It took Two Decades but the Museum of Malaga is Back

It took Two Decades but the Museum of Malaga is Back

The Malaga Museum is a wonderful place to visit

It took nearly 7 years and €40 million but the former Customs Building La Aduana has now become a Museum.

The largest Andalucía museum was closed nineteen years ago. Now, after several demonstrations to have it opened back up, the finest museum of Spain has now opened its doors once again. The doors of the Costa del Sol museum opened on the 12^th December, ready for Christmas.

The Fine Arts and Archaeological collection that was once housed in the Palacio de Buenavista were moved to free up space for the Picasso Museum inaugurated in 2003. Since then it has been moved around between buildings before finally moving into the La Anduana building permanently.

Now, 7 years and €40 million later the former Customs Building, government office, and police station of Malaga has become a fitting home for the Museum spanning 17,500 works of art. 2,700 of these pieces are part of their permanent collection.

The Museo de Malaga takes up a massive 18,451 square metres is triple the size of the Picasso Museum, the CAC Malaga, and the Carmen Thyssen Museum. The museum has already been described as “Andalucia’s Prado”.

Some of the best pieces in the Fine Arts section in the museum include a collection of 19^th century paintings, which are thought to be some of the best in Spain. The Archaeological pieces of the museum date all the way back to the prehistoric period up to the Middle Ages featuring items from Phoenician, Roman, and Moorish times.

The Museo de Málaga is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 9am to 8.30pm; Sundays and public holidays from 9am to 3.30pm. Admission is free of charge for EU citizens and costs just €1.50 for non EU citizens.

Owing to the sudden demand for housing, off-plan buying is back in Spain

Off-plan buying is back in Spain

With the onset of property construction in Barcelona and Spain, buyers now have the option to modify their properties.

Due to the high supply without proportional demand as a result of the industry collapse in 2007-08, there are some areas of Spain that are so badly in need of new housing that off-buying has been a trend to cater to the increasing demand.

Buying Off-plan property is in demand again

As per Juan Antonio Gomez-Pintade, the President of APCE, said that there are several parts of Madrid, Barcelona and Costa del Sol with large stocks of unsold housing projects and now, they have become ‘practically inexistent’, due to several underlying factors such as the growth in economy overall, decrease in the unemployment levels and the sudden growth of property market on the whole perspective. Consider the case of Madrid, where there are around 3,000 homes available immediately, with 30% of the properties in the M-30 ring road’s proximity.

Due to this factor, the overall demand of the property increases and there is a reactivation of the construction industry which had come to a standstill in 2008 with many owner loosing their off-plan deposits until now. and last year, the total number of licenses granted shot up after a decline since 2008 and it was up by 42.5%. Going by this statistics, the activity is back and there is a recovery.

When the case of off-plan buying was considered, the recovery slowly started in 2013 and as of now, the growth in off-plan buying is termed as exponential in the case of Madrid and it is observed more often in the upper end market where there is a dearth of luxury amenities and top-class infrastructure in the homes provided. It is similar in the case of Barcelona as well, where people who do not have an issue with the delivery date are finding it to be highly beneficial as the prices are lower.

Also, the political uncertainty that prevails in Spain does not affect the housing market and the low interest rates are proving to be more encouraging to the investors with high anticipation for appreciation.

Even the markets that are dwindling due to a large number of unsold properties are slowly recovering and the recovery is spreading across regions, due to which buyers are getting a choice to make changes in the design and architecture of their property based on their individual preferences. Buying new and Off-plan property in the costa del sol is so in demand that as soon as the developments are released the majority of the properties get sold, confirming the recovery of the property market.

Ryanair Offers Cheap Flights for Expats To Go Back Home and Vote Remain

Ryanair Offers Cheap Flights for Expats To Go Back Home and Vote Remain

Irish budget airline Ryanair have begun offering tickets from Spain for British expats to fly home on June 22^nd and 23^rd. The tickets are just €19.99 and are for expats who want to vote to remain in the EU.

Cheap flights by Ryan Air are received well by expats in Spain

It’s estimated that two million Brits have moved to other countries in the European Union with the majority of them, at least a million, currently living in Spain.

