One
thing I lose sleep over if Tenerife is a tax free
island why do I have to pay tax?
First a
word of warning. Don't think
that because we have an agreeable climate and the
holiday season runs from the 1st of January until
the 31st of December, with its influx of potential
customers, that working in Tenerife can produce a
more lucrative or laid-back way of life than in
Britain, it will not. We have nearly 20%
unemployment here and all around the island you will
see graffiti on walls such as "Tourists Yes
Workers No". Forget social security support for
the unemployed the little they do get stops after
six months.
Standard
rate income tax
is 25%. A single person's allowance is about �4000
(one million pesetas). The VAT rate is 4.5%,
rising to 12% on certain items.
New
cars need an MOT
(ITV) after 4 years, then once every 2 years for the
next 4 years. After 8 years it's every year.
If your car is 10 years old and has Spanish plates,
the government gives you about �600 trade-in
against a new one.
You can
renew your passport without
going back to the UK. It takes just over a week and
costs about �55 (14,000 pesetas). Your
application and old passport goes to Madrid Monday
by courier service and your new passport comes back
the following Monday. I inquired at the British
Consulate why it was so expensive and was told that
British nationals living abroad are not subsidized
and it's extra for the courier service. (A far
better service than you get in the UK and a good
service I don't mind paying for).
British Consulate Tele No.0034922286653.
After you
have been a resident here for
1 year you are no longer entitled to British NHS
treatment, emergency treatment in the UK is free but
you may have to pay if you go into a ward!
The
Euro is
a way of life here, every supermarket receipt and
bank statement is converted into euros, much the
same as the UK pre-decimalization. If you�re
earning pesetas and spending pesetas it makes no
difference that the pound has gone through the roof.
Only when I buy a British product does it affect me,
so I do what everybody else in Europe does, I
don�t buy British! Rover cars are a perfect
example, BMW said they couldn�t sell Rover Cars
abroad because they are too expensive and it�s
true they are. I would need to find too many extra
pesetas to buy one and lets face it there are plenty
of alternatives. The UK newspapers like to give the
impression that because the Euro has lost value
against the Pound and the Dollar, that everybody in
Europe is poverty-stricken. The sad truth is that
everyone here is laughing all the to the bank.
Remember my �50,000 mortgage or equivalent in
pesetas costs me �100 a month less than it would in
the UK and who gets that �100? Well people with
money! who own newspapers like The Sun and run
campaigns like save our pound! Why does he care
it�s not his pound, he�s Australian anyway! The
Sun Newspaper 7th Sept 2000 "The former boss of
Britain's leading insurance firm hit out as he
joined 337 top business chiefs in a fresh drive to
save sterling." Seems to me the people
who shout about keeping the pound are people with
money that would lose out if interest rates went
down in the UK.
The new
Dial Direct telephone
service is 22 pts per minute (9p) normal subscriber
or 19 pts pre-paid to the UK anytime of the day.
MoviStar mobiles pre paid phones from 7500 pts
including free 7000 pts calls.
Just to try
to get some prospective when I say north
& south from top to bottom is about 55 miles
and it takes just under 1 hour on the motorway. The
bus services are cheap, plentiful and travel to
every part of the island. The motorway system is
being extended and eventually it will go around the
island in one circle, without leaving the motorway.
A light railway system is also on the drawing board
and a total of fifteen companies are bidding for the
right to install the first light railway proposed
for Tenerife. The companies in question, some
Spanish and some European, all have experience in
the installation of similar services in various
countries.
The climate
has to be the top of the list on the benefits side,
it's just about perfect here in the south. We had
our Christmas Dinner out on the terrace and had to
put a couple of sun umbrellas up as the sun was so
hot. I get a pleasant feeling when I hear the UK
radio in the winter giving out warnings of rain,
ice, snow and freezing fog, especially when I'm sat
on the terrace sipping a Gin & Tonic, slice of
lemon and of course plenty of ICE.
Over the
past ten years the infrastructure
here in the south has improved beyond recognition,
it's difficult now to remember just how poor the
services were.
