Property
Balearics is the most popular for foreign home buying
According to the Spanish Association of Property Registrars, 12.5% of all home buying over the first half of 2015 was that of foreign purchasers.
Employment
Balearic unemployment went up in September
Across Spain as a whole, unemployment was up in September by 0.64%, giving a total unemployed figure of 4,094,042.
Tax
Tax penalties for property only rented in the summer
"This should be regulated. We must find ways of preventing this situation..."
Tax
Car-rental agencies to resume paying taxes in the Balearics
Negotiations with the new government over re-registering with municipalities in the Balearics.
Education
Urgent measures introduced for school meals in Balearics
Next year there will be a significant increase in the budget for school meals.
Retail
Steady increase in Balearic retail sales
This was the fifth highest regional growth in the country, Valencia having been out in front with 6.1%.
Tourism
A quarter of all tourist spend in August was in the Balearics
The survey suggests that the Balearics was the region of Spain that attracted most tourist spending in August - 2,364 million euros.
Society
Proud to be from the Balearics and Spain; new survey
When asked about identity with the Balearics as opposed to their own individual islands or the “Catalan Lands,” 63% of Majorcans identify with the island, 35% with the Balearics and a mere 2% with the Catalan Lands.
Tourist tax
Tourist tax: “It is a small price to pay for a better Majorca...”
“As I said earlier it is a small charge; (1.7 percent of the cost of a holiday), children will not pay and also it will not be charged on a daily basis so that long-stay tourists do not pay more.”
Tourism
Some clarity on the tourist tax, but not enough
Barceló wants everyone to work together. He’s got a hell of a job convincing them.
Education
New schools needed for increasing Balearic population
“Inadequate, deficient and with serious problems related to facilities”.
Tourism
“Please help us make Majorca a better place”
Balearic minister for tourism, Biel Barcelo, says that the tourist tax will represent just 1.7 per cent of the cost of a holiday to the islands and appeals for the help of visiting tourists. Children will not pay the surcharge and the money will be used to upgrade holiday resorts and to protect the environment. Minister says that taxes of this type already exist in many holiday destinations in the European Union. Barcelo says that there will be no backing down.
Finance
Balearic government claims 240 million euros of unpaid road-building investment
Montoro acknowledged that the Balearics have suffered from an underfunding that the system of regional financing has failed to correct.
Property
Spectacular growth in Balearic property sales
The sale of homes in the Balearics during the second quarter rose by a whopping 30.1% compared with sales from April to June 2014.
Tourism
Balearics has highest hotel occupancy rate
The Balearic occupancy rate was some way ahead of the Canary Islands, second with 86.8%, and Valencia with 82.9%.
Tourist tax
ABTA to write to Balearic government over tourist tax
"The introduction of the tax will not come about through “imposition”.
Employment
The number of foreign workers in the Balearics on the rise
The percentage rise over last August in the Balearics was the largest of all regions of Spain.
Tourist tax
Podemos: Tourist tax must not affect movement of residents
Taxpayers on the islands "subsidise" the influx of tourists.
The past week in the Bulletin
Nothing certain except death and taxes, as Benjamin Franklin supposedly said. There were no deaths to report as a consequence of tax, but there was nothing more certain than the tourist tax to get the blood boiling.
Comment
The tax again!
“I was impressed with our minister for tourism, he has some good ideas...”
Jason Moore25/09/2015 00:00