Holiday let licence - Page 3

Lo siento..  :)

esta bien, Senora 😀

LeckyLes

I recently had some building work done in Guardamar. While applying for the building license in the local town hall they asked will you be renting this summer as if you are we will need to issue you a license  - there and then?  I am not renting the property at the moment, so declined.  This is highly unusual!

As for UK residents not contributing. It has been stated tourism and UK residents contribute 4% to the Spanish GDP, which is a number enough for the Spanish to not want to affect too much.

As someone who came here in there 30's a few years back, I have purchased 2 properties, 1 with mortgage, run a business for over 10 years (including employing Spanish & English staff) and probably moved over a million+ into the Spanish economy.

Not all of us are slobbering morons or pensioners whose idea of retirement is to pickle their livers in the local bars.

Just in my opinion, the Spanish have always had a love of paperwork, but seemingly have an inability to be efficient and well organised. I recently had a court case, only to turn up and find out the court case was not what I thought it was about & neither lawyer from either party had been informed!  This was after the first court case where I received papers to Torrevieja and the other party was sent to Orihuela Costa! The same case in 2 different courts. Sloppy and verging in dysfunctional. 

The issue is often no one takes responsibility for their actions or more to the point - cares. Many companies do not monitor their staff properly and as for town halls and government organisations, they need to sack half the staff as most sit there in their 'life long job' waiting for the next holiday. 

With all of that, i'd still not go back to the UK, but I do wish they would sort out their overall systems and paperwork a little better, as I believe there is a major issue with the 'licenses for everything' which often is both unnecessary, takes too long & is often stifling / damaging to new or any business.

I have seen many instances of people doing things 'illegally' not because they are 'dodgy people', but more because they have opened a business with the promise of a license, only to find some long delay with the town hall - or in one instance someone had licenses only to be closed down, when they were told they we 'not sufficient', or it could have been the chief of police's relation had a similar business not too far away?

Most of the local Spanish or Spanish businesses I have dealt with, also 'bend the rules', which they simply need to do as if you were to follow them to the nth degree, you would be either be bankrupt or not have a business due to unreasonable levels of paperwork & social security (for starters). I've never seen a waiter or waitress with anything other than a part-time contract - BUT NOT PART TIME. A lot of 'grey areas'  still in Spain. 

Well said tv 

Good post TV

However, interesting that you said "I have seen many people doing things illegally" which does somewhat back up what Ray has been saying!

Also I don't think it's in the remit of a Town Hall to issue a Tourist Letting Licence. My understanding is that it's under the remit of the tourism office at the Generalitat.

I am only going on what they told me at the town hall at the time when we were applying for the building license - which took amazingly 20 minutes! Without an appointment. Perhaps Guardamar town hall are on an efficiency drive ;-)

My partner has a friend who runs a legal rental company and she tells us she can apply for licenses online - but you need to be a registered rental business to do this?  Only repeating what I have been told.

The simple truth of the matter, is often areas of defined as 'what is legal', is ignored, by the Spanish firstly as often the maths simply 'does not stack up', so companies or individuals do what they need to do in order to survive or earn a living. I am not condoning this, but having seen first hand at the utter ineptitude of a system which is seemingly designed to take money off you, before you (or company) has had a chance to earn money / turn a profit, is a sure fire way of getting people/companies to break the law. 

If a self-employed person, does not make a profit in their specific venture, they are expected to pay north of €500 per month in social security, irrespective of if they have made any money. This for many self-employed is not viable, so they claim to work part-time (saves half the figure) and pull strokes elsewhere. You need to allow people to turn a profit or take some money, before taking it off them - as per the UK, social security is on a sliding scale - here, no. Inherently a system built incorrectly, mathematically doesn't work - so the vast majority (or so I am told) of self-employed workers have to make adjustments, which are not in accordance with the law.

I also read an article a little while ago, which mentioned 75% of small & medium companies were estimated to have 'accounting irregularities' - make of that what you will!

We live in a world where the king of the thieves resides as president of the supposedly free world, so if someone declares they work part-time when they work full time - as they can't afford to feed their family, because the system makes it unaffordable for them to survive, I can understand that in some instances, people simply do not have a choice. Does that make them criminals? I do not categorize these type of people the same as - turn up here, don't register, pay no tax or social - cash in hand always, basically taking the p - those people in Spain or the UK are dodgy and will do same wherever in the world and that I do not agree with. But it is never just 'black & white'. 

Everyone will cut corners at some point in life and business..  but after 4 years you cant make that point.

I would more likely take the word of someone who has lived, worked, and employed in Spain, than someone who has never worked or lived in Spain for more than a few years.. out in the sticks in a Spanish village, living with the locals.. doesn't make you Spanish.

Turning your back on your fellow men, is not only disgraceful,  but appalling.. wn1 and ww2 was for you! That's how you treat good old blighty.. look after you till you were 70, then you dump them.. 

I hope you feel ashamed of yourself.. 

Not sure who that was aimed at, as can't see anything I posted which is related to that comment and not anyone else's!

Nice reply,

Not you, sorry. RayD.