Euribor could drop to 2.5% next year as Spain drives economic growth in bloc
Friday, October 4, 2024
INTEREST rates in the Eurozone could fall to 2.5% next year, having closed August 2024 on 3.75%, according to latest research.
The recently-released report by S&P Global Ratings predicts the lower Euribor rate will come off the back of increasing growth in economies that share the common currency, particularly in Spain and France.
For 2024 as a whole, the Eurozone's GDP is expected to have grown by 0.8%, rising to 1.3% in 2025, as consumer spending and investment increases.
Weaker growth is forecast for Germany this year, but Spain and France are likely to be the main economies driving the GDP upwards, S&P finds.
Whilst inflation remains above the European Central Bank's (BCE's) target of 2%, it has reduced significantly this year, ending August on 2.2%.
Also, consumer price index inflation fell from July's 2.8% to 2.4% last month – a dramatic year-on-year difference, given that July 2023 saw it reach 5.9%.
Analysts are now becoming quietly confident of a Euribor rate cut next year, and estimate that inflation could finally reach the 2% target.
The BCE, then under Mario Draghi, dropped Eurozone interest rates into negative figures for the first time ever in February 2016 in a bid to increase consumer spending, borrowing, and strengthening the economy.
Interest would remain below zero for over six years, as inflation continued at well below the 2% target.
Global inflation in 2022 led current BCE chair Christine Lagarde to increasing the Euribor at its fastest level in history – within 10 months, it had gone from minus figures to around 4%.
This month, the BCE plans to reduce the rate to 3.5% - only the second cut so far in 2024.
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Energy-efficiency certificates for Spanish homes explained
Friday, October 4, 2024
ANYONE who has let out or sold their property in recent years will have gone through the process of obtaining an energy-efficiency certificate – and, if you're planning to sell yours or rent it, you need to know what is involved.
But you don't necessarily have to be planning to move – homeowners who intend to stay put for now sometimes look into getting an energy-efficiency certificate to find out what they can do to improve emissions, reduce the amount they spend on electricity bills, and keep their property warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
Although it may sound like just another task to grapple with in a long list when you're planning on selling or renting your home, acquiring an energy-efficiency certificate is actually fairly simple, as explained by utility boards Iberdrola and Endesa.
Who needs an energy-efficiency certificate?
Anyone who plans to sell their property or let it to tenants – including commercial properties – whether they are brand-new or pre-owned, provided their 'useful area size' is over 50 square metres. The 'useful area size' definition means that, even if a property is larger than 50 square metres, those parts of it which are technically inaccessible or 'unavailable' – such as thick walls – do not count when measuring floor space.
Properties to let which require an energy-efficiency certificate include those due to be occupied by long-term and permanent tenants, as well as holiday homes that are available for use for at least eight months of the year.
Who doesn't need an energy-efficiency certificate?
Owners of individual properties for sale or rent with a useable floor size of less than 50 square metres are exempt.
If you bought your property brand-new and now intend to sell it or let it out, you may well already have an energy-efficiency certificate. These are now automatically issued, by law, for new builds. But if you have since upgraded your energy rating through extra works – such as adding solar panels, better insulation, or double glazing – you might want to obtain a fresh certificate to reflect its improved category.
Properties left unoccupied – and which will continue to be left unoccupied – for more than eight months of the year do not need an energy-efficiency certificate. This might be the case if, for example, you own a second home that you only intend to let to holidaymakers in July and August, and use for yourself on occasional weekends out of season.
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Spain's Paralympians smash medal record at Paris 2024
Friday, September 13, 2024
Team Spain has smashed its own record medal-count and broken the 40 barrier for the first time.
After netting 31 medals in Rio 2016, the post-pandemic Paralympics set another national best for Spanish competitors – the haul of 36 from Tokyo 2020 represented the country's highest figure to date.
A last-minute silver for Alberto Suárez in the marathon brought the Paris 2024 total up to 40 – which included seven golds – and saw Spain shine most of all in swimming, athletics, triathlon and cycling.
