Banks now to pay
mortgage tax
The payment of Property Transfer Tax
and Stamp Duty have become the
responsibility of the mortgage lender.
“Spaniards will never again pay this
tax,” vowed prime minister Pedro
Sánchez as he announced the
amendment, following weeks of
contradictory decisions by Spain’s
Supreme Court.
In mid-October, a panel of the Court’s
judges said that the tax should be paid
by the lenders, because, they argued,
they have an interest in obtaining a
notarized certification of the loan. Days
later, the Court announced this would
reviewed by all the judges who sit in
the administrative division.
After two days of deliberations, 15 of
them said the borrower should pay
while 13 said it should be the banks.
This prompted Sánchez to move
quickly and introduce legislation which
favours the borrowers but will cost the
banks an estimated €640 million a
year. Speculation is therefore rife that
the banks may be tempted to pass on
the cost through higher commissions
or interest rates.
The new law is not retrospective so any
home owner who paid the tax before
the change came into effect cannot
claim it back from the lender.
However, the socialist government’s
ally in government, Podemos, says it
will press for lenders to refund past
fees which could cost the banks up to
€5 billion.
The tax in question generates about €8
billion a year for Spain’s regional
governments who collect it. Sr Sánchez
also announced plans for a new law
creating an independent consumer
protection agency aimed at finance
sector clients.
Andalucía votes this month
Voters in the region go to the polls on
December 2 to elect the 11th
Parliament of the Autonomous
Community of Andalucía. The election
is being held four months earlier than
is required following a split between
two regional political parties.
In the 2015 election, the socialist PSOE
took only 47 seats in the 109-seat
chamber, forcing current president,
Susana Díaz, to do a deal with the nine
centre-right Ciudadanos members to
form a majority administration. All 109
seats in the Parliament are up for
election on December 2.
However, Díaz was forced to dissolve
the regional parliament, the Junta de
Andalucía, on October 8 after the
withdrawal of support from the
Ciudadanos members. Before the final
split with the PSOE on September 7,
Ciudadanos had become increasing
edgy, claiming that Díaz had failed to
honour some of the agreements made
in 2015, and were increasingly
concerned about ongoing allegations of
corruption within the Junta. As a result
of the complaints, Díaz was having
trouble in getting approval for the
region’s 2019 budget, although she has
insisted that an early vote in the region
Massive blockage
was a response to the “instability” in
the rest of Spain.
The regional election, in which almost
30 political groups are participating, is
being seen as an indicator of the
national mood. Andalucía has been
controlled by socialists since the first
democratic elections in 1982, and
Spain’s new socialist prime minister
Pedro Sánchez will be watching closely
as he negotiates the national budget for
2019. The PSOE holds only 84 out of
the 350 seats in Spain’s lower house of
parliament, Congress, and he is
presently heading a minority
government with support from the
smaller parties in the house.
After the vote, each of Andalucia’s
eight provinces – Almería, Cádiz,
Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén,
Málaga and Sevilla – will be awarded a
minimum of eight seats in the new
Junta de Andalucía. The remaining 45
seats are allocated among the
constituencies in proportion to their
populations, provided that the number
of seats in each province is not more
than twice that of any other.
Foreign residents are not allowed to
vote in Spain’s regional elections.
9
The N-340 coast road between Nerja
and Torrox was closed on November 20
after a massive boulder, estimated to
weigh over five tons, fell from the cliffs
and landed in the middle of the
carriageway. No-one was injured after
the giant rock, believed to have been
loosened by heavy rain, crashed
through a protective fence in the area of
Calaceite beach. It was broken up by a
hammer drill, producing 25 square
metres of debris, while the cliffs above
were inspected for other potential
dangers.
Supplies ensured
Intense and prolonged rainfall during
November has brought water levels in
the province’s reservoirs up to an
average 70% capacity, ensuring supplies
for the next four years. A year ago,
drought threatened as the reservoirs
were barely 30% full. Viñuela in the
Axarquía is now at around 40% capacity,
almost double its level 12 months ago.
Weather havoc
One person died and 49 were injured,
five seriously, when a commuter train
derailed 45 kilometres northwest of
Barcelona. Two of the six carriages
came off the tracks which are believed
to been affected by land slippage after
torrential rain. The bad weather also
took the life of a woman in Galicia after
a river flooded while huge waves swept
away balconies on an apartment block
on Tenerife.
Rock deal
The UK’s draft Brexit withdrawal
agreement creates three Spanish-British
committees to address issues
surrounding Gibraltar. These include
rights of cross-border workers,
smuggling, environmental protection,
and law enforcement and border
control. However, Spain’s Foreign
Minister Josep Borrell has demanded
clarity about negotiations on the Rock’s
future as a condition of agreeing the
draft.