Blog on Spanish law

Category: Interesting topics

  • Ok, marriage is over. Now what do we do with the property?

                                                         Many Brits own property in Spain. In most of the cases, the property is owned by a married couple. So, what happens when the couple divorce or, more specifically, who gets the Spanish property? The most normal thing is for the Judge who deals with the divorce to make a provision in the…

  • Watch Out: Problems with the NIE

      Some of the readers of this blog already know that there was a change in the law in 2011 and it was no longer possible to obtain a NIE number in Spain through power of attorney. This polemic decision was accepted by most of the local police stations in Spain except for a few…

  • Holiday rentals in the Canary Islands

      If you read internet forums or you are subscribed to internet news bulletins related to Spain, you would have probably come across many angry Britons who have been suddenly fined for renting their apartments in the Canary Islands without the necessary permissions.  In some cases, the fines are imposed because the property owner has…

  • Attention please! Spanish Consular Services- Part II

    This week I wrote a post explaining the counties that belong to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh. Somehow, the blog does not show the entire list so I now take the opportunity to provide the list in a more direct format. To summarise what I was saying in my previous post, the…

  • Spanish Consular Services in UK

      Some time ago I informed about the closing of the Spanish Consulate in Manchester. I consider that this kind of news is always sad for both the Spaniards living in this country and the British and other nationals living in the North of England. We should not forget that Manchester is probably the second…

  • New proposals for a new era

                Some months ago, the Socialist Prime Minister, Mr Rodriguez-Zapatero (or Zapatero as he is commonly known in Spain) decided to call elections for the 20th November. Since then, both main candidates, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba for the Socialist Party and Mariano Rajoy for the Popular Party struggled to convince the…

  • Catalonia to boost legal confidence in real estate

              The Catalan Regional Government announced yesterday a new initiative to improve legal confidence in real estate. The initiative is mainly thought for foreigners who may buy properties in the coast. Although the specific measures have not been decided yet, it is important to improve protection to avoid the legal problems…

  • Can I buy my Spanish property in sterling?

              This week a client who lives in the UK asked me if he can pay in sterling the purchase price of a house he is buying in Spain. The truth is that this is not an impediment. On the day of the signature of the purchase deed, the Notary will…

  • When will there be any good news?

      Well, it appears that Santander has changed its mind and will not be selling its portfolio of properties for a discounted price as it was unable to find suitable buyers. It appears that some of the offers were made by foreign investors who were pushing for discounts of up to 60% on the properties.…

  • A matter of degrees: icons, branding and a follow up on Santander’s stock of properties

        This week let me talk about the new branding at the firm where I worked: DWF LLP. For those who don’t know the firm, DWF LLP is a top 40 law firm with offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Preston. The firm has grown considerably in recent years and such…