Swimming remains the country's strongest discipline, with 15 medals, followed by cycling and athletics with eight each, and four for triathlon.
Spanish Olympic and Paralympic competitors typically have a greater battle on their hands than those of their neighbouring countries, given that government funding is very scarce – the majority have day-jobs – unlike the UK, second from top in the medal count after China, where candidates at the Games receive National Lottery grants.
With the USA third from top, Spain was up against some powerful sporting nations, meaning its Paralympic sportspeople can be justly proud of coming 16th in the medal total overall.
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Homeowner funds for replacing air-conditioning units 'offered in some regions'
Saturday, August 24, 2024
GRANTS of up to €250 are available this year for replacing older air-conditioning units in a bid to encourage greater energy efficiency.
Not all regional governments offer funding, but for those which do, no deadline for applying has been set as yet – meaning it may not be too late to request a cashback.
Known as a Plan Renove ('Renewal' or 'Replacement' Plan), payments are made when installing fitted units with an energy-efficiency rating of at least A+.
Unfortunately, funds are not given for first-time installations – only for upgrading older, existing units with a higher energy consumption.
Typically, applicants need to be registered as resident in the region whose government is offering the cash, meaning the scheme is unsuitable for holiday-home owners who live in a different part of Spain or abroad.
Read more at thinkSpain.com
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House price rises 'treble national average' in Spain's islands
Saturday, August 24, 2024
RESIDENTIAL property prices rose again in July outside of Spain's major cities, with homes for sale on the islands now breaking post-recession records.
Leading quantity surveyor association TINSA says the average price tag is now 3% higher than a year ago, and that the most recent full-month figures – for July 2024 – reveal an increase of 0.7% in values compared with those of June.
Whilst property price rises are beginning to stagnate in the country's largest metropolitan areas and in land-locked provinces, those in more traditional tourism zones are seeing an across-the-board increase in value.
This is particularly the case in the Balearic and Canary Islands, where property price hikes between July 2023 and July 2024 have reached 8.6% - nearly three times the rate of inflation.
In these offshore regions, average home prices are now above the historic highs seen in 2007 and early 2008 – a time when property values across the country reached unrealistic heights never witnessed before and which preceded a nationwide housing market crash, provoking a long recession.
There is no suggestion of a recurrence of this grim period in Spain's recent history, however: The typical value of a residential property on the islands is around 1.7% above that of late 2007 which, allowing for inflation over the 17 years since, responds more to a healthy demand than an unsustainable property boom.
Coastal tourism enclaves see above-average price increases
TINSA considers this demand to be location-specific, given the Balearics' and Canaries' status as mature and well-established holiday destinations, and says this same factor is also driving up home prices elsewhere on Spain's Mediterranean seaboard.
All down the east coast, homes have risen in value by an average of 6.2% in the past year, with a typical increase in the last month of around 0.4% on the mainland side of the Mediterranean, compared with 1.1% in the Balearics.
Slowdown in major cities with high housing demand
A general slowdown has been noted this summer in major cities, particularly Madrid and Barcelona, with year-on-year price rises at 2.1% - below the national average and lower than the rate of inflation.
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Mortgage applications increase for first time in two years as home prices soar
Friday, August 2, 2024
DEMAND for mortgages to buy a home has begun to rise for the first time since 2022, despite rates being at their highest levels in nearly a decade.
According to the Central European Bank (BCE), three of the largest economies in the Eurozone – Spain, Germany and Italy – registered an increase in new mortgage applications in the second quarter of this year, after many months of lack of demand due to loans becoming far more expensive.
France, the remaining country in the Eurozone's 'top four' economies, reported no change in demand in the last quarter.
After plummeting demand due to interest rate hikes, applications for consumer loans are now beginning to increase in the Eurozone, the BCE reveals: Forecasts for the second quarter of 2024 in banks across the common currency area averaged around a 6% rise in demand, but latest figures show the reality is nearer 13%, with Spain, Germany and France topping the list.
