Considering the global appetite for European and particularly English football, it is often difficult and potentially even dangerous to try and determine whether the behaviour of the fanatical supporter seated next to you at your local watering hole is driven by a genuine affection for the game or a lifestyle choice born out of social compulsion. However, occasionally there are games that by their very nature facilitate the making of that distinction. Games which are rendered significant not by the hyperbolic pre-match bluster of television or the immediate consequence of the result but by historical context, and a certain nostalgia-tinged sense of occasion. For Athletic Bilbao, the tie … [Read more...] about Athletic Bilbao returns to big-time with Manchester United tie
Spain News
Privatisation through the back door
The messages that have come out of the recent demonstrations in Valencia are not just about the effect of the cutbacks on schools and the poor spending decisions of the Valencian government. Even police brutality is only a small part of the story. There is also the underlying accusation that private schools, unlike the state sector, are having their budgets protected. This is not an austerity measure. This is a political spending decision that will create a trend of irreversible privitisation of schools. And it’s not just in Spain. The coalition government in the UK is responsible for something very similar. As school budgets are squeezed and the UK braces for more cut backs, the … [Read more...] about Privatisation through the back door
Rajoy’s smoke and mirrors have worked – for now, at least
If we have learnt anything about Spain’s new prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, since he took power in December, it’s that his reputation for being anything but straightforward when conveying his intentions is well deserved. Rajoy has often been portrayed as the embodiment of retranca, a tendency his fellow Galicians are known for to answer questions with ambiguity and multiple meanings. The first two months of his tenure have seen Rajoy behave every bit like the stereotypical Galician. An early example of this was when the prime minister deployed his front-line ministers to announce a major tax increase, just days after himself announcing that “my intention is not to raise taxes.” And now … [Read more...] about Rajoy’s smoke and mirrors have worked – for now, at least
La Liga: Higuaín proves his worth once again
The scrawny 19-year-old with the big hair salvaged the ball from the sidelines when 85,000 others in the stadium thought it had gone out of play, played a nice one-two with José Antonio Reyes and slotted the ball into the back of the net to send the fans wild. It was a last minute winner against RCD Espanyol which kept his side in the running for the Liga title, which they would go on to win a few weeks later. The ecstatic Argentine threw his shirt in the air, Iker Casillas ran the length of the pitch to join in the celebrations, Fabio Cannavaro waved the corner flag aloft and Ruud Van Nistelrooy held the discarded shirt up to the crowd as if to announce it: Gonzalo Higuaín had … [Read more...] about La Liga: Higuaín proves his worth once again
Proving you’re a fiscal resident in Spain
Civil residency (the green residency certificate) is, in fact, pretty useless when it comes to financial matters. For example, when there’s capital gains or inheritance tax due. If you can’t prove you are a fiscal resident then you can end up paying non-resident taxes and there are big differences between the two. For example, if you are a married couple with a house valued at €94,000 and have both names on the deed when one of you dies. If the remaining spouse can’t prove fiscal residency then they will be charged €2,375 in inheritance tax. If they can prove fiscal residency then the tax is zero. To be exempt from inheritance tax as a fiscal resident you have to have lived in Spain … [Read more...] about Proving you’re a fiscal resident in Spain
The Spanish economy’s sustainability dilemma
"Environmental sustainability cannot be understood today without taking into account the economic factor. Only when environmental policy is economically viable can it be sustainable over time. Economic viability and environmental sustainability will be, therefore, the two aims of the policy that this ministry will pursue.” This sentiment, voiced by Environment and Agriculture Minister Miguel Arias Cañete recently, sounds sensible enough. But the full content of his speech, addressed to a congressional committee and outlining his intentions for this legislature, has stirred some deep fears among environmentalists. It has also brought the sustainability-versus-growth debate into the … [Read more...] about The Spanish economy’s sustainability dilemma
Kitting the kids out for school in Spain
Waiting at the school reception I hear English voices. They want to know what they should bring to school for their three-year-old daughter and they’re trying to explain how difficult it is for their nine year old to complete four pages of Spanish homework when she doesn’t speak Spanish. It’s a bewildering experience for parents and children alike and there is so much room for misunderstanding. In this case the school administrator, who speaks English, is sympathetic, listens patiently and is very helpful. But that isn’t always the case. It occurs to me how useful it would be just to have some basic introductory information for parents of English pupils just to help them get started. Not … [Read more...] about Kitting the kids out for school in Spain
La Liga: Guardiola keeps Barcelona guessing
Any seasoned FC Barcelona fan knows there comes a time in every season when coach Pep Guardiola’s contract renewal is talked about by the press and mulled over by the man himself, before he signs up for another year. Since taking the helm at the Catalan club in 2008, he has always insisted on signing on for one-year contract extensions at a time in order to keep up his own high standards as well as those of his players. But this year, something feels altogether different. There is a nervousness in the air, other offers are being discussed and his players, who usually go through these same motions annually, seem more unsure about his future than ever before. One look at his record in … [Read more...] about La Liga: Guardiola keeps Barcelona guessing
The Serrat–Sabina generation: sitting comfortably
Looking back over the last 50 years of so of popular music, it’s probably a safe enough conclusion to draw that at least one of the secrets of a performer’s enduring popularity is to be inexorably associated with fast-changing times. For most of us, however banal it might seem to the rest of the world — and we may ourselves not even realise it at the time — there is always a moment in life after which things are never quite the same; a high point or an event, a moment, after which events overtake us; when we grow up and settle down to earning a living, raising a family; that sort of thing. For the more Romantic among us, the times leading up to that high point in life, otherwise known … [Read more...] about The Serrat–Sabina generation: sitting comfortably
Is Spain set to follow Greece?
Even without fully grasping the situation in Greece right now, it’s difficult to read the list of austerity measures being imposed on it without feeling shocked. Public workers like teachers must return wages, because the debt deal is backdated to November. The government must cut €300m from public pensions, leaving people in and approaching retirement destitute. Greece must auction its €110 billion gold reserves in the event it fails to meet targets, removing the absolute last means of funding itself when all others are exhausted. For its pains, in all likelihood Greece will be forced to return to Brussels in 12 months to request more funds, because these same demands are pushing it … [Read more...] about Is Spain set to follow Greece?