Spanish News and Discussions About Spain

Motoring News Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Breaking Motoring News from Spain.

At last the ridiculous law of having to produce proof of paying your car insurance in Spain if asked to do so by the police has been suspended (from Monday 13th October). Now this responsibility is with the actual insurer to prove you have a valid insurance.

SEO Seminars Marbella - Artemis Internet Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Many businesses based in Marbella and the Costa del Sol often wonder how their competitors are ranking so much higher on the search engines such as Google than they are. For some very non competitive terms and businesses, as long as the website has the correct text and a few links, it may well rank naturally.

Unfortunatley, in most cases it takes a little more work than a 'hit and miss' attempt to rank for your business activities. The actual phrase for the work required in order to rank is Search Engine Optimisation or SEO for short.

Many businesses employ a specilaists company to do it for them and there are a few that specilaise in SEO Marbella (and the Costa del Sol) and SEO Spain.

See www.solar-internet.com or www.artemisinternetmarketing.com

However the two SEO companies above have teamed up to provide businesses in Spain with an insight and some advice on how they can get started with SEO. They now run FREE SEO seminars in Marbella from their Marbella offices and with four already under their belt (at time of posting) and another arranged for November, these SEO seminars in Marberlla have proved to be very popular and extremely informative for new and old businesses alike.

If you fancy learning a bit about SEO and some ideas on how to start moving your own website up the Google rankings, why not tale a look at their Marbella SEO seminars pages.

For the Artemis website see here and for the Solar Internet page see here.

Both websites have contact forms where you can enquire about the availability of the next SEO seminars in Marbella.

English Classes in Spain - English Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:09:00 +0000

Question:

Hi! I've just started giving private English classes and am not quite sure what percent oft he IRPF I should be charging.

I originally though it was at 15% just likeyour website indicates however someone just mentioned to me that it went upto 18%.

This same person also mentioned that I don't have to charge forIVA since my service is for "eduactional purposes" and these services areexempt from IVA.

Could you please help me understand which is it exactly?

And if you could tell me which government website I can look up to findthis information, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Answer:

I have no knowledge of the IRPF being increased to 18% and am still paying 15% myself.

Either way each quarter you have to make up the minimum tax of 20%.

This is quite a useful site http://www.justlanded.com/english/Spain/Tools/Just-Landed-Guide/Business/Taxation

Train Malaga to Alicante

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:04:00 +0000

Question received via email to Get Spain

Could you please help - we need to get from Malaga to Alicante by train, can you advise what trains and where we would need to get them from and how long this would approximately take. An idea of the times of the trains would also be helpful and are then any special tickets we can buy.

Answer:

Unfortunately there is no direct route between Malaga and Alicante.

The route is Malaga to Madrid Atocha (2.5 hrs approx) and then from Madrid Chamartin to Alicante (3.75 hrs approx)

Tickets are about £99 each one way

If you are not planning to travel within 7 days of the date you book, you can use the following link to take advantage of these rates.

http://www.getspain-spain.com/renfe-trains-spain.html just enter Malaga and then Alicante

Jobs In Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Finding the best job in Spain can be a fairly daunting task if you are not armed with the right information about how the Spanish system works and what to expect from working in Spain.

Firstly you will need to register yourself on the Spanish tax system by applying for a NIE number at your local police station. We would actually recommend that you use a gestor to help you with this aspect.

Now you can start searching for a job in Spain by looking through the local papers and registering with recruitment agencies in Spain. One of the best agencies we have come across is Recruit Spain. They offer a friendly and professional service to help you find a job in Spain.

There are different types of employment but try and make sure you get a fixed contract (fijo) as this will give you rights in terms of being laid off and compensation / state benfit.

You will find that many employers try to avoid this by employing you on a 'self employed' basis where you actually invoice your wages each month.

Although this is common practise it is not actually legal if you turn up to the same office / place of employment every day and the majority of your invoicing is from the same company. We suggest you seek legal advice if this is your only option so that you are fully aware of all the facts.

Remember when you have a job you will be paying tax and every year you will have to submit a tax return detailing your total earnings and the tax you have paid. Then if you have under paid you will have to make up the balance but if you have over paid, you will receive a refund.

We hope this has helped if you are considering working in Spain.

Trouble at Nikki Beach Marbella

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:51:00 +0000

Many of you would have already heard about the trouble at Nikki Beach Marbella at the weekend and it is no surprise that it has put a lot of people off spending the day at Nikki Beach in Marbella.

In an effort to ensure the safety of their patrons Nikki Beach have taken some drastic measures in terms of the entertainment on offer.