Spain and Germany also registered a slight increase in business loan requests in the first six months of this year, whilst Italy and France reported a significant decline.
The common currency interest rate, or Euribor, fell below zero for the first time in February 2016, and remained in negative figures until late 2022, when it began to soar at a pace never seen before.
Having topped 4% on some occasions since then, the Euribor closed July 2024 on 3.567%.
Property price rise creates 'affordable housing' crisis in Eurozone
The BCE report states that falling residential property prices have helped push up demand for mortgages in some parts of the Eurozone – particularly Germany, which has seen year-on-year decreases of around 5.7%, and France, with values dropping by 4.8% – although the opposite has been seen in Spain, where purchase prices continue to climb.
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Records Spain broke with its Euro win...and other fun facts about La Roja
Friday, July 19, 2024
SPAIN'S last-minute win against England in the 2024 UEFA Euros comes on the 60th anniversary of the country's first-ever title in the much-followed competition – and has broken numerous records, too.
The party has barely finished for La Roja – their triumphant return from Germany after Sunday's late-night victory was followed by a huge open-air concert in Madrid's Plaza Cibeles, which is, at every other time, a busy traffic island but which, on Monday, featured a star-studded line-up of national music chart-topping artists; then, later that day, the entire team met King Felipe VI at the monarch's main residence in Madrid, the Zarzuela Palace.
Naturally, they had already met HRH Felipe immediately after the match, since the King was watching with the youngest of his two daughters, the Infanta Sofía, 17.
Sofía, who wore red trousers in support of her national team – although her white shirt may have been a nod to England, given that she is currently living in the UK whilst studying at sixth-form college in Wales – looked visibly nervous as the score levelled up before Oyarzábal took it to 2-1 in the 86th minute.
Most Euro victories and most consecutive match wins in history
Oyarzábal and his team-mate Nico Williams, whose goals took the cup home to Spain for the fourth time in history, made La Roja the highest-scoring team in the entire trajectory of the Euros: With 15 goals in this year's tournament and only four against in seven matches, Spain has now broken the uninterrupted record held by France who, under Platini in 1984, notched up a total of 14 in five matches to clinch the trophy.
Until now, Spain had been level-pegging with Germany for the most UEFA Euro tournaments won – with three each – but La Roja is now officially in the lead with four titles.
Even though the baby-boomer generation is the youngest to remember Spain's first victory in 1964 – at a time when home television was an extremely rare commodity and most would have followed the matches by radio – no Spaniard born in the 20th century will ever forget La Roja's 'World Cup sandwich': Their hat-trick of two consecutive Euros in 2008 and 2012 with the 2010 World Cup in between went down in sporting history.
But for fans of every nationality, the writing was on the wall ahead of Sunday's match, despite the huge leaps forward England has made in recent years under Gareth Southgate: Every time Spain's men's – or women's - team has reached a final, it has won.
For the past decade, La Roja has barely made it past a quarter-final, but before Sunday, the team had qualified for, and won, 22 finals, meaning fans were fairly confident that the 23rd would end the same way.
And in the 2024 tournament, Spain did not lose a single match, giving it a new record of seven consecutive victories – against Croatia, Italy, Albania, Georgia, Germany, France, and then England – breaking that held by France since 1984 when Platini's squad won five consecutive matches, albeit at a time when only eight countries were involved in the competition.
Rising stars and seasoned veterans
In total, 10 players scored goals for Spain during the 2024 Euros – Álvaro Morata, Dani Carvajal, Ferrán Torres, Rodri, Merino, Oyarzábal and Lamine Yamal with one each, Dani Olmo with three, and Fabián and Nico Williams each scoring twice.
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'Second chance' for homebuyers to apply for income tax deduction
Saturday, June 8, 2024
RESIDENTS in Spain who bought a new home before 2013 may still be able to offset the purchase against their annual tax return, if they have not done so already.
