingham and Newcastle; a trip of 400 miles. She looked for cheap alternatives and found it only cost £19.98 for a return flight to Malaga from Newcastle. This prompted her to find out how much it would cost to fly from Birmingham to Malaga.

The result? Only £55.29 for a return ticket. The friends agreed to meet in Malaga instead for a combined cost of £75.27, including two nights at a Granada hotel.

Walker commented that it’s a real pain to buy last minute train tickets in Britain because rail companies place high premiums on them. Instead of being stuck on a train they got to take a trip to one of the most beautiful cities in southern Spain and highlight that there are alternatives for the cash-strapped, sun-loving Brits out there who want a weekend away from the rain.

When you add in that it only takes a few hours to fly to Malaga from every corner of the country, you could be in Spain and enjoying the sun by the time your train reaches its own, rather more expensive, destination.

Calls for Spain to Return to GMT

Could the siesta days for the Spanish be over?

Calls for Spain to Return to GMT

The Spanish people work long hours, often into the dark evening that is an hour later than it really should be.

For the past few years Spain has come close to moving back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) but it’s never gone through with the move.

During the campaign process for the general election (not counting the second election that happened in June) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made it a campaign promise that he would return Spain back to GMT, taking the country out of GMT+1 and bringing it back in line with Portugal and the UK, which is where a country with its geographical position should be.

Rajoy is now back in power and he’s started the conversation about bringing the clocks back an hour. Fátima Báñez, employment minister of Spain, said last week that the country should think heavily about dropping GMT+1. The country moved to the timezone in 1942 after General Francisco Franco made the move to bring Spain in line with Nazi Germany.

Spain is actually a little further to the west than much of the British Isles, and so it’s fallen out of sync with Europe. This is something that has hampered the workforce of the country and could have held back economic development for decades.

One of the main arguments of those pushing for the change is that the working day in Spain is still based around agricultural labour patterns, rather than being based around the reality that is the office-based existence. While it’s not universal across the whole country many Spanish workers begin their day at 9AM. They work until noon and take a few hours off, before returning to the office to continue working until around 8PM. Critics argue that this working day is too long and exhausting, not to mention it’s an hour longer than it should be.

Fátima Báñez spoke of a desire to create a workday that end sat 6PM. To do this the government will need to deal with trade unions and companies. Báñez will make the first move by meeting with the largest companies and trade unions to create such a deal.

It’s unlikely that there will be opposition to these changes in parliament for Rajoy’s People Party (PP). Both the Socialists (PSOE) and Cuidanos already agree with the plans. There are very little arguments that this change could have a negative impact, and even Catalonia supports the change.

The change almost happened in the Balearics. Back in October the islands implored Madrid to allow them to stay on summer time and not move the clocks back an hour. The request was denied, but it should only be a matter of time now until Spain lets go of their traditions and embraces GMT.