SPAIN: New Housing Taxes & more – 16th Jan 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 16th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Kicking things off this week with a hot topic worldwide: housing. On Monday, the 13th, President Pedro Sánchez announced plans to impose a 100% tax on property purchases by non-EU residents.

Sánchez spoke at an economic forum in Madrid on Monday and revealed that 27,000 homes were purchased by non-EU residents in twenty twenty-three, often for profit rather than residence. While twenty twenty-four figures aren’t in yet, according to the Yearbook of Real Estate Registry Statistics, in twenty twenty-two, this figure was around 8,000.

The tax will supposedly help the government prioritize housing for residents, a decision that has proven good results in places like Denmark and Canada.

Property professionals and international buyers have criticized the move, labeling the decision as extreme. What are your thoughts?

From tax to deployment. On Tuesday, the 14th, Spain announced the deployment of nearly 3,000 soldiers to Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece as part of NATO's Steadfast Dart military exercise.

The exercise will run for two weeks in February to strengthen NATO's rapid reaction force in Eastern Europe amid rising tensions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Spain’s military forces and special operations units will test their capabilities by land, sea, and air.

We’re firmly into winter here in Spain, and things are freezing up. On Tuesday the 14th, Catalunya’s Civil Protection group activated a plan to deal with an intense cold wave affecting the region.

Catalan authorities have urged its municipalities to prepare heated shelters and assist vulnerable groups, including infants, the elderly, and the homeless. They advised drivers to exercise caution on icy roads, and reminded residents to use heating devices safely with proper ventilation.

Speaking of the cold, also on Tuesday, national health reports highlighted a surge in norovirus cases across Spain with the causes most likely being linked to holiday gatherings in confined spaces.

Symptoms of the virus include diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, body aches, fatigue, and stomach pain. Norovirus is often mistaken for stomach flu, and since twenty twenty, for coronavirus.

To prevent infection, health authorities have recommended the usual remedies, including frequent handwashing, disinfecting surfaces, and washing food thoroughly. While no specific treatment exists, drinking water is critical as the symptoms cause dehydration.

Next: more money, or more days off? That’s a question unions face in Cádiz, southern Spain, as Navantia, the world leader in cruise ship repairs, faces uncertainty since workers are increasingly fed up with overworking, especially on Sundays with breaks so short they sometimes verge on being illegal.

On Monday the 13th, worker unions said employees were exhausted, working illegal twelve-hour shifts with minimal breaks. The legal limit is nine, and after six, a fifteen-minute break is mandatory. In Cadiz, workers are entitled to 1.5 days of weekly rest, and the weekly limit should stay within the forty-hour mark with Sunday work classed voluntarily with extra compensation.

However, this is often not the reality, as employees are compelled to work extra hours for additional income, especially when international cruise ship companies say that a smaller Sunday workforce could lead to canceled bookings or threatening to dock elsewhere, plus a huge shortage of trained staff in the sector anyway.

Big news for Renfe, Spain’s national rail company. On Tuesday the 14th, Raül Blanco resigned as Renfe’s president after nearly two years, citing personal reasons. However, online rail news provider RailTech suggests Óscar Puente, the Transport Minister, may be removing underperformers to rebuild trust in the struggling rail network.

Blanco’s tenure included ambitious reforms under the Renfe28 plan, aiming to boost competitiveness and efficiency by twenty twenty-eight. Key initiatives included restructuring freight ops, purchasing 406 new trains, and liberalizing services. Yet, frequent delays and high-profile failures, such as a New Year’s Day fleet meltdown where an entire fleet of trains were halted because of faulty batteries, have further damaged Renfe’s reputation.

Álvaro Fernández Heredia, the Secretary General of Sustainable Mobility and an ally of Puente, will step in, though critics doubt this change will fix ongoing issues.

Pope Francis marked the 600th anniversary of the Gitano community's presence in Spain with a letter published on Thursday the 12th, encouraging them to face the future with hope.

The Gitano people, also referred to as Romani people in Spain, are a community that has roots in Spanish culture as far back as the early fourteen hundreds.

In his blessing, the Pope acknowledged the community's history of marginalization and celebrated their ability to find faith despite adversity.

The Gitano community in Spain is an often overlooked group in the country’s history. If you want to learn more about it, check out the link in the show notes.

On that note about good relations, on Wednesday, the 15th, Spain announced a 10 million euro aid package for the Lebanese army in its efforts to reinforce its ceasefire with Israel.

José Manuel Albares, Spain’s Foreign Minister, emphasized that Lebanon's security was critical for Middle Eastern stability. Albares urged Israel and the Lebanese-based Hezbollah to honor the ceasefire agreement, set to expire on the 26th of January.

Albares met Lebanon’s new president, General Joseph Aoun, early this month, as he highlighted Spain's commitment to Middle Eastern peace.

Now, for a bit of interesting local architecture. La Muralla Roja, a striking apartment building in Calpe, Alicante, in the southeast, has become a must-see for fans of Netflix’s Squid Game.

Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill designed the building in the nineteen seventies and features colorful pastel pinks and blues, and intricate staircases that many believe could have inspired the Korean series sets.

Within its maze of blocks and structures lies fifty private flats and a few secret courtyards. If you're a budding architect, a photography fanatic, or just a fan of the hit Netflix drama, it’s a beautiful building. Though, just a little note from us, we’d recommend simply looking at it either online or from afar, as it is residential.

On to sports, this next one is for Formula One fans. On Monday the 13th, five Spanish construction giants submitted bids for the 137 million euro contract to build Madrid's future F1 city circuit.

The circuit is set to debut in September twenty twenty-six. Institución Ferial de Madrid, the project’s sponsor and organizer, faces opposition from local residents and left-leaning politicians citing noise, financial risks, and lack of transparency. At the moment though, construction hasn’t been suspended.

José Luis Martínez-Almeida, the Mayor of Madrid, supports the event and views it as vital for the city's growth. The current Spanish Grand Prix is hosted just outside Barcelona but will hand over the reins to Madrid in twenty twenty-six.

Where do you think the best place to live in Spain is? Madrid? Valladolid in the North? How about Santiago de Compostela in the northeast? Well, the TV network National Geographic named Bilbao, in the Basque Country, northern Spain, as the best city to live in.

The magazine praised Bilbao’s urban transformation over the last ten years, its vibrant culture, and the strong local identity. Factors like excellent public services, healthcare, safety, social atmosphere, climate, and renowned gastronomy contributed to its top ranking.

Whilst there, you can go and try their Kalimotxo drink, an equal mix of cheap dry red wine and Coca-Cola, served with ice. Many Spaniards will tell you it's the basque equivalent of raiding your parent's alcohol cupboard as a teenager, as it's popular with the youth, but it does happen to be quite tasty.

Ending with Bilbao. This time for technological advances with baked goods. On Sunday, the 12th Abasotas, a Bilbao-based artisanal bakery, launched its first dessert vending machine.

Owners Nikola Susaeta and Isabel Serna, who previously ran a physical store around a year ago, shifted to a vending machine after neighborhood complaints and local road work issues.

Customers in Northern Spain can now get their hands on American-inspired treats, including cookies, brownies, and cheesecakes, through a touchscreen interface. Abasotas most popular options include pistachio-raspberry cookies and the hybrid brookie slice.

And that's it for this week!

Thanks for tuning into the Rorshok Spain Update update. You can connect with us on social media as @RorshokSpain on Twitter or @rorshok.spain on Instagram

¡Hasta la próxima!