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Spain Is Different
22/07/12
SQUEEZING THE JUICE FROM THE ORANGE / ISSUE 20
SPAIN IS DIFFERENT SUMMER
SPECIAL. WE HAVE BEEN AWAY
If Not France Why
Not Spain
I upset a few people a couple of
weeks ago after my holiday in
France and the news coming
out of the country regarding
taxes.
I really hate writing articles
when an open goal is presented
and it is like shooting fish in a
barrel but the French
government has just presented
Spain with a historic
opportunity.
What’s happened?
Well the Spanish government
has started to try and
encourage foreign investment
by two measures:
Firstly, as a foreigner, if you
buy a property this year then
they have cut any potential
capital gains tax in half.
AVOIDING THE INCESSANT BAD
STUFF ABOUT SPAIN
IF YOU READ THE PRESS THEN SPAIN IS SINKING
AND FAST. Well it may be or it may not be but the incessant
bad press is depressing as hell and here we like other stuff that
isn’t as depressing of course.
So in this well overdue issue, you can see on page six why it is
overdue with my little excuses, we bring you loads of positive
elevating and interesting stuff about Spain and Spanish lifestyle
including, the local teacher’s guaranteeing a parent’s rent so she
doesn’t get thrown out of her house, Spain winning a gold medal
for sex, a taste of Aragón in Spain and its tourist industry, the
drunken Brit youth who stole a yacht and crashed it into some
rocks and the story of the Apartamento magazine and its cult
following.
I read a lot of stuff online about
Plenty of stuff to cheer you up there from the country where the Spain and much of it is very
summer is being rather warm and it’s not raining much if at all. interesting and I think it will
interest you too. The people who
Remember too that if you would like to contribute something,
are on my newsletter get a whole
make comments, participate in any way or you have a blog or
lot more. To get first look then
website you want me to look at then just get in touch on
you should visit this link.
[email protected] and tell me about it. Happy to take a
look at suggestions and ideas as well as your content.
Curated by Graham Hunt (Co-Author of Laptop Entrepreneur)
Secondly, and this one is under
consideration at the moment, if
you buy a property for more
than 250,000 euros then you
may well be granted automatic
residency (a nod to the far East
buyers and eastern Europe
perhaps) Couple this with the
prices having fallen by around
40% from peak and there is a
great opportunity to pick up
some excellent bargain
property in Spain.
Meanwhile in France it seems
to be going the opposite way. I
am on holiday here at the
moment and it seems that I will
not be buying a place here
anytime soon.
Why not? Well capital gains tax
on property has just been
increased from 18% to 34.5%
and tax on rental income has
been increased from 20% to
33.5%.
Read the Rest Here
Spain Is Different
22/07/12
SQUEEZING THE JUICE FROM THE ORANGE / ISSUE 20
A TOURIST VISIT TO ARAGON
NICK SNELLING’S BLOG ON CULTURE
SPAIN HAS PUT TOGETHER A QUICK TOUR
OF ARAGÓN FOR THOSE WHO HAVE
POSSIBLY NEVER HEARD OF IT.
Aragon is a land of distinctive landscapes from
its snowy Pyrenean peaks and rust-coloured
plains to its lush green valleys, and yet it is often
overlooked by the tourist throngs. Its terrain is
harsh and dramatic; its scenery breath-taking
and impressive. It is remotely serene and more
peaceful than the heaving Costas, whilst
providing a host of activities – if you only know
where to find them!
Geographically located in the North East of
Spain, Aragon is made up of three provinces:
Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel. Like the
landscape, the weather can be varied: freezing
in winter and blistering in summer. However,
there is much to see here apart from its famous
mountains including medieval towns and castles
and handsome Mudéjar architecture. Certainly,
the influence of the Moors cannot be ignored in
this region, most notably in the architecture of
religious buildings and towers.
Going back a bit further in time and something
of interest to dinosaur enthusiasts, is the
geological history of Aragon where some of the
oldest dinosaur remains in Europe have been
found. Indeed, tere are many dinosaur footprints
to be found in this region, as well as cave
paintings.
A great place to take the kids is Dinopolis (a
major attraction in Teruel) where you can spend
a full day wandering around looking at
dinosaurs! Although the films are mostly in
Spanish, you can still enjoy the exhibits, and
there are various rides and an amusement park
included.
Zaragoza is the capital of Aragon and the
famous Plaza de la Seo is monumental, not only
in size but also because of the fine statuary that
embellishes it. With a host of people milling
around, many of them pilgrims, it is the very
pulse of the city. Imposing over the square is the
majestic cathedral, the Basilica de Nuestra
Señora del Pilar which has an impressive
eleven cupolas and four towers (best viewed
from the other side of the Ebro River). It is a
magnificent sight. Inside, the view is just as
glorious, complete with works by Goya and
Velázquez. However, if that is not to your taste,
walk a little further and try La Seo, otherwise
known as the Catedral del San Salvador – yes,
Zaragoza has two cathedrals! La Seo is an
interesting mix of many architectural styles,
reflecting the changes over the centuries,
complete with Flemish tapestries on display
inside.
