David Bates Financial Adviser

In these recessionary days, Spain is a difficult place to work as an “autonomo” worker. Contract jobs are hard to find. The thing to remember is that whether you earn anything or not you have to pay €265 to €300 a month to Social Seguridad, just for the privelige of getting out of bed in a morning. If you fall behind because of loss of earnings the consequences can be drastic.

The authorities know virtually everything about you including that you have a car. They can, without taking you to court, issue a notice ordering you to give up such assets as payment for the outstanding payments. If you do not receive this due to the incorrect address being used, you will get a knock on the door from the Guardia Civil, who depending on the officers turning up at your front door, can be quite aggressive.

If you are in this situation, you should complete a modelo 37 and suspend your social security and autonomo. This stops the addition of further bills to what you owe already.

If they take your car it is likely it will be worth far more than the debt, but you won’t get any change when they sell it.

Don’t say you have not been warned

Should politicians simply talk up the economy, when the truth is that it is still suffering and has a long way to go, before we can truthfully say it is growing?  A General Election is looming large on the horizon, and the points scoring process as started. Labour, via Lord Peter Mandelson, are accusing David Cameron, and the tories of putting down the British economy, when they should be talking it up. In the past this has happened, 1979, for example. A beleagured Prime Minister , James Callagahn claimed inflation was only at 8%, as Labour grappled with the winter of discontent, like a paratrooper trying to take the air out of his parachute on landing and put it back in its pack, or like King Canute trying to order the sea to obey him. However hard he tried the reality showed up. Britain was not prepared for how bad things REALLY were ,as interest rates soared after the election to tackle the parlous state of the economy.

We all know there are very difficult days’ ahead, more difficult than any of us can remember, so I say to all politicians ADMIT the truth, don’t pussy foot about dismissing opposition comments that are the stark ECONOMIC TRUTH. Britain is in a mess, Britain, as it has been proved , was “not best placed to come out of recession quickly”.  Gordon Brown is having to eat his words more and more, he is just not to be believed on anything, as he struggles to save HIS job, and not the country.

The US reported growth of 0.90% in the last quarter, against the fall in the UK of 0.40%. The American news is good for the UK, because it should see the UK come out of recession by the end of this quarter. Things are still not as stable as we would like, but the patient is getting better.

As predicted the stockmarkets are recovering quite nicely. However there has to be concern over the exhange rates. Low UK inflation is having a negative effect on the situation, thus prolonging the difficulties for ex-pats living in Spain. With interest rates set to stay low, one cannot see the position improving in the short term.

I suspect that this will change when the official announcement that the UK is not in recession comes at the end of the month.

Many people are returning to work in the UK after a long time in Spain. Even without the difficult job market in the UK, you still need a translated copy of “Antecedentes Penales” from the Ministerio de Justicia. To get this you need to complete the attached modelo 790, these are available from the local Guardia Office or Ministerio de Justicia offices.

You pay €3.47 fee at the bank, or if you go to the office yourself, you can fill in the modelo and pay the fee. If you apply in person you need to take your passport as ID.

There are same day service offices in Malaga on the Costa Del Sol and Murcia on the Costa Blanca ( Calle Santa Catalina 4, Murcia) This is just off Gran Via on the ame side as El Cortes Ingles, going towards the river, for those who know Murcia,

You can post the form to Madrid but this may take 12 weeks, and you will need to have your passport copied and certified at the town hall.

You will need an official translation for the UK end.