BoT 625

 

Business over Tapas

A digest of this week's Spanish financial, political and social news aimed primarily at Foreign Property Owners:

Prepared by Lenox Napier.  Consultant: José Antonio Sierra

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March 26 2026            Nº 625          

 

Editorial: 

There are two kinds of energy – one that is mined from the earth and the other which comes from the skies (or the lakes). The first is expensive to obtain, is (eventually) limited in supply and is a contaminant.

The other is wind, sun and water: limitless, free and easily harvested. 

 

For a while there, the solar and wind energy were considered such a threat to the oil industry (and its taxes) that the PP government of Mariano Rajoy came up with a ‘Sun Tax’ (2015 – 2018) to disincentivise the solar industry. It was aimed at consumers who would be harvesting their own energy (principally from solar panels) and thus depriving the power company of its due. A bit like growing one’s own tomatoes but still having to pay a levy to the supermarket. Plus, of course, handing over the ones you didn’t eat.

Silly, really, with all the sun we have here. We read: Spain typically receives over 2,500 to over 3,000 hours of sun annually, while Germany averages around 1,600 to 2,000 hours, and the UK generally receives 1,300 to 1,500 hours.

Back in 2012, Germany’s "Energiewende" (energy transition) and consistent feed-in tariffs spurred massive solar installations, making it the European market leader. The country had more solar power than Spain, despite their cloudy skies. Indeed, it still does today.

Here in Spain, we have plenty of clean energy, but oddly, we are still heavily reliant on oil.

Which has gone up thanks to its scarcity – for reasons to do with faulty politics elsewhere.

Then, the Government steps in to give subsidies, to lower the tax on gasoline from 21 to 10%, and help the farmers, the fishermen and certain other sectors. 

Faced with every oil crisis, says journalist Ignacio Escolar, Spain repeats the same formula: fuel discounts we don't have, paid for with public money we don't have to spare. It's a populist, ineffective, and regressive recipe. A misguided idea that has been backfiring for half a century.

Oil embargos or suddenly heightened prices (usually something to do with middle eastern aggression) are resolved in Spain with a desperate plan to avoid unpopular increases at the pump, meaning discounts which – along the way – would negatively affect Spain’s balance of payments. Consumption therefore remains unchanged, while the evidence to switch to clean fuels (such as electric vehicles) is largely ignored. Spain (normally speaking) has the second lowest taxes on petrol in Europe after Bulgaria – although it’s true that the base price for petrol and diesel varies slightly between countries.

As for electric vehicles, Spain can claim about 5.4% of its fleet to be fully electric (against Germany at 18.4%). ‘Oh, but they take so long to charge up’, you might say. However, it’s an industry that’s changing fast. The latest BYD Flash Charging stations available in China now take five minutes for a full charge.    

Having one’s own solar energy panels, says some bright spark, is a call for independence (imagine if Cuba was thus prepared). Having the entire country run on redeemable energy (if and when) is even more so. Neither coal nor oil to be torn from Mother Earth and turned – in part – into smoke, fumes and toxic pollution. Furthermore, a country like Spain with no domestic oil or gas production, can only keep its imports down with clean energy alternatives.

Today, Spain produces cheaper electricity thanks to renewables, which account for almost 60% of production. “Last Saturday, the price of a megawatt-hour in Spain was 14 euros, compared to more than 100 in Italy, Germany, or France,” boasted Pedro Sánchez at his press conference last week. “Spain is better prepared than almost any other country in our region for this energy shock,” he added. This is only half true.

In renewable electricity production, we have done our homework. Spain gets very good marks. However, in transportation, the failure is absolute.

Nobody wants to take such an unpopular measure as raising gasoline or diesel prices – or allowing them to rise. Electricity in Spain—the wholesale price—is among the cheapest in Europe. There are times, almost every week, when renewable energy production exceeds total demand. And yet, here we are: subsidizing energy we don't have through taxes, instead of investing in the energy we have in surplus. 

…...

Housing: 

From Spanish Property Insight here: ‘A conflict in the Middle East could have unexpected consequences for Spain’s property market, especially at the top end. When geopolitical risk rises in one region, global wealth tends to look for safer alternatives—and Spain may be well placed to benefit. One of Spain’s quiet advantages in the international property market is simple: it looks safe…’ 

‘15% of rental homes in Spain are gone within 24 hours. If you're planning to rent in Spain this year, you may need to move faster than you expect’. Item from Idealista here. 

Under the headline "Housing could cost Pedro Sánchez the election", El Nacional introduces us to researcher Javier Gil on his whirlwind tour presenting his book about the housing issue, ‘Generación inquilina: Un nuevo paradigma de vivienda para acabar con la desigualdad'. ‘…His packed schedule and sold-out venues reflect a crisis affecting a large part of society, especially young people, who are desperately seeking solutions to the impossibility of paying a fair price for rent or buying a home. His discourse stands in stark contrast to a real estate sector that advocates for more investment and less regulation. In an interview during his visit to Barcelona, ​​Gil points out that regulation falls short because even where there are price caps, it doesn't reverse, but merely slows price increases. He argues that creating a large public fund that would expel private players from the housing market by acquiring a significant portion of the existing housing stock is the only way to reverse the housing crisis…’ In short, he says, "Spain needs to create a large public fund to buy housing, expel the investment funds, and create a large public housing stock." 

