“Thou dost weep like a woman for what thou couldst not defend as a man,” spat out the mother of Boabdil, the last Moorish leader in Spain. It was the 2nd of January 1492 and both were leaving the gorgeous Alhambra Palace in the city of Granada, now in the hands of the Spanish Reyes Catolicos (Ferdinand and Isabella). The [...]
Knowing what the foreign currency markets are doing (and are likely to do) is really important. However, for most of us, foretelling what the currency markets are going to do is well beyond our experience – which is why, at Culture Spain, we have brought in Peter Levelle to provide weekly advice on the foreign currency exchange markets. Peter is a foreign currency [...]
So, what are we to make of the Pope’s visit to Spain last week? I am really not sure particularly having read today that the visit earned Madrid some 160 million Euros (or, to be more precise, 52.8 million Euros after costs) – which seems an odd way to justify the Pope’s appearance in Spain by the authorities. It also [...]
For many foreigners living in Spain now or thinking of coming to Spain – the movements of the currency markets are really important. Obviously, they can affect the amount you have free to spend on your holiday in Spain but they can also act to change your quality of life in Spain, if your pension is not Euro based and [...]
In an interesting development today the Spanish government have said that they are going to halve the purchase tax in Spain for newly built Spanish properties. Currently purchase tax in Spain for new builds is 8% but this will now be dropped to 4%. Meanwhile, purchase tax in Spain for re-sale properties in Spain will remain at 7% Needless to [...]
Just occasionally, perhaps only once every four or five years, I come across a house in Spain that is truly extraordinary – somewhere that really does have the ‘Wow!’ factor. Frankly, this is rare in Spain as many Spanish properties lack personality and this applies even to expensive villas on exclusive estates. The latter can appear wonderful but often boast [...]
Well, the bad news seems to keep coming for the Spanish economy in 2011 with confirmation of what I have been writing about over the past few months. Firstly, Spanish regional debt appears to be as dangerously out of control as national Spanish finances were before the Spanish national government of Zapatero imposed austerity measures. Indeed, a recent article in [...]
For years I have tried hard to oppose the argument that everything in Spain occurs ‘mañana’. However, as time passes, I find this ever more difficult. Certainly, working with Spanish businesses can be difficult – with trying to obtain Spanish products, at times, an exasperating business! The trouble is that Spanish businesses tend to work in a quite different way [...]
Spain is renowned for its variety of food, art, and culture and festivals are a great way to celebrate these.If you’re planning a trip to Spain, here are three festivals that will help you enjoy the countries rich and diverse culture: Las Fallas in Valencia Those visiting the Mediterranean coast in spring should brace themselves for one of the most [...]
A few days ago, Andrew Linn of Culture Spain’s wine and food Blog sent me an intriguing link concerning the Spanish property crisis – albeit that it pertains to the US. An answer to the property crisis in the US, it seems, is to demolish the over-supply of housing stock (as you can see from this article) which some large [...]
So, Culture Spain has just received its 100,000th unique visitor – in just over twelve months (since 22 July 2010)! Meanwhile, the number of people coming onto Culture Spain has been steadily increasing day by day, month by month. This, we believe, is because we strive hard to provide information about Spain that is consistently objective and authoritative – whilst [...]
The recent Rick Stein on Spain television series has recently generated a huge amount of justified interest in Spain. This has complemented our efforts at Culture Spain where, as you know, we constantly do our bit to spread the word about Spain! Interestingly, we will soon be joined by Books4Spain, a new online bookstore specialising in English language books about Spain. In fact, the express [...]
As anyone who reads this Blog knows, I am the first to criticize Spain (mercilessly) when I see wrongdoing whether it is corruption, property illegality or lunatic Spanish government policies. Indeed, I doubt that anyone tries harder to portray Spain objectively with neither fear nor favour. However, again and again, I state that the high overall quality of life in [...]
Spain never ceases to surprise me and this is well illustrated by the above picture sent to me by a friend of mine, Graham Hunt, which he took as he was driving to Valencia. Needless to say, it is for a Club de Alterne (a brothel) conveniently located, as the billboard makes clear, next to a (probably very popular) restaurant [...]
A couple of days ago I was exchanging e-mails with friend and fellow writer Robert Tenison, about my recent Post concerning the Spanish economy and the wretched state of the Spanish banks. Along with one of his notes to me Robert kindly attached an article that he had written back in May 2009 which I think makes excellent reading – [...]