Living in Catalunya

Hola!! My name is Sally and I will be writing the Spain Blog. I live in Catalunya (Catalonia) which is in the north-east of Spain & stretches from the French border to just north of Valencia. It is a region of contrasts, sea, mountains, beautiful and varied countryside, old medieval stone villages & towns and a language of its own, Catalan. Of course you can speak Castillian (Spanish) here but it helps if you try to speak their language as well. Catalan classes are free for newcomers and it is worth the effort as you will find new doors opening to you, even if you only speak a few words.

My town is just 4kms from some of the most beautiful beaches on the Costa Brava, which means "Wild Coast". It is a land of little coves, often hidden from the modern roads, where you take earthy tracks down to the sea. The three nearest beaches to me are Callela, Llafranc and Tamariu, each one with its own identity and ambiance. There is an easy and beautiful coastal walk among pine trees with stunning views which is widely used by locals and visitors alike.

Well, that is where I live. Why did I choose to move here from France where I lived for 12 years? Actually it was almost by accident as my husband was in contact with several people in Valencia & Barcelona universities and we were making regular car journeys from where we lived, about 60 minutes north-west of Toulouse, to both these cities. Eventually we decided that it would be easier if we moved closer to them and so we began discovering the Costa Brava, far enough from the big city, but with good communications in all directions.


I mistakenly imagined that the Catalans in Catalunya would be similar to those in south-west France, and yes - they do speak the same language, but the local and cultural difference become evident once you live here. Over the next months, I hope to tell you about the history & culture of what is now a very modern Catalunya which is in itself part of a very modern post-Franco Spain.

I love living here, even in the Winter when people generally stay indoors after dark but are to be seen on coastal walks or at special events at the weekends. I look out across the town of Palafrugell towards the Pyrennees with their snow-capped peaks changing colour in the evening sky.

I am very lucky to have found this corner of Spain.

I hope I am able to help you see what life in Spain is like and give you some tips if you are thinking of buying here. Please email me any questions to: Spain@OverseasGuidesCompany.com

Sally Veall
http://www.spainbuyingguide.com/

Important checks before you buy

So…after much searching, you have decided on the Spanish property you want to buy. What now? Well, before signing anything there are some massively important checks that that you and your lawyer should have a look at.

The Escritura Publica is the registered title deed of the property. It is entered in the Registro de la Propiedad or Property Registry and is the only guarantee of title in Spain. It contains a description of the property, the details of the owner and any mortgages or legal claims that exist against the property. This document is important because it tells you if the seller is the legal owner of the property being sold.

The nota simple contains further details of any mortgages or other encumbrances or charges against the property and is also available from the Registry. The owner’s names on the Nota Simple should match those on the Escritura. It shows the latest recorded details of any charges - in Spain debts, charges or court orders may be registered against the property rather than the person: these include hipotecas (mortgages), censos (ground rent or leasehold payments), usufructos (interests in the property), limitaciones (restrictions on use), multas (fines), cláusulas resolutorias (determinations, i.e. decisions about the future of the property), or embargos (court orders for distraint or seizure).

It may be that there are some unpaid taxes not yet recorded at the Registro, so your lawyer should also check with the relevant authorities, including Hacienda (Ministry of Finance), the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), and the Recaudación Provincial (Provincial Rates Office), that these have been paid.

The notary must obtain a new nota simple on the day that the sale documents are signed (when the contract is effected) in order to confirm that the ownership and charge details have not changed since the last enquiry.

Every property sale must also quote the Referencia Catastral of the property in question. The Catastro concentrates on the location, physical description and boundaries of the property. While the Property Registry focuses almost exclusively on ownership and title, the Catastro is concerned with property valuation.

These systems do not have any connection with one another, which is an irritation with the Spanish system. In fact, it is common to find that the catastral description of a property differs greatly from the one in the Property Registry. You need to request the actual certificate from the Catastro with a full description of the property. The certificate is in two parts, one being a description of the property and the other being either a plan or an aerial photograph. These details will give you a better understanding of the boundaries of the property and size and description of the property.

For instance, when a house is completed on the land, the Catastro or Council Tax authority should be informed. There are areas in Spain (for example Andalucía and Murcia) in which the notary sends the deeds to the Catastro to inform them about the modification, but this does not happen countrywide. This means that often the catastral records are out of date and inaccurate. When you realise that the Catastral system is used to work out the taxable level on each property you will understand why this is sometimes not updated. Tax avoidance is considered something of a national past-time in Spain and many property owners avoid updating their Catastral details for fear of having to pay more tax. Because the updating of the Catastro was always on a voluntary basis in the greater part of the country this is an ongoing problem.

