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

Supermarkets carry on , as people always need to eat and clean their houses etc, but there are so many in such a small area around Torrevieja, that you wonder how they survive. A year ago Iceland were recruiting on a large scale, but I have heard that staffing levels were reduced due to drop off in business. This may have been because they opened San Javier and La Marina stores, which generated more overheads, whilst dispersing customers away from Torrevieja store, to go locally.

There seem to be many supermarkets, with many branches, such as Lidl, Consum, Carrefour, Mercadona. How do they make money? There are more supermarkets in that particular area per square kilometre than in the whole of the Scarborough and district area in the UK.

For people on pensions affected by the recession, then you should consider ways to raise more funds, by way of such vehicles as lifetime loans.

FACT: Britain is a member of the EU

FACT: The elected government , albeit not the elected Prime Minister had the mandate of the people to negotiate this treaty

There is the question surrounding the Labour failure to let the UK have a referendum BEFORE this treaty was negotaited. That failure sums up the deceitful lies and mistruths callously spread by Labour just to hang on to power.

William Hague spoke a lot of sense last night on NEWSNIGHT and it is clear , once the media stop sensationalising everything, that the UK is not handing all its power to Brussels.

Most EU countries will not agree to that, Spain in particular. However, it makes perfect sense to me that for the EU, now a large geographical area, needs to have a co-ordinated strategy for trading with the other main blocs, China and the USA. 

Anyone, who thinks the UK could survive outside the EU club, is totally misguided.

FD9′s and all the other documents , on this occasion, did not seem to matter. Despite my wife stating categorically and pointing it out on the Spanish FD9 they refused to stamp the paperwork. Explanation will be sent to HMRC in Nottingham, yet again.

One day they might employ someone, who knows the correct procedures.

Certainly there is more of a benefit for those who have been aaway from the UK 5 years, as they can get their hands on the fund more quickly, and have choices, but for most people, I would suggest that you seek independent advice relating to your specific needs, as there is no “generic” standard advice on this complex area.

As well as exchange risk considerations, the implications for taxation in the country you are “fiscally” resident comes into play.

I would recommend caution, as QROPS may not necessarily offer the “holy grail” that has been portrayed by the “experts” in Spain.

Demand for property is only 250,000 a year, yet there are well over .16 million empty or part completed properties, which suggests that it will be at least 6 years until that slack is taken up.

Add to this that exports from Spain are costing more to non EUROZONE currency countries, life is likely to be very difficult, unless domestic demand can be stimulated further.

The Spanish government are talking about raising taxes to cover the situation, but this will only add pain to the economy.

To get the best rates, look at Currencies Direct for up to date information