You can buy
a new car for about half the price that you would
pay in the UK. Petrol, Car Tax,
Local Council Rates, Alcohol, Tobacco and Eating
Out are all ridiculously cheap when compared to UK
prices.
We receive
most of the same UK Television
channels BBC, Sky Digital and we have two English
radio stations broadcasting here in the south with
Independent Radio News from the UK every hour. The
time is always the same as the UK so you don't have
to miss Eastenders. And you don't need a TV
license.
We have
much longer days here in the
winter than you do in the UK, the shortest day in
winter is 8am to 6pm and Hay Fever doesn't seem to
be a problem in the summer, especially if you live
on the south coast. The climate also has a near
miracle affect on complaints such as arthritis.
In the mountains
you will find some lovely tracks for walking,
if that is your thing. You will also find communal
Bar-B-Q areas, all free, you have only to bring your
own charcoal, food and refreshments, but
'all-inclusive' are breathtaking views above the
clouds and on clear days you can see some of the
other Canary Islands. Prefect for a Sunday drive out
with the family.
In the
north you will find branches of British
Home Stores, C&A (Closed) Marks
& Spencer's, Makro and two big Hypermarkets and
more on the way. We have recently seen a number of
out of town Hypermarkets opening in the south,
although not as big as up north. British Home Stores
have closed, another casualty of the strong pound.
In Santa
Cruz, large cruise liners like The QE2 call
regularly. Just to diversify a little about an
article I read in the local paper. The Local Chamber
of Commerce were berating the local shop keepers:
Easter is a big holiday here probably bigger than
Christmas and the shop keepers like to close for the
week, unfortunately this is the time when quite a
few cruise liners stopover in Santa Cruz and it's
closed!
It can be a
bit of a minefield
purchasing property in the
Canaries as different laws and taxes may apply to
foreigners. Spain and generally continental
Europe follows Latin Law and when buying or selling
a property, a public document must be signed with a
notary present (this is called an "Escritura"
- title deed). The Property Register then
needs to be signed so that the buyer is protected
from any debts or mortgages from the previous owner.
The banks will lend you 75% of their valuation of
the property and at present the interest rate is
3.50%. You will need to show proof of sufficient
income to make the mortgage repayments.
One benefit
that has recently become apparent is the change in
the UK quarantine laws from
the 28 February 2000, if you obtain your pet
passport before you leave the UK you shouldn't have
any problem if you need to return. The advent of
lifting of the quarantine regulations was hailed as
revolutionary and long overdue. There is now new
disturbing evidence which could influence many pet
owners on Tenerife. The dogs cannot leave their home
country for six months after the blood test has been
taken and the dog must have the required number of
antibodies in the blood to pass the test. You can
have the blood tests carried out in the UK, it is
not necessary to use the laboratories in Granada,
Spain.
We have no Bull
Rings here in Tenerife, thankfully the cost of
transporting Bulls from the mainland doesn't make it
a viable profit-making sport here!
Schools.
I've no first hand knowledge on this subject so this
is hear say: I'm told that there's an excellent
private English school Wingate. On the other side of the coin, our friends
didn't have the money to pay private fees for their
11 year old son, so they put him in a Spanish state
school with no previous experience of the language.
After 3 months you would have thought he'd live here
all his life and with Spanish speaking parents,
which his are not, and he loves it here. All our
friends with children of school age feel pleased
they made the move for the children's sake and lets
face it there is no better way to learn a language
than to live in that country.
Hospitals.
The main state hospital is 55 miles away in the
north, a long way to go to visit. There are
private hospitals in the south that have limited
public health beds, but you may well be sent to the
hospital in the north if you don't have private
health insurance. If you do have private health
insurance prepare yourself for a long stay, they
have no scruples about keeping you an extra couple
of weeks so they can rip off the Insurance company.
