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Vol. 2 Issue 41 www.theolivepress.es November 8th - November 21st 2018
Bunch of bankers HOMEBUYERS will have to pay the hefty mortgage tax when purchasing a property, Spain’s Supreme Court has finally ruled. After 15 hours of debate over who should pay the tax, known as the AJD, judges from the Supreme Court voted 15 to 13 that the client should foot the bill, NOT the bank. “The banks win and the citizen loses,” said Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. The tax is a substantial fee - up to 1.5% of the property price - which is paid to the notary and allows banks to start foreclosure proceedings should the client fail to keep up with mortgage payments. The tax has been paid by the client for the past 20 years.
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Your country needs you! THE UK government is drafting in British expats as recruitment numbers reach an all time low. The Ministry of Defence has announced that foreign nationals will now be allowed to join the British army, even if they have never lived in the country. Previously, prospective soldiers from the Commonwealth had to have lived in Britain for five years. Under the policy, recruits will be con-
sidered for all forces including the Royal Navy and the RAF, with applications opening in early 2019. It is hoped the changes will lead to an extra 1,350 people joining every year. The UK armed forces are short of 8,200 soldiers, sailors and air personnel, a report found earlier this year, the worse shortage since 2010. If you have become a fully fledged citizen in Spain, however, you won’t be accepted.
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Brain teaser Can you tackle Mallorca’s toughest crossword?
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But in mid-October, a decision was taken by the Supreme Court dictating that the banks should pay as the document in question is in the lender’s interest. However, as shares in a number of Spanish banks, including Bankia and Sabadell, promptly tumbled at the prospect of a massive payout on on retroactive legal claims, the President of the Administrative Litigation Division of the Supreme Court, Luis Díez-Picazo, dictated a day later. Had the judges decided the banks should shoulder the minimum of four years of backdated payments, the €6 billion-plus bill would have been a blow to the financial sector, but according to Manuel Pardos, President of Adicae, an association for bank clients, the banks are ‘being cry babies’. If the decision had been in favour of the buyers, the Balearic government would have had to pay back €157 million in tax refunds. Balearic citizens would have saved the DOZENS of police cars and most out of anyone in Spain, motorbikes have been set averaging a savings of €2,375 on fire in Mallorca causing per mortgage. more than €400,000 worth “They’re moaning and claimof damages. Untitled-1.pdf 1 16/06/2017 15:36 ing they’ll be ruined, which The blaze destroyed half a simply isn’t true,” he said. dozen police cars and some
More than 20 police vehicles ‘intentionally’ set on fire in Palma causing hundreds of thousands of euros in damage 20 motorbikes at the Llevant Policia Local station in the Son Gotleu neighbourhood in Palma. Neighbours alerted local officials and the fire brigade after the fire was started at
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around 4.30am on Monday. The Policia Cientifica has opened an investigation into the cause of the flames but all signs point towards it being an intentional attack. In a bizarre twist, sources
now suspect it could be an inside job. Although there is an operating CCTV camera in the car park of the station, no images were recorded from the night as a new server is waiting to be installed. The installation is expected to be carried out next week. It comes as Palma has been brutally hit by some 300 arson attacks in the past 11 months. It took over an hour to extinguish the flames, with Palma
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town hall estimating that the damages stand at over €400,000. "It is clear that the person who has done it has very little fear of entering a police station, he has done a lot of damage to all citizens, because we pay for this with everyone's taxes," said head of Seguridad Ciudadana, Angelica Pastor. Palma Policia Local chief, Josep Palouzie, said there are clear indications that the fire was deliberate as the flames started at several different points at the same time. The official did not rule out the possibility that the attackers could also be responsible for a wave of deliberate fires started in bins and cars across Palma in recent weeks. Many police officers have been forced to take to the streets on foot or in groups in a van. Police lockers were also destroyed in the blaze.