Euribor (12 months), the interest rate normally used to calculate mortgage payments in Spain, fell 1.4% in October to a record low of 1.243%.
Euribor has now fallen for 13 consecutive months, and is 76% lower than it was a year ago. The graph above illustrates how dramatic the fall in Euribor has been.
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Recently the Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced that by 2011 mortgage relief for those earning more than 24,000€ will be stopped. After originally reading the article Zapatero and Common sense I have had time to do a bit of research on the topic and Spain does not seem to be alone in this ‘gesture’, with countries like Ireland having implemented similar measures recently.
Now we have all adopted a healthier Mediterranean lifestyle and olive oil will ensure that we live to a ripe old age our need for income for longer is required. Many are now finding that their pensions fall short and do not provide sufficient to cope with rising living costs and the dreams of a relaxed and comfortable retirement are sadly a distant memory. Mostly due to rising costs and the weak pound.
To say that tax planning for a British expatriate in Spain is complex is a huge understatement! Encouragingly many clients I have met have tried to take the proverbial bull by the horns and are legitimate tax paying Spanish residents though there are many more that have fallen foul of the often misunderstood world of offshore investing!
Spanish mortgage lenders using “bad practices” to rip off borrowers
According to María Martínez, a professor of civil law at the University of Zaragoza, several mortgage lenders here in Spain oblige their clients to take on additional products, such as life insurance which increase conveyancing costs by as much as 100% when purchasing a property.