The cost of private health insurance for a 40 year
old is about 7000 pts per month (�27). You will be
allocated a state doctor (GP) once you are in the
system, but beware none that I know speak any
English and don't you think it's difficult enough
explaining your symptoms to a doctor that speaks
your language! There are plenty of private medical
services here in the south, I'm told this is the
place to come for your plastic surgery, you can go
home a new person and that's what holidays are all
about. I recently had to call a doctor out at eight
o'clock one Sunday morning as I was in agony.
He was there within five minute with his little
ambulance just in case, two injections, prescription
and his time �30, the best �30 (8000 pesetas) I've
spent in my life.
The Canary Islands are members of the EC with one
exception and that's Customs Duty. They have been
trying for years without success to establish an
offshore tax haven similar to the Isle of Man and
Channel Islands. Although you will find it
difficult at times to see evidence here of Freedom
of Movement that the treaty of Rome sets out. The
rules are definitely made up as they go along. A
recent case that hit the headlines here: A
gentleman, Belgium I think, came to live here after
living in Spain for many years. Although he had a
Spanish Residencia he was told that it was not valid
here and he would need to apply for another one. The
brave man told them that it was rubbish took them to
court and won. This is just one of many cases here
of victimization against other EC nationals. So be
warned, nothing is written in stone here
If you
have holidayed here in the past you
are bound to have met young British people who appear to be
enjoying full employment, working in bars and generally
odd-jobbing around. However the majority are illegal and
should they get caught they could face being deported and
their employer if he or she can be traced can be fined up to
one million pesetas (�4000).
The competition
for jobs is high, there is little work
here outside the service industries. Most local people
have at least two jobs going at any one time, both to
compensate for the poor pay and to allow for the possibility
of one closing down or getting the sack. The employment laws
here have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous and
employers have to think twice before giving someone a
contract. If you are thinking of opening a bar with just a
man and wife team, working full time, the social security
payments will be about �300 per month(69,000 pesetas).
Business
life is not as laid back
as in the UK, there is much red tape and the cost of
starting up a business can run into thousands of
pounds (licenses, taxes, projects, the list is to be honest
is endless). To start a business you need an opening license
from the local town hall, officially you're not supposed to
open without one. With our last business we applied
before we opened in February 1997, we received it in March
1999 it took just over 2 years. Most people never stay
in business here long enough to ever see one, although
everyone has to pay up front, on application. Lots of
businesses here are leased, you will see advertisements for
business transfers (Traspaso) as in the UK, and the
purchaser takes over the lease on a down payment, together
with the cost of the fixtures and fittings and continues to
pay the rent until the lease expires. This is particularly
applicable to bars and restaurants. Rents here are
high and unfortunately ensures that the only real winner is
the landlord. If you resell within the term of the lease
period you will have to pay the landlord 10% of the sale
price plus all his legal fees to arrange another lease.
Taxes
are complex and the documentation
involved will require the services of a professional unless
you are particularly fluent in Spanish and Spanish tax laws.
So take the cost of this service into account and I don�t
exaggerate when I say these people will have your eyeballs
out before they are finish with you. I use the word
professional here very loosely, it seems anyone can set-up
this business without it seems any qualifications and there
is no redress after you have paid a fortune for there
services and your tax & business liabilities are in a
mess. One hears so many sad stories of businesses failing
and people having to go back to the UK penniless, when in
most cases failure could have been avoided had they been
given good advice. Remember the trend now is for
all-inclusive holidays, so tourists don�t need to leave
their hotel anymore.
To diversify
a little: I'd like to tell you the story of a friendly
couple I met here that came from Yorkshire and both had the
right personality for the bar trade. They sold their
house in the UK moved to Tenerife and bought a bar
leasehold. They had to rent an apartment because all their
capital had gone into the bar. Although it was slightly off
the beaten track the overheads where very low, he'd
done all his sums and worked out that he needed to take, not
make, the equivalent of �50 a day to cover the overheads.
After six months the business folded and that was in what we
call our high season - July to November. They had to find
casual work to pay for their air ticket home, they had
lost everything. So be warned this story unfortunately
is not uncommon.
