The state system in Spain, an hilarious insight!
Well, you cannot keep a great gag down and my Spanish lawyer has just sent me a fabulous (short and hilarious!!) video about the state system in Spain. In fact, I featured this video in an article on Culture Spain earlier in the year entitled Bureaucracy in Spain – but I think I am more than justified in highlighting the [...]
The most perfect Art Déco house in Spain
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 [...]
Gandia, Valencia Province, Spain
Gandia is a town located on the mid eastern side board of Spain. It is within Valencia Province (one of the three Provinces of the Autonomous Region of Valencia Comunitat de Valencia) and is situated some 70 kms south of Valencia City. The immediate area around Gandia is known as La Safor which comprises a number of small towns and [...]
Summer holidays in Spain – 10 things not to forget!
Are you going to be spending your summer holidays in Spain? If so – then make sure that you are well prepared beforehand and pack everything that you need. After all, there is nothing worse than setting out for your holidays and arriving at the airport to find that you have left behind something critical! So, what should go on [...]
Spain, rabbits and the Iberian Lynx
Did you know that there is a really interesting connection between the name España and rabbits – and that the devastating decline of the Iberian Lynx is intimately bound up in both? Well, there are good reasons to believe that the name of Spain (España) derives from the Phoenician word ‘ispanihad’ which evidently means ‘land of rabbits’. This word was [...]
Valencia City of Arts and Sciences
I defy anyone who comes to Valencia city not to be entranced by the City of Arts and Sciences. It is, justifiably, one of the greatest tourist attractions in Spain and a tribute to modern Spanish vision and design. Indeed, the City of Arts and Sciences is such a triumph that, alone, it makes any visit to Spain worthwhile. However, [...]
Culture Spain, Running of the bulls Pamplona – the rules!
The first thing is never consider running with the bulls in Pamplona if you have not seen the encierro before. Even if this is only the Spanish TV1 broadcast (excellent coverage every day of the feria de San Fermín from 7.30 to 8.30 am) which first transmits the run live, then has commentaries, then a re-run with a commentary, and [...]
Las Fallas Valencia, the most incredible fiesta in Spain!
Las Fallas must rank as one of the most extraordinary fiestas in Spain. Indeed, over the past few years it has gained international recognition as one of those remarkable events that you should see – at least once in your lifetime. Certainly, the sheer scale of La Fallas is astonishing with the main festivities taking place over five days (15th [...]
The Alhambra and the Moors in Spain
Some years ago, I was commissioned to write an article which ended up entitled ‘What did the Moors do for us?’. This was, needless to say, a ‘take’ on the famous scene in ‘The Life of Brian’ where the same question was asked about the Romans. Before I started my research my answer to ‘What did the Moors do for [...]
Culture Spain: La Tomatina (the greatest tomato fight in the World!)
Few people would argue that Spain has some pretty incredible fiestas. However, one of the most bizarre has got to be La Tomatina – which is a massive tomato fight. Amazingly, some 30,000 people a year crowd into the village of Buñol to hurl rotten tomotoes at each other. The mess is simply beyond imagination but taking part has become [...]
Culture Spain : MARBELLA VILLA OR BARRIO?
Marbella villa or barrio? The doorbell rang. It was Perla carrying a bucket full of fish. They were small dorada and they were still wriggling. When I had met him in the street yesterday he had asked me if we wanted any fresh fish and I had said yes. This is what he normally does, as he has no phone, [...]
CULTURE SPAIN: THE SAGRADA FAMÍLIA, GAUDI AND BARCELONA
I have to say that whenever I find it difficult to get things done in Spain I think of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. This fabulous building was started in 1882 and is still not finished – with the projected completion estimated to be sometime in 2026. This means that if this date is actually met(!) the Sagrada Família will [...]
CULTURE SPAIN – BULLFIGHTING IN SPAIN
I am sure that most Spaniards would think (probably correctly) that few people outside Spain have the faintest clue about bullfighting. Most non-Spaniards instinctively dislike it – and are shocked by the bloodletting and apparent savagery. And yet, bullfighting in Spain remains popular and is considered by many Spaniards to be a fundamental part of the very culture of Spain. [...]
LIFE IN SPAIN – TEN REASONS FOR MOVING TO SPAIN
I think, like everyone else, I often tend to get too wrapped up in Spanish property and the state of the Spanish property market. It is important, undeniably, but, within it all, I think the whole reason for moving to Spain (or buying a property in Spain) – can be lost. Indeed (and this I have stated countless times), living [...]