Until that year, buying a main residence in Spain gave the owner tax deductions, but the then Partido Popular (PP) government scrapped this benefit, at a time when taxes in general had sharply risen to aid a flagging economy.
Now, over a decade on, the Central Financial and Contentious Court (Tribunal Económico-Administrativo Central, or TEAC) has created new windows to enable some of those who missed out to backdate their claims.
Anyone who had already applied a tax deduction in their annual return (Declaración de la Renta) in 2012 or before in relation to a main residential property purchase, who had bought their home prior to January 1, 2013, or carried out renovation works on it before that date, would have benefited from the now-defunct reduction scheme.
But some did not apply at all – those who did not have any taxable income, meaning they did not make a declaration, and those who were not obliged to file a tax return and opted not to do so, would not have offset their home purchase.
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Spain is world leader for blue-flagged beaches...again
Friday, May 17, 2024
ONCE again, Spain holds more blue flags for its beaches and marinas than any other country in the world – a record it has held without interruption for 30 years.
This year, following the official blue-flag awarding procedure, Spain's beaches hold a total of 638 of these prestigious kitemarks – 11 more than in 2023 – with the east-coast province of Alicante boasting the highest number.
Another 102 blue flags went to leisure ports – every single applicant in this category - and seven to tour boats.
Following a trend that began to take off two years ago, a growing number of inland beaches have been applying for – and earning – blue flags, with 11 of these in the land-locked western region of Extremadura, whose nearest sea coast is in Portugal.
The newest inland beach entry is for Lerate Bay in Guesalez, Navarra, a single-province region that does not have a coast.
In fact, despite only eight of the 15 regions in mainland Spain having a sea shore, a total of 11 now have blue-flagged beaches – only Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha, in the centre of the country, and Aragón and La Rioja in the north, currently have none.
Spain accounts for 15% of blue-flagged beaches on earth, and has consistently beaten every other country since 1994, with Greece and Turkey second and third.
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BBVA begins merger talks with Banco Sabadell
Saturday, May 4, 2024
TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.
BBVA bank's board of directors has confirmed to the media that the firm has expressed an interest in a 'possible fusion' with Banco Sabadell, and 'appointed advisors' on the matter.
Banco Sabadell absorbed the now-defunct and ailing CAM bank during the recession years, increasing its presence on the high street and placing it among the biggest names in the financial services industry.
Its share capital is currently valued at just over €236 billion, of which €185.2bn is held in Spain, according to Banco Sabadell's first-quarter results for 2024.
If the merger were to be accomplished, BBVA would be the dominant player, with nearly €802bn in capital worldwide, of which €452.2bn is based in Spain, the bank's most recent accounts reveal.
In total, the resulting mega-bank would hold a global share capital of €1,037bn and €637.5bn nationally.
The stock market value would reach around €73bn, putting the BBVA-Sabadell enterprise only a fraction behind Banco Santander, currently one of Spain's largest corporations.
This figure is nearly double that of the third-largest bank in Spain, CaixaBank, which has a stock market value of €37.5bn.
Worldwide, BBVA has 5,912 branches, of which 1,881 are in Spain – fewer than half, compared with the much more nationally-based Banco Santander, which has 1,203 branches in Spain out of its global total of 1,414.
Following a merger, the resulting corporation would have 7,326 branches and 140,776 employees, of whom over 46,000 are in Spain.
Impact on staff
Many of these 140,776 employees will be feeling apprehensive about the results of merger negotiations, given that this type of operation usually leads to redundancies.
Whilst a number could be redeployed, and a deal may be struck with older workers allowing them to take early retirement, it is estimated that up to 4,000 jobs may disappear due to duplication – particularly in human resources, finances and treasury – and as a consequence of branch closure.
These predictions have been made by professor Ricardo Zion of the EAE Business School, based upon the result of CaixaBank's merger with the partially State-owned Bankia two years ago, when around 6,000 staff members were made redundant.
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