Bob James’ Spanish News Headlines – Visual format – Dateline: 20/01/24 – Latest
The European Holiday Home Association, which represents short-term rentals on online platforms such as Airbnb, has filed a complaint with the European Commission against Catalonia for allowing cities to ban such rentals.
In June,Barcelona’s Mayor announced a plan to shut down all short-term rentals by 2028 in a bid to curb rising rents for local residents, based on a regional housing decree adopted last year that leaves it up to municipalities whether to include holiday flats in their permits planning.
The association said in a statement this morning the new rules were “unjustified, disproportionate and unsuitable to address overtourism and housing shortages”, and that the decree had been “adopted urgently and without any period of public consultation”.
The EHHA hopes that Brussels will also open a formal infringement procedure against Spain.
Global holiday home rental company Airbnb last week urged Barcelona’s Mayor to reconsider the widening crackdown on holiday homes.
The Self-employed are preparing for a series of changes to their VAT obligations. These updates are designed to streamline tax processes.
From next year it is expected that freelancers earning under €85,000 annually will be exempt from paying VAT.
The franchised VAT scheme is designed to simplify tax obligations for freelancers and small businesses. Under the scheme, businesses that meet certain criteria may be exempt from submitting quarterly VAT returns. Additionally, in some cases, they may be exempt from issuing invoices that include VAT.
These reforms are part of a broader push to simplify and modernise the VAT management process for freelancers to make it easier for them to comply with tax obligations while reducing administrative burdens.
Following months of investigation, four dockers and another worker at the port of Malaga as well as two other people were arrested last month as part of an operation in which more than 400 kilos of cocaine were seized.
They allegedly formed part of a criminal gang which focused on ‘rescuing’ large quantities of the drug from containers arriving at the port from South America.
The National Police, Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil have been working closely since last year
Last September an operation was mounted once members of the gang were identified while preparing to remove cocaine from a container at the dock.
The cargo was closely monitored to arrest the suspects in the act but they abandoned their plans and the police seized the cocaine, valued at more than 20 million euros.
Rafael Nadal’s illustrious career came to an end as Spain lost to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup on an emotional night in Malaga last night.
Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, recently announced the men’s team event would be the last of his career.
In front of a packed, partisan crowd, 38-year-old Nadal lost 6-4 6-4 as the Netherlands took an early lead in the best-of-three quarter-final tie.
That’s the latest from TRE, I’m Bob James.
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