National

Stop Press – Sarkozy Says Spain is no Longer in the Front Line!

Thoughts on alternate realities…Or was he thinking of the Maginot line? Lets hope Sarkozy’s imaginary line will hold for longer than the Maginot line that proved useless within a few days to repel a German invasion. The phrase ‘wishful thinking’ comes to mind. If only politicians could create reality. If only. France’s top man, praised … Read more

Return of the Dreaded Spanish Wealth Tax – A Brief Commentary

Many will remember that happy day in December 2008 when the Spanish Government eliminated Wealth Tax, or so it was thought! The idea in 2008 was to make Spain a more attractive economy and do away with an archaic tax that has its roots in 1977 when inflation and interest rates were in double figures, … Read more

Direct Government Finance for Small Businesses

The Spanish Government has enabled its ICO (Instituto de Crédito Oficial) to grant loans of up to 200.000 € directly to small businesses, bypassing the high street banks. The question is will a Government department do any better at providing financial help to small businesses than a typical bank? We shall see… The Royal Decree-Law … Read more

Latest Economic and Unemployment Crisis Proposals

The Spanish Government, currently the PSOE which is the main centre left party, announced on 1 March 2010 a number of proposals to stimulate the creation of employment and the economy in general. The main proposal is to incentivise property refurbishment which the Government believes will create 350.000 new jobs. Official figures show current unemployment … Read more

OECD Says: Gibraltar is Now White!

Since the publication of the ‘grey list’ by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in April 2009, the number of countries included on the list has decreased from 35 to 16. 19 countries have signed at least 12 different agreements of exchange of fiscal information with different countries. The signing of these agreements … Read more