Historically the famous children of Aragon have
included kings and queens – in particular, a
certain Katherine of Aragon (wife to Henry VIII)
whose father was Ferdinand. It was, of course,
Ferdinand’s marriage to Isabella of Castile that
led to the creation of a united Spain in the
fifteenth century.
In its heyday Zaragoza was an important
Roman centre and the remains of Roman walls
can still be seen, as can the forum and baths.
Turning the corner from the Roman walls, you
can wander through the bustling food market,
marvel at the low prices, and perhaps be
tempted by the delicious Calanda peaches.
Read The Rest At Culture Spain
Curated by Graham Hunt (Co-Author of Laptop Entrepreneur)
The A-Z of
Seville Part 1
Actually the A-F as this is only
part one but the blog at Scribbler
in Seville decided to try and
define what constitutes the
essence of Seville. Here is the
first part.
What defines a city? What is that
essence which gives it an identity
all of its own – the strange,
arcane customs?
The architectural and historical
span of its buildings?
The eccentric characters?
The flashes of colour at a local
celebration?
The mournful tones of music in a
procession?
No-one can capture a city like
Seville, which has the strongest
identity of any city I’ve ever lived
in, but I’ve tried to single out the
aspects which I think are unique
to southern Spain’s main
metropolis.
At first I was only going to choose
one aspect or characteristic of
Seville for each letter of the
alphabet, but then I realised that
would be unfeasibly limiting and
would omit far too many integral
features of my adopted home
city. (How could you mention
tapas, but not Triana?) So,
instead, I’m splitting it into
several parts. Here goes with the
first section…
Read All About It Here
Spain
SoundIsOf
Different
Today
SEPTEMBER22/07/12
10, 2009
SQUEEZING THE JUICE FROM THE ORANGE / ISSUE 20
Cult Interiors
Magazine
Apartamento
Takes a Hold
ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE
few kilometres of access via a bumpy and steep
track the approach is not for the faint-hearted
driver (nor for the owners of low-slung cars.)
By two pm the sun had shifted round far enough
to be creeping on to the rock face and it was time
for us to beat a retreat. Walking out in the sun we
felt the full, fierce heat of the day and the desire
to immerse ourselves in cool waters quickly
overcame us.
It’s always good to read success
stories of course and when that
success story started in a back
room of an apartment in
Barcelona then even moreso.
So take a look here at how the
interior design magazine
“APartamento” has gained a
cult following and always sells
out.
It sells out in days, is read in 45
countries and has been called
the world's hippest interiors
magazine. Media news might
be dominated by the decline of
print, but Apartamento is
quietly bucking the trend. Back
in April, its founders, Nacho
Alegre and Omar Sosa,
celebrated as they sold all
25,000 copies of its ninth issue.
The biannual, Englishlanguage publication was
started in Barcelona from a tiny
room in Alegre's house, yet now
hits newsstands in China,
Lebanon and Kenya, as well as
recording big sales in Berlin,
London and New York. One
London shop reported selling
140 copies, compared to the 15
or so copies the rest of the
magazines it stocks usually sell.
Unlike many traditional
interiors magazines, which
feature cold, minimalist rooms
full of unaffordable designer
gadgets, the living spaces in
Apartamento are often small,
cluttered and have a lived-in
feel. The people covered are
largely creative types –
photographers, artists,
musicians – who are invited to
talk about their living spaces.
Read The Rest Here
ONE OF THE PLACES I MOST LOVE IN
SPAIN IS ASTURIAS. It is known as “Paraiso
Natural” with good reason. It is truly gorgeous
and holiday next week there will be fabulous.
Some people are lucky to live there though. As an
example take a look at this blog post from
Asturias.
Yesterday was one of those perfect days that yet
again reminded me how lucky we are to live in ‘el
paraíso natural’. We spent the morning exploring
Seguencu, in the concejo of Onís. It´s a westfacing crag and thus the perfect venue for a
morning of shaded climbing on a cloudless
summer’s day.
Despite being a short drive outside the busy
tourist town of Cangas de Onís (gateway to the
Picos mountains and hub for adventure tourism),
Seguencu itself is peacefulness personified. At
over 600 metres above sea-level and with the last
A flamenco singer travelled
underground to entertain the
miners staging a sit in to protest
the closure of their mine in Leon,
northern Spain.
