BoT 633
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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May 28 2026 Nº 633
Editorial:
This Zapatero scandal is a mess. Whether the Zap did anything untoward or not, it’s an investigation which – thanks to the uneven tardiness of the Audiencia Nacional – could take years to resolve: with another stain on the PSOE. We have seen just how the small and silly cases against Pedro Sánchez wife – and his brother – can run for years not so much to punish the alleged perpetrator as to muddy the waters of a government which came in precisely with a motion of censure against the PP’s corruption.
Some of which, eight years on, still hasn’t been resolved.
The majority of Spaniards, whether manipulated or not by the system, remain poor. They have problems to reach the end of the month, and trickle-down economics doesn’t work (indeed, trickle-up seems to be the order of the day). The right-wing doesn’t have any solutions to this, besides lowering taxes for the wealthy, encouraging bullfights and coming up with clever catch-phrases against the socialists or encouraging their White Nationalism, AKA ‘Prioridad Nacional’: a form of Jim Crow policies aimed at the minorities.
Indeed, a protest last Saturday in Madrid with the PP, Vox and Álvise Pérez (he’s a small party to the right of Vox) featured a banner which read: ‘General Franco. Thank you for four decades of security, peace, love, and discipline. ¡Viva España!’
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is an ideal character to assassinate. He has been revered by the left for his social policies (same-sex weddings), his closure of ETA (how that must hurt the right-wing propagandists) and reversing Spain’s participation in Aznar/Bush’s War on terror.
Now it’s our turn, say the conservatives (even if we must use material kindly delivered by Trump’s Homeland Security or maybe even the Mossad).
Besides the satisfaction of putting Spain back by about fifty years, what will the PP/Vox actually do for their countrymen? They always vote against raising the minimum wage, shortening the working week, or improving our public health and education systems.
Maybe they would increase military spending, ban abortions or send a new ambassador to the embassy in Tel Aviv.
Spain is a marvellous country, populated by delightful people and full of wondrous things to see and do. Buggered if I know why they want to fuck it up.
…...
Housing:
Spain’s attempt to impose a national registry on short-term rentals has been struck down by the Supreme Court, reopening the door for thousands of tourist and seasonal lets that had been blocked under the system. The ruling is a setback for the Housing Ministry, a relief for many owners, and another reminder that in Spain’s property market, the regulatory pendulum rarely stops swinging for long…’ Item from Spanish Property Insight here.
Also from Spanish Property Insight: ‘British demand for property in Spain sinks towards historic lows’. I would put some of the blame for this on Brexit.
The Olive Press has: ‘British expats in Spain struggling to renew residency as bots stealing appointments and staff shortages cause a 14-week wait for vital TIE cards’.
El Confidencial has ‘Property tax surcharge for vacant homes: which owners can pay up to 150% more? La Ley de Vivienda (Housing Law) allows municipalities to apply a surcharge to the property tax (IBI) on homes that are permanently unoccupied without justified cause’.
‘Who is behind Brookfield, the Canadian fund that intends to evict 5,000 Madrid residents? Bruce Flatt has led a $900,000 million fund for 25 years that has multiplied its value through renewables, infrastructure, real estate, and some shady deals’, says elDiario.es here. We read: ‘…At the end of last March, he bought for 1,000 million the 5,000 homes that Blackstone acquired in 2013 from the Madrid City Council of Ana Botella and which ceased to be public’.
From El País here: ‘100,000 half-finished homes lie abandoned since the crisis in ghost towns. In a country where, according to the Banco de España, 700,000 homes are needed, these empty developments languish in the hands of real estate companies that inherited the fortunes of bankrupt developers’.
From The Times of India, a piece on living in the country – far away from the crowds and the tourists and the artisan ice-cream shops. ‘Tucked away in the rolling hills of Cuenca in central Spain, Olmeda de la Cuesta is quietly trying to bring life back to its fading streets. The small rural village, known for its stone houses, peaceful landscapes and slow pace of life, is offering cheap land through public auctions in a bid to attract new residents, remote workers and young families. With fewer than 30 permanent residents remaining in its historic centre, the village hopes affordable plots, low living costs and a tranquil countryside lifestyle will help reverse rural depopulation…’
‘The Costa Blanca skyline is getting a monster new addition as the EU’s tallest residential tower rises. The massive 64 storey skyscraper will dominate Benidorm’s famous skyline and feature a sky-bar, observatory and luxury apartments’. Item from Spanish News Today.
…...
Tourism:
From Travel and Tour World here: ‘Spanish tourism bosses lobby the EU to scrap the 90-day rule for British visitors’. I know some US homeowners here with the same problem, but of course, they’re not British!
That tiresome 90 in 180 rule. From Spain in English here: ‘EU’s new EES border system catches 7,000 Schengen overstayers in six months’.
El Mundo Today (a satirical website) says that acquaintances from the city or abroad are starting to remember that you own a nice refreshing swimming pool and are composing friendly emails to invite themselves to stay for a few days (or weeks).
…...
Finance:
From El País here: ‘The Government approves allowing retirees to return to work as self-employed individuals while continuing to receive their pension. The Council of Ministers also improves the conditions for salaried workers to combine part-time employment with contributory benefits’.
…...
Seniors:
From 65yMás here: ‘Seniors hold 68% of Spanish household savings. A report highlights the financial stability of seniors and the challenges of future retirement’.
…...
Politics:
Since the time of George Orwell in Barcelona during the Civil War, and before, the far-left has never managed to appreciate the larger picture. If only they could stick together for once, they might be a useful force (or, needless to say, not). Gabriel Rufián from the Catalonian ERC lefties wants to try to pull everyone into one group (except for the ERC who say they are washing their hands of him). From El País here: ‘Rufián offers to lead a new left-wing front in the general elections. The ERC parliamentary spokesperson, whose potential candidacy is not supported by his party, says he “will not leave his party until they expel him.”’.
There was an anti-Government protest in Madrid on Saturday, with the usual PP and Vox leaders and sympathisers shaking their fists and assorted nitwits wrapped in flags. Photos and the story at El Heraldo here.
La Vanguardia has: ‘IU denounces a US interest in causing a political crisis in the Government through its collaboration in the investigation of Zapatero’. From El Periódico here: ‘The secretary general of Manos Limpias went to the US Embassy in Madrid in January to denounce Zapatero for aiding the Venezuelan regime. The group had already submitted a document in August 2025 requesting the application of the Magnitsky Act against the former President’. It is said that both Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Santiago Abascal have recently visited the American ambassador to Spain for talks.
elDiario.es says that Vox's deals with the PP in both Extremadura and Aragón casts a shadow over Andalucía: with their ‘National Priority’, deregulation, and private management. The agreements signed this year are tainted by the culture war waged by Abascal's party, which began in 2019 with Moreno. Anti-immigration measures, eliminating administrative controls, and increased private management are the main pillars’.
And how are things in Castilla y León? From Intereconomía here: ‘Vox is confident that the government agreement will be announced "shortly," although "someone didn't want to tie up all the loose ends."’.
…...
Europe:
From Les Numeriques (France) here: ‘Adieu Visa and Mastercard: 130 million Europeans will switch to 100% sovereign payments later this year. Europe is finally launching its technological counterattack against American hegemony. Five continental mobile payment giants have just forged a historic alliance to unify their networks. Starting next year, the daily transactions of millions of users will bypass traditional transatlantic routes and flow through a strictly European and independent infrastructure. The European banking landscape is about to experience a seismic shift. Major players such as Bizum in Spain, Bancomat in Italy, MB WAY in Portugal and Vipps MobilePay in the Nordic countries are officially joining forces with the French initiative Wero…’
‘The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of the Kingdom of Spain, and the Ministry for Climate, Energy and the Environment of Ireland, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of studying ways of collaboration for a future electrical interconnection between the two countries and contributing constructively to the continued development of the European internal electricity market’. An announcement from the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition here.
…...
Health:
The Andalucian heath service has a useful page about the risks during the hot summer season. Here, it considers those who are elderly or who live alone. It advises us to: ‘Maintain daily contact. A call or a visit allows you to check on their health, remind them of the importance of frequent hydration, and ensure their home is adequately equipped to protect them from the heat (ventilation, blinds, temperature). Close monitoring helps detect any potential risk factors early’.