SPANISH POLICE – THE POLICE IN SPAIN
Few matters are more confusing initially to someone coming to Spain than the array of police forces encountered around the country. It can be difficult to know who to go to when you are in trouble and why one police force will attend a crime in one place and another elsewhere. In fact, essentially, Spain has three police forces: the [...]
So, it appears that there may be a ‘run’ on Bankia, Spain’s fourth largest bank – which has just been part nationalized by the Spanish state. This ‘run’ is being denied, predictably, by the government and the bank itself. Indeed, it may well be that people are not withdrawing their money as fast as they can from Bankia. However, the [...]
The pound has hit 1.25 against the euro this past week, its highest rate since Oct 2008, as Spain struggles to get to grips with its banking sector and Greece contemplates a euro exit. So what next for the continent in crisis, and the exchange rate? Here is my latest update of the British pound to euro exchange rate, covering [...]
If you are thinking of banking in Spain then, in principle, you are spoilt for choice – or are you? There are dozens of banks in Spain including a number of savings banks in Spain called Cajas or Caixas. The latter are often regional and some have very few branches. Spanish banks vary in terms of their exposure to the [...]
One of the oddities of pensions is how little Britons tend to know about them – including where the pension is held, its value and what to do to maximise its effectiveness. There is a saying in the pension industry that ignorance about a pension is much like ‘owning a house but not knowing where it is and how much [...]
I have just been sent a wonderful YouTube film of a demonstration in Barcelona about the crisis in Spain. It is wonderful (breath-taking really) and shows the best side of Spain and the culture of Spain. The demonstration is set within an office of la Caixa, one of the biggest banks in Spain, and revolves around a by-line stating that [...]
So, 2011 gradually ebbs away – a year that many people in Spain will be pleased to see disappear, hoping that 2012 will herald better times ahead. Unfortunately, I fear that may not be the case and there are compelling arguments to suggest that 2012 may be more difficult and challenging for Spain than 2011. So, how does one round [...]
Well, I think if I was in Spain in charge of marketing Spanish property to the British (if there is such a person!) then I would probably finally have my head in my hands. Either that or I would be looking frantically for a wobbly, three legged stool and a short rope. Why? Because the UK press has recently been [...]
Spain is being rocked, at the moment, by the news that the directors of various Spanish banks have taken huge compensation packages – despite relentlessly driving their own banks to the point of destruction. To everyone’s amazement, some of these packages have been awarded by the directors, to themselves, just days before the Bank of Spain was forced to bail [...]
The past week in Spain has seen the dissolution of the Spanish parliament, the second largest seizure of heroin by Spain ever (150 kilos), the nationalisation of three further Spanish banks and continuing tremours on El Hierro, one of the Canary Islands. On the economic side of things, matters show little signs of improving with GDP quarterly growth in Spain [...]
The ‘big’ news in Spain for many foreigners is probably the fact that yesterday Catalonia celebrated its last bullfight – after 624 years of bullfighting in Catalonia. The ban actually takes place on the 1st January 2012 but the season for bullfighting in Spain traditionally ends in September. As I have written before, the decision by the Catalans to end [...]
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 exchange specialist at Pure FX – which is a company authorised by the Financial Services Authority [...]
I had to grimace recently when I saw an article in El Pais (‘conservative’ national Spanish newspaper) which reported that the economy ministry in Spain is about to issue an order for banks in Spain to clarify their charges to customers. Evidently, along with Italy, Spanish banks are the most costly banks in the EU. This, I am afraid, comes [...]
I am, as anyone who reads Culture Spain knows, a great supporter of Spain. It is a terrific country in which to live and offers holidaymakers a tremendous variety of activities, often within a blissful climate, almost whatever time of the year. However, when it comes to financial services in Spain and legal services in Spain – matters tend to [...]
Well, I thought I had seen it all when it came to the Spanish property crash, Spanish banks and their lending – most particularly with regard to mortgages in Spain. That was until I read an excellent article in El Pais (one of Spain’s leading national newspapers). As you will see from this article, which is well worth reading throughout, [...]
The Spanish economy, Spanish debt, Spanish banks and further potential austerity measures! Part 2 While public sector debt (not the deficit) in Spain is actually relatively low as a percentage of GDP versus other countries such as Italy, Ireland, Greece and Portugal, Spain’s public sector deficit for 2010 will be around 11.3%. So, the Spanish government has announced several austerity [...]