Where there are mountains there are, of course,
rivers and where there is Richie there is always an
eye to exploration. This was his opportunity to
investigate a spot he had previously spied from
the car as we drove through the Amieva valley
outside Cangas and which he had speculated
upon as a potential swimming hole.
Now, many are the wild goose chases we have
embarked upon together. Richie is prone to
frequent sightings of ‘El Dorado’ from behind the
steering wheel. A drive through any new area is
never complete without a few impromptu stops
where we swing off the road and then hike off
the beaten path to investigate something that has
caught his eye and sparked his enthusiasm. Often
the crag that looked spectacular from a distance
turns out to be a chossy pile of dangerous, loose
rock. Sometimes, though, the shimmer in the
distance denotes a real jewel. And so it was in this
instance.
Read More About Asturias Here.
Piss Take Of The Week: Paco
Camps Giving a Lecture on
Social Responsibility in Politics.
At least he had eggs thrown at
him. You couldn’t make it up!
Curated by Graham Hunt (Co-Author of Laptop Entrepreneur)
New vaccine holds out hope for
dogs in Spain affected by
Leishmaniasis. The first of
many steps to help out our canine
friends.
Spain Is Different
SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
22/07/12
SQUEEZING THE JUICE FROM THE ORANGE / ISSUE 20
LOCAL
TEACHERS
WILL BE
GUARANTORS
FOR MUM OF
5’S RENTAL
SPAIN WINS
GOLD MEDAL
FOR SEX
GREAT STORY OF
SOLIDARITY COMING
FROM THE USUALLY
HIGHLY CRITICISED
FUNCIONARIOS.
TEN school teachers have agreed
to act as collective guarantor for a
woman who was about to be
thrown out onto the street with
her five children, four of them
under 18.
Hilda Marisol was made
redundant and despite every
effort, did not find another job,
meaning the lender, Bankia,
foreclosed on her mortgage.
The bank auctioned her house
and obtained 60 per cent of its
market value, but refused to let
her rent her own home because
she had no income to pay for it.
At 07.30hrs on July 27, the court
authorities are due to turn up at
Hilda's house and force her and
her children onto the street.
Mortgage lenders who repossess a
house will sometimes allow the
owner to rent it from them for a
maximum sum of 30 per cent of
their income.
In Hilda's case, Bankia refused,
even though they have allowed
this on other occasions in similar
circumstances.
THE VALENCIA
WILDFIRES ARE OVER.
FOR NOW
When I left on holiday Valencia was covered by an ash cloud, the sun
was blotted out and there was a general depression around as the Dos
Aguas Fire raged uncontrollably through 48500 hectares of land. When
I got back I went out and took some pictures and posted them up on my
blog.
Now I know I said that this would be a positive issue but this was just too
big an issue to ignore. So take a look at the blog post as I try to unearth a
little positivity from a horrendous situation. Really sad about all this
happened but the truth is it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for
the actions of the firemen and rural forest guards who got everyone out
of the way of the fires without any loss of life. Sadly one helicopter pilot
did die while replenishing with water in one of the dams around
Valencia. So sorry about that.
Why did the fire start? Well in one of the most ironic twists of fate ver,
two guys fitting some solar panels set off a spark while soldering which
set the fire up. The least green action ever?
Read more at Think Spain
Curated by Graham Hunt (Co-Author of Laptop Entrepreneur)
The first ever Olympics for sex
have been held by the
AshleyMadison website and
Spain won a gold medal for
Tantric sex. This will not be the
only gold medal Spain wins this
summer of course as they have
good chances in the real
Olympics in many events but
that’s a bit of an achievement
surely.
Anyway Spain was outgunned in
the outdoor sex part of the
Olympics by South Africa and
won other medals as reported by
Typically Spanish in the sex
outside category, nice weather
you see and another which shall
remain nameless in a decent
publication like this one.
Speaking of the real Olympics
though, how many medals do you
think Spain will win this time and
in what events. Until 1992 in
Barcelona Spain’s Olympic gold
success could be counted on the
fingers of one hand, since then
Spain has come to dominate
many sports
Spain
SoundIsOf
Different
Today
SEPTEMBER22/07/12
10, 2009
SQUEEZING THE JUICE FROM THE ORANGE / ISSUE 20
British Youth Gets
Drunk, Steals
Yacht, Crashes It!
(Go Figure)
A SLICE OF VALLEY LIVING: GRAN
CANARIA STYLE
MATTHEW HIRTES TAKES US TO A
BEAUTIFUL HOTEL IN GRAN CANARIA
Pretty-as-a-postcard whitewashed Agaete looks
like it’s drifted from the Greek Islands and ended
up in west Gran Canaria. Its port, Puerto de Las
Nieves, offers a one-hour ferry service to Santa
Cruz de Tenerife. The town also boasts a long,
proud history of a thriving artistic community.