It’s expected that the real number of Brits abroad could be as much as 50% higher than this estimate though, as many of them either forget to register they are living in another country or deregister in the UK. It also doesn’t include the expats who are not permanent residents who spend roughly half the year abroad and half at home.

The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has said that even though his airline is based in Ireland it remains the largest airline in the UK and is a major source of employment for Britain as a whole.

Roughly 3,000 people work for Ryanair, spread across 13 airports in the UK. They take about 41 million people to and from the UK each year.

O’Leary is strongly against the so-called “Brexit” and says that the open skies policy of the EU has led to a dramatic rise in tourism.

O’Leary says Britain is one of the most competitive economies in Europe thanks in part to the goods, services, and people they are allowed to move around the 28 member states.

He believes that British prime minister David Cameron was able to use the “wish list” he presented to the other member states to ensure Britain never has to join the Euro and will deal with less red tape overall.

O’Leary believes that if Britain were to exit the EU then investment that currently goes to the UK could go to Germany and the Republic of Ireland instead.

These “Fly home to vote remain” tickets, priced at €19.99, are valid at any any UK airport and from any airport in the EU, such as those in Spain. They are also available to any nationality and not just Brits, although the only non-Brits who can vote in the referendum are those that belong to the Commonwealth or are Irish citizens.

Brits living in Spain and the EU are able to fly home and vote as long as they haven’t been outside of the UK for more than 15 years. An appeal was brought by two expats, including the 94-year-old war veteran Harry Schindler in Italy. It was rejected by the High Court and is now headed to the British Supreme Court.

The deadline for Brits abroad to vote by post has now passed and the British embassy in Spain have confirmed that they began sending ballots out on May 23^rd.

Some of these ballots have been received and returned, so some expats have already voted in the referendum a month before it will actually be held.

UNPAID OVERSEAS TAX IN SPAIN WILL BE ABLE TO BE CHARGED BACK UNDER NEW POWERS BY HMRC.

UNPAID OVERSEAS TAX IN SPAIN WILL BE ABLE TO BE CHARGED BACK UNDER NEW POWERS BY HMRC.

Tax Law

New laws will make it harder for Britons to hide undeclared rental income on properties in the Costa del Sol and on assets in many overseas countries from 1^st of January 2016. This will include holiday homes and personal properties. A new information sharing system between international banks is to be adopted to stop this kind of fraud.

A public campaign started last year is to inform potential tax fraudsters of its new powers. This has come into force from December 31^st 2015 once the LDF closes in 2016 (Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility)

Over 90 countries that also include Spain have signed the agreement allowing the HMRC to be able to look into bank and savings accounts in foreign countries going as far back as 20 years.

At this moment the LDF permits HMRC to investigate possible tax evasion in particular counties, but has not fully been put into effect. This new system will mean that all nationals’ financial information will be shared within the 90 countries. This will include all trust funds and personal properties. This could mean that HMRC will fine and sanction criminals for non-payment of tax.

Current records of HMRC show that the amount owed to the UK Treasury is approximately £565 million in non-paid taxes from British nationals who have hidden undeclared hidden wealth. The new system and minority who do hide assets abroad will face tougher sanctions.

These fines could be to the tune of 30% of the amount tax due as well as being made to pay the full amount outstanding. An amnesty was issued in 2009 by HMRC for all British nationals to settle up voluntarily their overseas tax bills without them receiving any fines or prosecution or nonpayment.

This saw HMRC receive a total of £1.6 billion paid back. But they are now doubling up their campaign after a change in the law from the Autumn Statement.

Before it was considered that only deliberate non-disclosing of tax could have been interpreted as a criminal act. But with the change in the law. Any non-disclosed tax offshore be it capital gains or income will now be considered as a criminal offence from this year onwards.

This will apply to UK residents who have a taxable income in Spain   or outside the country.

France and Spain will start sharing information with UK from January 2017. But anyone with undeclared assets and income will be asked to come forward now as the HMRC will be able to go back through 20 years’ worth of personal transactions.

Any British nationals who buy a property in Costa del Sol and Spain and have sought out the right legal advice should already be informed of what they have to declare when it comes to tax. If you do live in the UK and own Spanish property, we would always advise you to see the correct information and frequently asked question about property in Costa del Sol and Spain from a qualified solicitor or an IFA.