If you already have the light green card or certificate issued by the Spanish police confirming at the time of application you were a citizen of a country forming part of the EU (like the UK up to 31 January 2020) there is no requirement at this stage to apply for any additional certificate or authority to remain resident in Spain.

The United Kingdom left the EU of which Spain is a member on 31 January 2020. The subsequent transition period whereby virtually all matters remain the same ends on 31st. December 2020 and from 1st January 2021 the full effects of Brexit according to the International. Treaty known as the Withdrawl Agreement signed by the UK and the 27 countries of the EU comes into effect.

Legislation has been passed to allow for the use of Catastro registry plans by the numerous land registries that exist covering different areas of Spain.

As matters stand, the land registries do not issue plans with land registry entries that are applied for and all descriptions of boundaries are verbal in nature. This often means that ascertaining the exact boundary of a property is an impractical task as much of the information relating to properties held at land registries especially in rural areas is often historic in nature and often inaccurate.

In comparison the Catastro registry, which deals with the issue of liability to pay property taxes, does produce plans for every single property albeit the details contained do not necessarily correlate with what is stated verbally at the land registry.

The legislation represents a logical attempt to allow an element of merger between the two registry systems dealing with property in Spain although only time will tell if such an approach proves both useful and successful.

Following a judgment of the Spanish Supreme Court one of Spain’s major banks “Bankia”, created from the fusion of several banks and savings banks during the banking crisis, has announced steps to pay back small investors their money “invested” in banking shares that have proven a poor investment.

These measures will remain in place for a limited time (15 May 2015) and will require those qualifying investors affected to attend at relevant offices of the bank and to complete an application for reimbursement in person or by means of a suitable Power of Attorney.

The Bank has stated that in due course the initial investment plus 1% interest will then be credited to the investors’ bank account as stated on the application.

The bank’s response is seen as a response to the class actions being taken by many disgruntled investors through Law firms who feel they were duped into buying something which has proven anything but a safe investment and affords the bank the possibility of avoiding having to pay potentially many millions of euros in legal fees for cases they would otherwise be likely to lose.

2016 brings with it new legislation obliging owners of property in Andalucia, who rent out on a short term basis to holidaymakers, to register on a special tourist apartment register maintained by the Regional Government “Junta de Andalucia”. Failure to do so leaves the owner at risk of the imposition of a heavy fine if caught.

The regulations will apply to all owners renting out holiday accommodation, whether the reservations are taken via internet and other intermediaries or not, and will impose an obligation to maintain the property to a minimum standard to include external ventilation, air conditioning, adequate furniture, bedding and towels, kitchen facilities, etc. and to register the personal passport details of occupiers of the property with the police.

The provision of such accommodation has grown enormously in recent years over  the internet and most regions of Spain have introduced legislation over the past couple of years, in part due to pressure from the hotel industry who regard it as unfair competition. Equally the government is conscious that large amounts of rental money received from tourists go undeclared for tax purposes and believe that the new law should reduce the extent of tax evasion in this sector of the economy.

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