Always good to see the british
youth keeping up appearances
abroad and this time we pay
homage to a teenager who stole a
yacht and then the inevitable
happened.
A BRITISH man on holiday in
Magalluf crashed a stolen yacht
when he was drunk, Guardia
Civil officers reveal.
The accused, 20, was in an
inebriated state when he
reportedly took the craft, which
was moored 100 metres from
Son Matías beach in Calvià
(Mallorca).
After sailing out just a short
distance from the shore, the
youth collided with some rocks,
causing extensive damage to the
craft.
Built in 1895 as a rural retreat, the crimson
exteriored Hotel Rural Finca Las
Longueras belongs to the artistocratic Manrique
de Lara family. When the estate was still
exclusively a private residence, they used to invite
prominent local artists to stay including
Lanzarote’s legendary Cesar Manrique.
Naturally, works of art adorn the walls.
Gran Canaria is often described as a miniature
continent. Generally, the north is colder, the east
cloudier, the south warmer, and the west clearer.
Thanks to its western location, Las
Longueras’ parade is rarely rained on, making it
an ideal holiday retreat. In keeping with the
colonial-style exterior, the hotel's nine rooms are
simply, traditionally but warmly appointed. Each
room is decorated with iron bed frames and crisp
white bedding and contains a TV, safe-deposit
box and minibar. Away from the rooms, the hotel
also boasts a conference room, chapel, swimming
pool, snack bar and fitness centre.
Highs:
- Getting away from it all in a veritable garden of
serenity
- Las Longueras is a great base to explore the
plentiful local hiking trails
- The beautifully-preserved family chapel
Lows:
- The swimming pool offers the perfect solution
to beat the heat, but an adjoining shower
wouldn’t go amiss
Facilities & Important Info at Hotel Rural Finca
Las Longueras
Number of rooms: 12
Check-in/check-out times: 1pm and 12noon
Room service: No. Although meals can be
delivered to rooms.
Swimming pool: Yes
Spa: No. But there’s a fitness centre and massage
area.
Child-friendly: Yes. However the hotel is more
popular with loved-up couples than happy
families.
Carry On Reading about the location and
more at Redonline
Police say this was in the early
hours of Wednesday morning
and that the owner was 'having
his evening meal' at the time, but
reports have not clarified
whether the boat's proprietor was
in fact on board the craft at the
time.
Why do I get the feeling that this
story has something missing? I
wonder what it is.
If anyone knows anything more
about what happened after this
was reported I would be
interested to know. Did the
owner own up to being high
when it as he who crashed it.
Was he on board?
Everyone one has their own little
bar in their barrio. Here Leftbanker
talks about their bar in Valencia.
The smallest bar can be excellent
once everybody knows your name
It looks like there are changes
afoot to opening hours which are
strictly regulated in Spain but
only in the major tourist areas for
now.
Curated by Graham Hunt (Co-Author of Laptop Entrepreneur)
Traditionally good in the Spanish
Kitchen by Carol Byrne. Take a
look at the way food is prepared
still in Spain. Lots more
preparation to it.
Sound
Today
Spain Of
Is Different
SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
22/07/12
SQUEEZING THE JUICE FROM THE ORANGE / ISSUE 20
POOR LITTLE RAJOY HASN’T GOT A CLUE
So why have I been lax in producing the “Spain is
Different” magazine. Well I have been writing
another magazine and this one takes a lot more
preparation. I am working on a Spanish Property
Magazine to be released in NewsStand on the iPad.
The idea being to present Spanish Property in a
totally different way.
approved too. However it is looking promising. The
magazine features 15 properties and a lot of articles
about Spain and Spanish Lifestyle. There are
features on Valencia of course and Mijas in this issue
and we have properties in various other parts of the
country from bank repos to high end mansions.
More news to come in the next issue and if you have
an iPad I hope that you will download it and read it.
I read a lot of stuff online
about Spain and loads of it is
very interesting. The people
who are on my newsletter get a
whole lot more. If you want to
sign up too then visit this
link. You can also get older
copies of the magazine there.
The first seven are linked up. I
am not promising that the
magazine will be every week, I
may leave it two weeks now and
again depending on the stories
that come in (Although so far I
have managed to do it on a
weekly basis)
Just put in your name in the
first box and your mail address
in the second to receive
updates. Every week or two we
w i l l s e n d yo u t h e l at e s t
newsletter as soon as it comes
out. (You will also get other
stuff related to Spain and
updates to the magazine but
yo u a r e g u a r a n t e e d t h e
newsletter)
It’s not live yet, we are waiting for the app to be
approved and then the first magazine issue to be
Curated by Graham Hunt (Co-Author of Laptop Entrepreneur)
Also if you have photos that
you want featured in the
magazine or you have an article
you want featured just send it to
me at [email protected] and
I will take a look.