For
the purposes of taxation, you are
considered to be a resident if you live in Tenerife for more
than 182 days per year and as such you have to pay taxes on
your world income. If your gross income does not exceed
around a million pesetas you are not obliged to make a tax
declaration, if it exceeds this amount from whatever source,
you must make a declaration.
Most
people here live in apartments
within communities housing both
locals and holidaymakers. This can be a problem when
you are working as people on holiday don�t give much
thought to the noise they are making when they come home in
the middle of the night and you have to be up early for
work. Certainly renting offers the best and safest initial
choice, until you have made up your mind whether or not you
wish to stay on the island and until you have found your
ideal home. Apartments away from the front line can be
rented on long or short-term contracts. They do give you an
opportunity to find out if you like the area. If you do buy
a property freehold add on an extra 10% of the purchase
price to allow for taxes etc.
The
water that comes out of the tap is pretty disgusting and
undrinkable, and after we have had heavy rain, don�t make
the mistake of putting a cut finger under the running tap to
clean it, you could need your arm amputated before the
week's out.
Changes
to apartment letting laws in the Canary Islands will affect
everyone living here in one way or another. If the new
law is enforced as it stands now it would wipe out 50% of
all the holiday accommodation (beds for tourists) in the
Canary Islands and in my opinion it could well be enforced
very soon. The family and friends argument is in my opinion
one of the most outrageous breaches of human rights in
today's modern society. Let me explain, If I decided to go
away for say three weeks holiday and I let my daughter and
her family that live in the UK, use my apartment, because
her name is not on the deeds and my apartment is not
registered with the tourist board, it would be classed as a
holiday let and I could be libel for a fine in excess of �20,000.
The Postal
Service. Parcels take 3 days to arrive here from the UK,
they are date stamped when they are posted in the UK and
date stamped when they arrive at the main post office in
Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Three days - that's good when
you think it's travelled 2000 miles. Unfortunately that's
where the service ends, after that the last few miles of
travel can take 10 days and then you get an advice notice to
go and collect it from the local post office, they don't
deliver to the door. Letters take if you're lucky one to two
weeks. Most complexes are like ours, have one central post box
for the whole community, so the postman makes one delivery
for the whole community. The return service for some reason
is better, a letter posted Monday has been known to
arrive by Friday, but I won't advise you to try it with your
pools coupon. I recently tried the private letter service
back to the UK. For a 3 day delivery service you have
to pay a little extra, well you are getting a better service
for your money, the letter took 2 weeks to arrive!
An
official report just out highlights
the continuing story of the painful slowness of Tenerife's
bureaucratic machinery � in a region with more public
servants per square metre of office space than any other in
Spain! Chapter ten of the document issued by the Consejo
Econ�mico y Social de Canarias exposes what it describes as
the systematic non-completion of legal deadlines and
bureaucratic procedures. �It take up to two even three
years for planning permission to be obtained and a further
year to procure a works license, and delays of this kind
obviously multiply final costs� said the compilers.
Saturation
point looms over the Canary horizon, environmentalists have
sounded the alarm over what they describe as the islands'
unsustainable growth. If things continue at the current
rate, they say, ecological breakdown is just around the
corner. Saturation point will come within a decade! A bleak
picture of disproportional infrastructure and environmental
horrors aided and abetted by local authorities falling over
themselves in their eagerness to reclassify remaining rural
land to accommodate development.
The Canary
Islands will be hit by a volcanic eruption during the 21st
century. The eruptions that we can expect now in the
Canaries are like the ones that we have had in the last 500
years, tranquil. But evidently caused problems and worries.
Of the islands volcanoes, Tenerife's Mt Teide will be the
one to cause the most problems in an eruption due to its
size, but it would take a long time to occur and would be
foreseen.
At
the moment there is no free ISP�s
here. I am using Arrakis (owned by BT) 5.500 pts per half
year and they offer no service in English.