El Mundo has: ‘Rural Spain (la España vaciada) accounts for 45% of all vacant homes: "If we solve the housing problem here, we also solve part of the problem in the cities." Ourense leads with 42.7%, followed by Lugo with 36.3%, Ciudad Real with 27.7%, and Zamora with 25.7%. The 10 provinces with the most vacant homes are located in areas at risk of depopulation’. 

‘Blackstone plans to resell the thousands of subsidized apartments that Ana Botella (a previous mayor of Madrid) handed over and threatens not to renew contracts. The opposition councillor Rita Maestre demands that Mayor Almeida “recover the assets of all Madrid residents” before they fall into the hands of a new fund that has already visited properties in at least one Madrid neighbourhood, but the City Council dismisses the proposal as “the kind of stupidity typical of the most reactionary communism”’. elDiario.es has the story. 

Spanish Property Insight reports that Spain’s experiment with rent controls is approaching its second anniversary, and the debate about whether they work is becoming harder to ignore. ‘In a recent interview with property portal Idealista, economist Santiago Calvo argues that the evidence already points clearly in one direction: controls are shrinking supply, worsening the quality of rental housing, and doing little to reduce the real cost of renting’. 

(Down here in my corner of Almería) elDiario.es writes of ‘Two decades of struggle to prevent tourist apartments from destroying a 3,000-year-old Phoenician city. Residents and environmentalists are making a last-ditch effort to halt a housing development on the site of ancient Baria, after stopping another construction project two decades ago in the Almería enclave: “a unique archaeological site in the Mediterranean”’ (The port of Villaricos). 

In a quiet corner of Soria, the only vote in Benamira in the regional Castilla y León elections went to the man who is now the mayor. Fernando del Amo cast the only vote in the municipality. He voted for himself (very wise!). In all, says El Periódico here, there are over 1,800 settlements in Spain with a single resident. The province of Lugo alone has 563 people who can call their village their own. 

…...

Finance: 

From Al Jazeera here: ‘The world is facing a worse energy crisis than the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout of the Ukraine war combined, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned. Speaking at a media event in Australia on Monday, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the energy crunch prompted by the US-Israel war on Iran exceeded the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks along with the gas shortages stemming from Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine all put together…’

‘Spain says the sun shields it from rising gas costs. Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister, said the nation’s renewable energy system has softened the financial fallout from the war in Iran’. The story is more complex, says The New York Times here. From Infobae here: ‘Sánchez goes beyond his “no to war” in the EU and promotes the ‘Spanish model’ amid the energy crisis caused by the war in Iran. The Prime Minister argues that his energy portfolio has helped to mitigate the impact on electricity bills’. From EuroNews here. ‘Spain’s renewables revolution will keep energy bills low even as gas prices soar’. From OilPrice here: ‘Why Portugal and Spain dodge Europe’s energy price shock’. 

The Government’s anti-crisis initiative, says 20Minutos here, ‘has a budget of €5,000 million and will include tax cuts, discounts for vulnerable groups, and aid for the hardest-hit sectors. With these measures, which will remain in place "for as long as necessary," according to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the government will attempt to mobilize the resources needed to protect citizens and support SMEs, the agricultural sector, and industry. 

‘Spain is currently the darling of Europe. Its economy grew faster than any G7 nation last year, unemployment is steadily falling, and Pedro Sanchez’s government has wasted no time in trumpeting a booming economy. It has even been hailed as the poster child for the entire western world, one which Spain’s neighbours have been facing stagnant growth and economic decline. But for many – if not most – people living here, none of this seems to reflect the reality of their lived experience...’ The Olive Press looks at the flipside of this macroeconomic miracle. 

…...

Politics: 

The Andalusian regional elections have now been called by the president Juan Manuel Moreno for May 17th (a month earlier than expected, possibly to ride on the PP fervour seen in other recent elections). The PSOE candidate is the vice-president of Spain and Minister for Hacienda María Jesús Montero who has now left her post in Madrid. The polls give Moreno a win, possibly without the need to partner in with Vox. There are also three far-left candidatures who will all be chasing after (more or less) the same votes. 