My advice? Use a good lawyer and make sure that this is all in agreement and correct before even thinking of signing anything. There may well come a day that Spain falls into line with the rest of the EU in terms of property regulations and the last thing you need is a problem further down the line.

The other thing to do before purchasing a resale Spanish property is to check out the lmpuesto sobre Bienes lnmuebles or lBI, which is the municipal property tax. Ideally, you should be able to see the IBI receipts for the last five years. Further back doesn’t really concern you as that is the limit of liablity for unpaid back taxes attached to the property. A new property bought from a developer will not have an IBI receipt – it is then your responsibility to register the property for this tax.

I know, I know – it all sounds very difficult…actually, if you are in the hands of a really good lawyer who understands Spanish property law – and English incidentally – it will all fly by. The problems in Spain have arisen because people have failed to take legal advice – please don’t be one of them!

Kim Brown
http://www.SpainBuyingGuide.com

Buying a Property in Spain? Reasons to Hire a Lawyer

If there is one thing that bears repeating when buying a property in Spain it is that you should hire a lawyer, one that has nothing whatsoever to do with your state agent, developer or vendor and that comes personally recommended.

There have been a fair number of property disasters in Spain. Happily there have also been very many successes – and you need to be one of those. Scratch the surface of a successful property deal and I have little doubt that you will find a diligent, bilingual lawyer of integrity representing the interests of the buyer in there somewhere! The reasons for the problems are many so I am going to look at how a really good lawyer can help you avoid them.

Horror stories abound. Greedy developers sometimes don’t comply with the existing laws and regulations. Knowing that foreign buyers are less informed, unscrupulous developers and estate agents have no compunction in selling an off-plan property that may eventually be demolished because it does not conform to regulations. Some of these developments have even been given the go-ahead by the right government department…but by a crooked official employed there. Some buyers have bought property with charges, encumbrances and other debts attached to their property that they knew nothing about. Another possibility is that the property has never been officially registered. Or the buyer hands over a deposit to someone purporting to be owner who subsequently does a disappearing act.

All these matters should be carefully looked into by a competent lawyer who has an intimate knowledge of the law and of his area well before you put pen to paper. A lawyer will also help when dealing with the Notary Public, banks and the whole slew of hoops that you need to jump through to get the whole deal sorted out.

For instance, if you are applying for a mortgage in Spain, lawyers can sometimes refer buyers to more sympathetic deals. Non-resident applicants are routinely charged the highest rates by financial institutions as their perception is that this second home is not a priority when the owner is faced with financial difficulties. Do check carefully however; lawyers may have family members working in banks - sorry to sound like a suspicious so-and-so but in my job I have heard it all!

The beauty of the legal system in Spain is that registered lawyers are covered against negligence by professional indemnity insurance. This means that, if they slip up and something goes wrong during the transaction, the professional indemnity insurance will cover any liability arising from this negligence.

All conveyancing lawyers hold a client’s account with preferential conditions at a Spanish bank. This means that when transferring monies from abroad you can avoid the extortionate charges imposed on non-resident accounts by other institutions, which can be anything up to 0.5% of the sum transferred. Also most Spanish lawyers provide an escrow service as part of the conveyancing service and do not charge separately for it. An escrow account allows parties to deposit funds in an impartial party held account – there are other companies that can offer this service but they routinely charge 0.8% of the amount.

Lawyers will also assist you in the processing of NIE numbers, opening bank accounts, changing utility contracts and arranging standing payment orders, setting up companies, drawing up wills and sorting out rental options. They will not only look after the filing of tax forms, collection and registration of the deeds, but can also help with after-sales situations which require a lawyers letter or phone call, such as arranging the "snagging", talking to the community of owners association and so forth.

Plus if you sign a power of attorney at the Notary Public in Spain, or even in your home country, most of the purchasing process can be done by the appointed lawyer in your absence.

Most conveyancing lawyers in Spain are fluent in English – they have been doing business with the Brits for very many years. If you do not retain your own lawyer you should remember that an estate agent or developer wants you to buy the property – in fact, let’s face it they don’t get paid unless you do. To rely on their impartiality is short-sighted, to say the very least!

I sound a bit like a lawyer punting for business: I assure you I am not but I cannot stress how important it is that you look at having your own lawyer to look after your interests. Personally, I would list everything that you require them to do for you – that way, you have a record of what you asked should be checked and, if anything goes wrong, you can apply for reimbursement from their insurance company.

Kim Brown
http://www.SpainBuyingGuide.com