Although things are changing fast, Arrakis have out a
new service, you pay 2,700 pts (�11) per
month, you get free subscription and free telephone
connection from 8pm till 8am Mon-Thurs, Fri 8.00pm till Mon
8am. Over the last 12 months Internet connections have
improved 100%
Computers
are
the same price as the UK, although top of the range
specifications are slower to arrive in the shops. Software
in English is obviously very limited, but mail order from
the UK is good, although you have to pay delivery you do not
pay V.A.T., if your unlucky in may have to pay import duty
when it arrive here, for some strange reason this depends on
who you buy it from in the UK.
Tenerife occupies a
unique position among holiday islands, and this along with
its almost perfect climate has combined to make it one of
the most famous holiday destinations worldwide. Tenerife,
the largest of the seven islands making up the autonomous
archipelago of the Canary Islands, has an area of 790 square
miles. Some 700 miles southwest of mainland Spain, Tenerife
is rich in both legend and history. The lost city of
Atlantis is said to lie between its own shores and La Gomera,
Nelson lost his arm here, and initial meetings for General
Franco's "Glorious Revolution" of 1936 were held
here. It was also the home of one of the most fascinating
indigenous tribes throughout the world - the Guanches.
Incidentally, if you ever saw the film starring Raquel Welch
in 1966 called One Million BC, you may be interested to
learn that the lunar landscape of the huge volcano El
Teide was used as the film principal location
CURRENCY
The Canary Islands belong to Spain, although many locals
wish that this was not the case, so the unit of currency is
the peseta. Coins come in denominations of, 5, 10, 25, 50,
100, 200 and the big 500! Notes are issued with values of
1,000 green, 2,000 orange, 5,000 brown and the hefty 10,000
blue.
WATER
Unlike the islands of the Eastern Canaries (Gran Canaria,
Fuerteventura and Lanzarote), Tenerife does not require
desalination plants to provide its residents and visitors
with water. There are three natural sources, rain, snow
(which covers the slopes of El Teide for some months of the
year), and cloud moisture collected by vegetation in the
north of the island. All this water soaks into underground
deposits, but the majority is of course lost through
evaporation and run-offs. The method of extraction is either
by horizontal tunneling (gallerias) or vertical drilling;
both methods aimed at the underground wells. Tap water and
water for irrigation is all owned by private companies, but
in order to drink water, it is wise to go for the bottled
versions in the supermarkets, since what's on tap is full of
rather untasty chemicals. Agua sin gas (still) is very cheap
and agua con gas (fizzy) is excellent.
ELECTRICITY
The electricity supply is slightly below the voltage in the
UK (220 rather than 240 volts), but the only real difference
this makes is that appliances which
produce heat such as your iron or oven may take longer to
warm up. All UK domestic appliances will work in Tenerife,
with the exception of Television, the broadcast network
operates under a different system to that used in Britain.
FOOD AND EATING OUT
If you are keen to buy and cook your own food, you may be
pleased to hear that Tenerife supermarkets tend to stock
virtually everything Sainsbury's would in England. Both the
meat and fish are good in any supermarket, although small
fishmongers and butchers will probably provide even better
quality at similar prices. If you must buy everything from
the supermarket, make a beeline for the "deli"
section. You should also know that any beef, lamb or game
you buy will be imported. Vegetables, fruit, fish and wine
will seem very cheap, but to compensate certain tinned food,
crisps and chocolate can be double British prices, so watch
out. Eating out is a way of life for natives and foreign
residents alike. They tend to confine themselves to the
excellent Canarian cuisine, from restaurants tipicos, to
areperas or even just a couple of tapas in the local bar.
All these places will serve excellent rolls and sandwiches,
and a range of snacks, or tapas, displayed in a glass
cabinet. The advantage of this system is that the tourist
can simply point to something he or she likes the look of.
The most popular of these tapas are octopus salad, Russian
salad, tortilla, anchovies in vinegar, and squid fried in
batter. Fresh fish is of course a must, and sometimes best
outside the larger towns. It is traditionally served with
salted potatoes cooked in their skins and a delicious spicy
chilli sauce. Chicken is usually beautifully cooked,
marinated in garlic and spices. Some restaurants are famed
for their chicken dishes alone. Paella will be on the menu
in many restaurants, although it is not strictly speaking a
Canarian specialty; the combination of chicken, rabbit,
mussels and prawns here links paella valenciana with paella
marinera.
