I would be really interested in any personal experiences/recommendations for current account banking, esp in the Costa Blanca area.  We will be looking to open a non-resident account initially and hopefully convert to a residential account within 12 months, and will need to arrange regular transfers from a UK account (I know its best to use a currency broker for that and welcome any personal recommendations on that too!)

We bank with First Direct (HSBC) in the UK - they have told me I can have an international account with them, but so far as I can tell they don’t appear to have a branch structure in Spain?

And how do people find using accounts in Spain, do you use branches more..?  I almost never set foot in a bank branch in the UK, relying on internet banking, direct debits and the odd cash withdrawal.  But from all I hear/read there is more need to go and do things in person in Spain, is this to avoid/reduce fees or is it just the way things are done..?

We are moving in January but planning a quick trip back in November - literally a day or so - is it possible to open a bank account in 2 days or will that just provoke hollow laughs from anyone with first hand experience of the legendary Spanish beauracracy required..?

Any advice and suggestions most welcome, and I apologise if this has been covered before… I am sure its the kind of info that dates in any case and what I really welcome are personal suggestions from anyone in this position recently, especially if they are anywhere near the northern CB,

thanks all! 

Mx

The plan allows unemployed immigrants who want to leave Spain to receive their jobless benefit’s in a lump sum on returning to there original country.

She stated the plan which was launched by the Labour and Immigration Minister Celestino Corbacho, made sense and addressed the need for a “Legal and Orderly” immigration policy.

The deputy noted that unemployment was rising and that “its clear we are not going to be able to employ the same number of people as when more than 2 million jobs were created, and that means we are going to hire fewer immigrants”.

Spain`s unemployment level grew in June, for the third consecutive month, with 36,849 people added to the jobless rolls, and 2.39 Million workers now without jobs.

Joblessness has increased by 21.6% since June 2007.

Job losses were registered in all sectors, but the construction industry led the way, with 21,080, followed by services, with 4,555 and agriculture, with 3,338, all industries that employ high numbers of Immigrants.

1. 1 pound = 1.45 euros

2. Use exchange rate as at 31-12-07 around 1.36

3. Use exchange rate on the day declaracion - so if done today around 1.25

On an income of say 10,000 pounds that could vary your Euro income by 2000 euros and so you could pay more than 480 euros more in tax at 24%

Has anybody heard any other methods actually being used?

Can anyone suggest what the 3% Retention could be? It is the same figure that was withheld from the seller for CGT but why would I have to pay this. No mortgage is involved. Lawyer not responding to written questions, wanting a meeting to discuss these charges. I would like to have some answers before meeting again.

Bank charges. Are these normal?

VMT

My wife just might be offered a job in Barcelona in Human Resources… Kind of an IT-ish analyst, specialist position. This kind of job in the States (Boston) pays about 60000USD-75000USD. We’re wondering what we should say for our salary requirement. She’ll be supporting me (husband) and our 1 year old boy, and we’ll need a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in the city. Any thoughts on what we might expect, or what we should request, would be greatly appreciated. We just really can’t afford to make a mistake here and ask for too little, and then find out too late!
Thank you very much!

Advice please.

I am a resident here in Spain and I am selling my house (primary dwelling for 4 years) and moving away from Spain.

On completion of the sale I intend to take all my money back to UK to buy a flat.

Am I right to think that I need to file a tax return within the next two years and declare and pay my capital gains on the sale of the house.

Will I come up against a problem taking the money out of the country because without this I will not be able to buy anything back in the UK?

Thanks

Does anyone have a very rough idea of how to compare eg what a £20,000 or £30,000 pay packet in London would be in € in Barcelona.

Of course it’s not just converting the currency because of the cost of living. From what I can tell flats are pretty much the same- eg a £1000 per month flat would cost €1000 per month in Barcelona (maybe a bit more). But then I hear a monthly transport pass is only €43ish compared to £100 odd in London. I understand food and drink can be cheaper too but how much?

Anyone have a rate I can work out for general living expenses? (if it comes to specifics my money would be going on accommodation, food, drinks out and maybe the odd meal out - oh, and buying myself some stuff when I get out there - TV etc. No car, no kids)

Thank you SO much for any help anyone can give me

This was because to claim a full pension you needed to make the full 44 years NI contributions to be entitled to a full pension. I decided at the time not to make any more donations to the UK government and settled for a pension of 29/44ths when my time came.

However a few weeks ago I decided to re-visit the situation and wrote to HM Revenue and Customs and asked them to satisfy my curiosity about how much it would cost to make additional pension top-up contributions.

I received a very surprising letter back informing me that the rules have changed and now only 30 years contributions are necessary under new legislation due to come into effect in April 2010.

So now I only have to make one more years contributions to top up to the full 30 years which seems like a windfall to me.

You only qualify for this change if you reach State Pension age on or after April 6th 2010 and I am delighted to say that I do!

If you would like to contact them write to:

Residence Residency
BP 1301
Benton Park View
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1ZZ
UK

(Note if you are still UK resident this address may not apply)

Visit: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk