New website for tourism in Spain in response to digital tourism needs

Tourists have changed the way they behave when it comes to organising their travel. They now seek inspiration from the experiences of other travellers, they want to be better informed, they consult opinions and only then do they book a holiday, during the course of which they share their experience with other users via the social networks.

According to data provided by EGATUR, 60% of all inbound tourists who visited Spain in 2012 consult the information on the Internet while organising their visit to Spain, 59% booked services in advance and 56% paid over the Internet.

1,651,390 foreign citizens registered with Spanish Social Security system in May

The year-on-year decline in the number of foreign contributors stands at -5.08%, compared with a rate of -3.7% for the Spanish Social Security system as a whole. These two indicators show a continuation of the trend already seen in previous months, insofar as that job losses continue to more greatly affect foreign workers than those of Spanish nationality.

President of the Government says he has no intention of raising VAT or extending retirement age

During the government control session in the Lower House of Parliament, Mariano Rajoy welcomed the fact that the European Commission has changed its recommendation for Spain in terms of compliance with its obligations under the framework of the excessive deficit procedure. Because of that, "Spain will not need to achieve a deficit of less than 3% until 2016, we have been given two more years and a greater margin for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015", he said.

ECB ratchets up pressure on Spain on bank bailout extension

The European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions are suggesting extending the deadline on Spain's bank bailout to cover future capital needs, high-placed ECB and IMF sources have confirmed.

Spain has no immediate plans for VAT changes

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Wednesday that his conservative Popular Party government has no plans to introduce amendments to the current value-added tax structure.

The Popular Party leader’s remarks followed comments the previous day in which he said there would be no increase in current VAT rates but left the door open to “explore” recommendations made by the European Commission, which has suggested that some goods and services could be moved from the super-reduced rate of four percent to the reduced rate of 10 percent or to the standard rate of 21 percent.

Follow us on Twitter!

@VPAdvisers

Jobless claims fall almost 100,000 in the best month of May since 1997

There were two sides to the latest jobless claim figures. On the one hand, the labor market enjoyed its best May in 16 years as firms geared up for the tourist high-season by taking on more staff. On the other hand, over a year after the Popular Party government introduced reforms aimed at eliminating the duality of the labor market, the number of employees granted permanent contracts was at the lowest level also in 16 years.

Where should a resident in Spain declare the capital gain from the sale of a property located abroad?

In recent weeks much has been said in the press about where to declare the capital gains from the sale of property located outside Spain for residents in Spain. We will conduct a brief and simple analysis of the tax legislation to respond to the question.