UK motorists travelling in Europe will find the cheapest fuel in Spain and Switzerland, according to a survey.

Switzerland was the only one of 12 European destinations where unleaded fuel cost less than £1 a litre while driving in Spain was the best value for diesel and hire car drivers. Not surprisingly the UK didn’t do so well ….. “When we extracted this percentage from the price rises, we found that the UK had suffered the highest underlying price hike - 20% at the pumps.” Via [BBC]

Never one to take much interest in politics (national or local) in the UK I certainly can’t be accused of knowing much about it here, but I did come across what seems like good news recently!

The recently elected Junta de Andalucia (think it has something to do with the PSOE party) is going to hold the first ever Governing Session in Almería, where they are expected to announce:

Spain’s seven biggest developers reported last week that the number of sales in the first quarter of 2008 had plunged by almost 75 per cent compared with last year.

That does not make good reading does it!!!! Discussions with my estate agents friends here is equally as bleak I am afraid. The main problem here seems still to be that people have been oversold - but where the blame lies for that is open to debate. Sure people may have been ‘promised easy riches’, but at the end of the day people ’speculate to accumulate’ and there is a risk involved in any investment.

Time for a bit of positive financial news amidst all the doom and gloom that is hitting us on a daily basis:

Economic growth in the eurozone during the first three months of 2008 was better than expected, figures show.

Gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.7% from the previous quarter in the 15 nations using the euro, compared with the 0.5% growth analysts expected.

Thanks to Richard for sending this information through regarding pensions for Expats in Spain

Seems like in all the excitement of last week we missed a big anniversary - 10 years since the agreement on the Euro was reached!

When the euro was launched there were plenty of people who thought it would crash and burn.

Ten years on, its role as a global currency is secure, even if it hasn’t achieved everything its founders hoped.

The euro has suffered its sharpest drop in four years as a blizzard of weak data from Germany, Belgium, France, and Spain spark fears that economic contagion may be spreading from the Anglo-Saxon world to Europe.

Seems like not a day goes by without some depressing news on the economy front, and I really don’t want to depress people, but I have a huge interest in what is going on, and as such am soaking up as much information as I can on the current position and future trends. Funnily enough I am spending more time looking at the position in Spain than I ever did in the UK.

I recently wrote about the inflation in the ‘euro zone’ so I guess it is no surprise that the € has now reached $1.60 as people expect even higher interest rates in the ‘euro zone’

It rose as high as $1.6002 as weak US housing market data underscored fears over the health of the US economy. (BBC)

Volatile times ahead, but some good money to be made moving currency round in a smart way I feel!!!!

We are hearing all the time in the news about doom and gloom in the world economies, but after reading an article in the UK press the other day, I am wondering if Spain is more affected than other European countries, particularly with regard to mortgage debt, and how this may affect people here in Almerimar.

“International banks are scrambling to sell their holdings of Spanish mortgage debt at a steep discount, fearing that the country may be sliding into the worst economic downturn in its modern history.“

i was reading an article today that pointed out that very few Britains are taking full advantage of our Isa allowances, and even those that are could be making more money if they watched the market and switched between providers more often to maximise their interest rates. Expats don’t have access to new Isa accounts but could manage any existing ones better:

This is for anyone looking for a ‘low risk’ property investment opportunity, without the need to have a large deposit. All sounds a bit too good to be true but it is certainly worth further investigation. The article I read was focused on expats living in France, the reason being obvious as you read on, but I can’t see any reason why expats in Spain (or anywhere) couldn’t take advantage of this as long as you are ok with a property viewing trip to France!

Ok here’s one for Britons at home and expats alike: “For the first time in more than a century the standard of living in Britain is higher than in America, according to a new report. Analysts at the respected Oxford Economics consultancy say that increasing incomes, free healthcare and longer holidays make the average Briton better-off than his or her US counterpart.”

Following on from my article at the end of November: Watch Those Trips To The UK, today I read another interesting article about the tax implications of being considered ‘resident’ in the UK.

Hopefully this article will answer some of the questions you may have about “Impuesto sobre Sucesiones y Donaciones� (ISD), the Spanish equivalent of inheritance tax.

Personally I love Internet banking! I have always been a bit of a control freak, particularly where money is concerned (ex Monoploy banker … EVERY game!), and find it fantastic that I can get an instant picture of all my financial stuff. Even better while we were travelling a lot, I had no need for paper statements and could pay any invoices directly across the internet.