Vox is under the glass for its curious system of internal finance. Briefly said, most of its funds appear to end up in a sealed foundation called la Fundación Disenso. Much of the current discourse against the party’s finances comes from ex-Voxxers. One source says: ‘Vox and Money: The opacity surrounding the party that promised to end corruption. Bonus payments, multi-million-euro transfers, fines, and a network of foundations paint a picture of a system that contradicts the reformist rhetoric with which they burst onto the political scene’. Another article has ‘…last week, Juan García-Gallardo, former vice president of Castilla y León for Vox, accused Santiago Abascal of enriching himself through the party, claiming that "he was pocketing a third salary, through a party supplier, into his wife's bank account. There are enormous amounts of public resources that the party accesses for the ultimate benefit of very few people," stated García-Gallardo, who now disavows Vox. His statements are very similar to those of Javier Ortega Smith, who has also distanced himself from the Vox leader. A journalist noted on a TV show called ‘Malas Lenguas’ that "Abascal is the ayatollah of Vox and he's cutting off everyone's heads. He's killing them all." 

El Plural considers ‘The strong ties between Vox and Zionism: political, organizational… and financial? The handshake between Netanyahu and Abascal in 2024 is just the clearest evidence of the relationship between Vox and Zionism’. 

Nueva Revolución meanwhile looks at the influence of ACOM: The Zionist lobby in Spain at the service of the Israeli regime’. We read: ‘Founded in 2004, this organization is a pressure machine that defends the interests of the Israeli occupation regime, systematically interfering in Spanish politics, media and justice...’ A second article on the improper activities of this lobby is here. 

From Politico: ‘We are excited to announce that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo will join us at the European Pulse Forum 2026. The European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius joins us virtually. On April 9 and 10, we are bringing together senior policymakers, political leaders and industry voices in Barcelona for two days of editorial interviews, policy panels and networking’. 

The CIS – the main polling group – is poorly seen by the conservatives. Indeed, following the publication of the latest ‘intention of vote’ here (PSOE 31.8%, PP 23.3% and Vox 18.9%) for March, the Partido Popular says it intends to sue ‘because their objective is to "inflate" and "benefit" the PSOE. The goal of the CIS (says the PP) is to "alter" the will of the citizens and thereby "influence" the election results’. 

…...

Europe: 

From Spain in English here: The UK chancellor Rachel Reeves was in Madrid last week to sign a visa waiver with Spain’s Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo and to strengthen post-Brexit ties. The United Kingdom and Spain are moving to deepen ties, agreeing on plans for a new short-stay work visa waiver and closer recognition of professional qualifications. 

…...

Courts: 

The ex-president of the BBVA Francisco González faces a 173-year prison sentence requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in the Tándem mega-case. Two weeks after the Criminal Chamber of the National Court confirmed the indictment of the bank, its former president, and up to twelve other individuals for continuous bribery and the discovery and disclosure of secrets for hiring police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo and his company Grupo Cenyt for illegal tasks between 2004 and 2016, further details of the Public Prosecutor's indictment have now emerged. 

…...

Media: 

From El Confidencial here: ‘Vox secretly paid the far-right Julio Ariza's TV station El Toro TV to feature tailor-made programs on "Islamization" and "insecurity" on the channel. Invoices and emails from Santiago Abascal's party reveal further payments to the Ariza family's business conglomerate to broadcast party propaganda as house-produced material’. 

GeiserX is a selection of open-source software that provides specific support for Spain, including autonomous communities, provinces and cities. (Perhaps of use for savvy surfers). 

…...

Ecology: 

From EcoAvant here: ‘Half of Spain's municipalities "may be drinking water contaminated" by nitrates. Greenpeace warns that nitrate levels in Spain's water "far exceed" the risk threshold recommended by science, which is well below the current legal limit, and which could affect public health’. 

Following the recent storms in southwest Spain, El HuffPost has: ‘All parties except Vox voted in favour of storm relief aid, primarily aimed at Extremadura and Andalucía’. 

From La Opinión de Málaga here (or here): ‘Unusual find in the Antequera national park of El Torcal: a griffon vulture sighted for the first time in Spain. This is an exceptional find, as it is the first documented sighting of this African species in our country’. 

…...

Various: 

From elDiario.es here: ‘The Government's plan to lower alcohol in the blood for drivers to 0.1mm from 2.5mm has been overturned by the opposition PP, Vox and Junts’. It's all very well if you live in a city, there's a bar downstairs and besides, there are buses and the metro and - if nothing else comes along, a taxi or a brisk walk home. Not the same thing in the country though...

A slightly odd essay from Idealista here: ‘Where Picasso lived in Spain: inside his real homes and what they cost today. Step into Picasso’s Spanish homes and see how much it now costs to live in the same streets he once walked’. 

Sur in English has ‘The Axarquía (a region of Eastern Málaga) in 19th-century global media. A new book by local historian and writer Francisco Gálvez shows how earthquakes, famine, bandits and pests made international news’. 

From Eye on Spain, an amusing article about… littering – written by a Norwegian writer living in Ronda. In Norway, she points out, they don’t litter. 

The latest Guinness Book of Records has given out twelve distinctions to Spain for the past year. From a round-up at Hola! here (I learn that the first documented robbery of a car anywhere in the World occurred in Cantabria in 1904). 

…...

Finally: 

Jorge Drexler - Ante la duda, baila. An oddity indeed, (when dancing was banned) – on YouTube here.