If you live abroad and you have a relative who dies and leaves you property there is a formal legal procedure that you must go through before you inherit. This includes meeting a strict six-month tax deadline and dealing with two separate legal frameworks. As you can imagine, it does require professional legal assistance but it is also worthwhile checking what documentation you will need and what you can do now to make sure that procedure can be as straightforward as possible. To find out more read our article:

When you are out in a bar or a restaurant in Spain do you routinely leave a tip or is it something you reserve for only the very best in service and quality? Or perhaps you never tip at all? This article is based on some research into tipping habits in Spain and provides us with some percentage guidelines as to what seems to be the norm. At least here it hasn’t become an expectation of a specific amount – at least not yet:

Tipping in Spain – the dos and the don’ts

Unfortunately there can be times when you are the victim of a crime of some kind. When this happens it is important to make a denuncia as soon as possible. As it is likely that this procedure is different to your country of origin, it is important to know where to go, how to make one and what you should take with you. In this article we provide our advice:

Making a police report – our guide

Who needs the RAC or AA when you could have the Guardia Civil attending to your breakdown? Spanish News Today reports how the DGT (Spanish traffic department) is gearing up for the Spanish police to have more direct involvement with breakdowns. Currently the police may attend to you at the roadside if you have to pull over. However, this would make it obligatory. As you might expect the Guardia Civil are not too keen on the compulsory nature of the requirement and make reference to the problems of an already understaffed police service:

When should you start viewing properties and when should you aim to close the deal? Although this article points out that there are no ‘cheaper’ months in which to buy there are times of the year when more might be on offer and when certain trends and patterns in buying and processing sales can make it harder or easier to complete:

In this very useful article, the N332 traffic team warns us of the dangers of trying to traverse flooded roads in Spain. After emphasising the importance of not setting out in the first place they continue to provide more advice as to what you might do in the unfortunate circumstance of being caught and struggling to escape your car:

From 1st October new laws in Spain will provide even greater restrictions around overtaking cyclists on the road. The N332 traffic group inform us that from this date car drivers must reduce their speed to 20 km/h below the speed limit on that stretch of road when overtaking:

Spain has a problem with providing affordable housing for those on lower incomes. The real cause of this is being hotly debated. In this article from Spanish Property Insight we have an explanation for why the situation has arisen:

Whatever your views about social media, there is no doubt that it has significantly changed the way in which young people are growing up. Now the European Commission is proposing that 15 is the minimum age for children to open their own social media accounts. Between 13 and 15 children could access a ‘mini account’ supervised by a parent and under 13 they would not be allowed an account at all.

The proposal is still in the early stages of being implemented and must go through a legislative process. However, Spain is already receptive to the idea of limited use:

Concern about the potential risks alongside the benefits have been part of the prime minister’s speech at Moncloa. If you are interested to find out where the Spanish government stand on the use of AI and how to benefit without being left vulnerable – read this article from Spain in English:

Spain unveils new AI plan as Sánchez warns unregulated technology could have ‘devastating’ consequences 

We would welcome any suggestions for future themes you would like us to cover either in the newsletter or in an article on Spain Explained.

Please let us know by email at newsletter@abacoadvisers.com.

Thank you!