Nikki Beach Marbella have severed their relationship with club promotors Sintillate and cancelled all future Sintillate events. They have also taken measures to close the Nikki Beach nightclub for the rest of the season.

Nikki Beach Marbella will remain open for relaxed and leisurely lunches on their fabulous sunbeds and will still party through the night right up to the famous closing party on Sunday 5th October 2008.

The Nikki Beach Red Party at Nikki Beach Marbella is the famous end of season night and you are advised to book a sunbed or turn up early as it is always very busy.

Nikki Beach Marbella

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:27:00 +0000

Well it's been and gone already. What am I talking about? The NIKKI BEACH WHITE PARTY 2008 of course held at the exclusive Nikki Beach Marbella resort at the Don Carlos Hotel in Elviria.

Once again the night was filled with fun, laughter, kicking music, great entertainment and of course lots of posing.

Each year it seems to get better and better and this year was no exception as Nikki Beach Marbella pulled out all the stops. As the night decended there were cheers as a magnificent sight could been seen over the beach. A 'scantlily' clad lady was seen suspended from a huge bunch of giant white balloons where she performed a number of moves to wow the crowd.

This year it seemed like half of Marbella turned out which addedd to the amazing atmosphere.

Nikki Beach Marbella is now fully open and in full swing for the summer so to find out more about reservations and VIP memberships please click here

When should you get a NIE number in Spain?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:18:00 +0000

We received an email from someone working in Spoain asking some information about a NIE number and about his taxes in Spain.

First email:

"I would like information on: I have been working in spain for over 2 years. I have just realized that I should have applied for an N.I.E number before begining to work. I was unaware I needed this number however I have been working and paying taxes for the past 2years. Now I am worried that the company I have been working for has tricked me into thinking I have been paying taxes.. Im Irish and have a spanish social security number. What advice can you give me?"

First Reply:

A couple of things sound a little strange.

Firstly, your social security number is the same as your NIE number usually i.e. it should start with the letter X. The X stands for extranjero (foreigner).

Some companies will apply for a NIE for you or appoint their gestor to get you one.

Again your NIE registers you with the tax office and each year you should file a tax return.
My advice is to go and see a gestor and they can check that you on the system.

Second Email:

"Hi Paul,
Firstly thanks for the fast reply. I have discussed my issue with a private gestor today and he has told me the following:In Spain on arrival I should have went to a police station to apply for my NIE number. As I was unaware of this fact I didnt do it. When I was hired by my company they never asked me for this number.The gestor told me they should have advised me at this point that i needed to appy for the NIE as in spain I cant legally pay taxes with out it.

On my nomina for the past 2 years they have put an NIF number . For this I never suspected anything. Only when I went to apply for the social security card I realized I had a problem . They told me that the NIF number didnt exist.At the end of my first year I didnt meet the requirments to do the declaración de la renta but this year I do.

My gestor once again has told me that this NIF number doesnt exist.I am worried that the gestoria of my company has given me a false NIF number and has kept all the tax money I have paid over the past 28months.What other possible conclusion have you come across with a similer situation to min?"

Second Reply:

It’s the first time I have come across this particular situation but I am sure you are not alone.

It sounds highly suspicious what they have done and the tax certainly has not been paid against your name.

You would need to sort this out sooner rather than later but of course you are now in a position whereby you may lose your job for raising your concerns.

I suppose the first thing to do is to confront your employers and advise them that you have seen a gestor and he has advised that the number does not exist.

Final Email:

"I have spoken with my gestor , I would like you to use my case as an example.. The problem was a result of a failure in the spanish tax system..They confused my social security number with my NIE number and the NIF ID my company gave me ..

My taxes have been paid over the past 2 years but i am not regestered as paying them.This was possible because spanish companies give foreign employees a company NIF number which is like a company ID numberI must therefore apply for my NIE number in my local police station and they will resolve the problem..Thanks for your advice and I hope my situation can help others in the future"

Welcome to the Spanish Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 26 May 2008 18:22:00 +0000

Welcome to the brand new Get Spain discussion blog where you are encouraged to ask questions here so that others can participate in answers or benefit from the answers to popular questions that might be posed.

Get Spain has become a very popular guide to Spain and is continually growing. With your help we will be able to ensure that we bring you the information and answers that you want.

From information on property in Spain, the Spanish property crash right through to beach clubs like Nikki Beach Marbella and holiday resorts like Lloret de Mar.

Keep checking back and enjoy our new feature and discussion blog for Spain.