Tenerife has a phenomenal variety of coffees to offer, and
it would be a shame to leave the island without having tried
a cortado or a barraquito. First there is a cafe solo, a
small, strong black coffee. Then the range of cortados; a
cafe cortado is a small white coffee, a cortado con leche
condensada is a black coffee sitting atop a helping of
condensed milk, and the cortado leche leche has both natural
milk and condensed milk. You can then try the weaker range:
these are the cafe con leches. Served either in a tall glass
or a large cup, they come with lots of frothy, warm milk.
There is an enormous range of international cuisine:
Mexican, Italian and Chinese restaurants abound, and due to
the intense competition which restaurants face here, you
should find all sorts of meals at excellent prices.
DRIVING
AND CAR HIRE
This is cheap compared to Britain and the rest of Europe,
and there are a variety of contracts available (one day,
three days, one week etc.) A small car for a day including
comprehensive insurance (a must, otherwise you have to pay
up even if someone hits YOU) can cost as little as 3,500
pesetas and would be ideal for the day you decide to leave
the hotel and tour the island. Remember that there are
usually discounts for longer periods of hire. All prices
should include mileage. Usually a full-driving license and
proof that you are over 21 is all that is required, but
increasingly the minimum age is being extended to 25 by
certain firms due to pressure from insurance companies. You
can import your own car for six mouths in any one calendar
year. There are a fair range of British, European and
Japanese car manufacturers in Tenerife, with prices
generally lower than in Britain. Insurance may be higher,
but road tax is still very low and petrol fairly cheap.
Second-hand cars may require ITV - similar to an MOT
PHONING
HOME
Calling the UK is now fairly easy, and the line is usually
very clear with no "echo" or delay. If traveling
to a phone box seems like too much hard work, you can simply
sit back on your hotel bed and get the switchboard to do the
donkey work for you. If, on the other hand, you aren't quite
so keen to pay whacking surcharges, you can go along to a
telef6nica multi-phone box where you pay a human being after
the call, rather than feeding coins into a machine. To dial
a country outside Spain, first access the international
exchange by dialing 00. Wait a second and you will hear a
different dialing tone. Then dial the country code (44 for
Britain) followed without the first 0, and the number you
are calling. The cheapest way to call home is to go to a
phone box on the street, but then you'll need all the right
coins. When it gets to 50, put in another 100 peseta coin.
MEDICAL
SERVICES
The medical services in Tenerife are excellent. All holiday
insurances will cover the cost of seeing a private doctor,
but even if you have
forgotten to take out medical insurance, your Elll form
entitles you to exactly the same emergency medical treatment
you would be able to obtain in Britain. Should you have to
be admitted to a hospital for any length of time, you will
find that all accept British insurances, and have
English-speaking staff.
AMBULANCES
The Cruz Roja (Red Cross) operates the ambulance services,
and depending on where you are on the island, there are, six
different contact numbers.
You will find emergency numbers in public telephone
booths. If you are implicated in an accident involving other
people (for example a car crash), then the police must also
be informed immediately.
DENTAL
TREATMENT
If you have insurance, this is not covered by the Spanish
National Health Service, so all treatment must be paid for.
There are several dental clinics on the island, and
facilities are right up to date. Any emergency condition
requiring some form of dental treatment (be it severe pain,
infection, broken tooth, loose crown) will be dealt with
almost immediately, but you will almost certainly be
expected to pay up front, and claim back later.
CHEMISTS
As in continental Europe, look out for the green cross. You
can also ask a local for the nearest "farmacia".
They are open from 09.00 to 13.00, and from 16.00 to 20.00
(Monday to Friday), and during the morning only on a
Saturday. Outside these hours though, there is always a duty
chemist, known as fannacia de guardia, in your area, and
details of your local one will be posted in all chemists'
windows. You can also telephone 28 24 24 for the address of
the nearest duty chemist.
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