Almond blossom in Jijona, Alicante

At last... changes to inheritance tax for non-residents

Finally, after pressure from Europe, Spain is changing its approach to non-resident inheritance tax. The European court established that Spain must modify its inheritance tax laws to coincide with European law.

After January 1st 2015 the changes have been applied so that there is no discrimination between residents and non-residents.

To find out more: 

abacoadvisers.com

Should you bother learning Spanish?

If you are not already bilingual and move to Spain, learning Spanish can be an uphill struggle. Is it worth it?

Of course, our answer would be yes! It’s important to be able to get by even if your Spanish is very basic. Being able to make yourself understood at the doctors or in the shop has many benefits.

But there is another very good reason for language learning. It keeps your brain active and research has shown that it helps prevent age-deterioration. Our article, ‘Why bother learning a language’ looks at the benefits of bilingualism alongside the gadgets to make it unnecessary:

abacoadvisers.com

Five reasons for having a keyholder

Have you thought about what you would do if your property in Spain springs a leak whilst you’re not there?

In this article, EasySpain gives 5 very good reasons why you really should make sure someone holds a spare set of keys on your behalf:

easyspain.com

20 reasons to drop everything and go to Spain

At what can be a rather depressing time of the year many people’s thoughts turn towards their holidays and warmer climates.

If you didn’t already feel the need to book your tickets and pack your bags, here is a very good list of reasons why you should do just that. Read on: 

huffingtonpost.com

Travel information at your finger tips

If you love travelling and want to have all the best information to hand you wouldn’t go far wrong by signing up to Huffington Post’s travel site. It features interesting places to visit as well as money saving tips:

huffingtonpost.com

There are also some little novelties such as ‘how to answer the phone in 10 different languages’. If you’ve got a few moments to spare there’s lots of interesting items to browse through. 

The World visits Cartagena

If you won the lottery what would you do with your money? It’s a favourite discussion and one that I think I’ve found the perfect answer to. I’d have a suite of rooms on the luxury residential cruise ship The World.

Actually, I probably wouldn’t. However, looking at this video I did enjoy imagining what it might be like to live on a luxury liner: 

aboardtheworld.com

And The World is due to visit Cartagena at the end of April, stopping for three days in the port. Let’s hope these mega rich residents spend lots of money there too:

euroweeklynews.com

What’s happening in 2015

There’s certainly plenty to look forward to now the Christmas trimmings are back in the cupboard.

This round up from Expatica is a good summary of the top Spanish festivals, carnivals and ferias in 2015.  How many will you manage to attend?

expatica.com

The world’s 13 most incredible hotel pools

Take a look at the Active Times’ photos of top pools from around the world. The majority are set in locations that provide stunning views. As if that wasn’t enough, take a look at number 5 in the list – just imagine what the view must be like floating in this pool in China!

theactivetimes.com

Finding a low maintenance home in Spain

Tumbit has provided an in-depth article based upon the Top 10 features (yes, it’s another top 10) of a low maintenance home in Spain. Their suggestions might not reflect your experience, but they certainly provide plenty of food for thought:

tumbit.com

Missing your usual beauty products?

If you live in Spain and are tired of asking friends and relatives to bring over your usual brand of beauty products why not order them direct online?

Boots have an international section and will deliver to Spain. They are advertising their delivery service which will arrive within 7 days at a cost of £9.99. Not a bad deal if you’re missing your little luxuries:

international.boots.com

Sierra Nevada Ski Station, Granada