From La Opinión de Málaga here: ‘Izquierda Unida calls for solutions for the 30 healthcare workers at Costa del Sol Hospital forced to live in their cars in Marbella. The left-wing coalition denounces the transfer of the Tiempo Libre Residence to a private company for 75 years, instead of allocating it as affordable housing for healthcare workers’.
La Verdad de Murcia has: ‘Police arrest eleven people in connection over an SMS (Murcian health service) fraud scheme and report the use on patients of expired prostheses. They are also investigating another two individuals, asserting that there was a "risk to public health" in surgical procedures referred to private centres, and have expanded the scope of the criminal network to include billing department employees’.
…...
Corruption:
There’s a media-frenzy on Zapatero this week. He was due to be interrogated by Judge Calama on Tuesday June 2nd, but it has now been rescheduled for June 17th and 18th.
El Plural warns that ‘Zapatero's indictment overshadows statements in the Púnica and Kitchen cases, and the Villarejo recordings (sundry PP fraud cases). The PP clings to the former president's indictment to avoid the consequences of Francisco Granados and Enrique García Castaño's statements’.
Diario Sabemos has: ‘The Trump report on Zapatero's activities in Venezuela as grounds for nullifying the case opened by Judge Calama. Several legal experts and political analysts warn that the dossier sent to the National Court by the US agency suffers from a lack of transparency and legal guarantees’.
Brussels Signal brings: ‘Zapatero family real estate holdings multiply 115-fold since leaving Moncloa. From a €38,000 plot of land in León to luxury chalets worth nearly €6 million, the family's property surge has coincided with the former premier's decade of dealings with Caracas. (An English-language news platform with a right-wing mandate, Michael Mosbacher founded Brussels Signal with the backing of American political strategist Patrick Egan. Reddit here).
From Aspero Mundo here: 'The investigating judge had a technically impeccable option: to take Zapatero's statement before formally charging him. He could have summoned him as a suspect, listened to his version of events, compared the evidence with his explanations, and only then decided on the level of the charges. This is the option any careful investigating judge chooses when the suspect is available, has a known address, has publicly offered his version of events, and occupies an institutional position whose public exposure multiplies the cost of any procedural error.
He did not choose this option. He formally charged him first, applied the most serious charges—criminal organization, not mere cooperation; leadership, not mere participation—and then summoned him to testify on June 2 (later June 17 and 18), 2026. The public harm caused by the charges was done before the former president could explain anything...'
Regardless of the outcome, the damage to Zapatero is irreparable.
‘Felipe being Felipe. Felipe González has found the most humiliating way to defend the presumption of innocence of Zapatero, whom he has never been able to stand. “I don’t see him as capable of setting up a financial scheme…,” he said amidst the mocking laughter of his audience at a business event. “That Zapatero has ever learned what an offshore company is in his lifetime… I just don’t see it.” He then added that Zapatero might have been influenced by Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. And that Pedro Sánchez should call elections now’. From an essay by Juanlu Sánchez (no link).
From La Vanguardia here: ‘US intelligence agents have likely played a decisive role in placing José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on the conveyor belt of major scandals, from which very few emerge unscathed’. It says that ‘…the CIA has kept an eye on Zapatero since he kept his seat in front of the American flag during the October 12th parade in 2003, while serving as leader of the opposition in protest against the invasion of Iraq...’ The CIA is no doubt also closely watching Sánchez.
…..
El Confidencial has ‘The UCO enters Ferraz (the PSOE headquarters): operation underway against an illegal financing scheme of the PSOE. Agents of the Guardia Civil launched an operation early Wednesday morning at the party's headquarters in Madrid and other properties linked to the political organization’. This to do with a supposed ‘Caja B’. As Aznar and now Felipe González are saying in an ever-louder voice: ‘Elections now!’
Could we be witnessing the beginning of a ‘soft’ coup d’etat – like the ones that did (temporarily) both for Lula in Brazil and Antonio Costa in Portugal?
‘The UCO dismantles Judge Peinado's case against Begoña Gómez: her university professorship at La Complutense is legal and there is no hidden income. The Guardia Civil considers the personal enrichment of the president's wife "incompatible" with the low revenue’. Item from El Plural here. Not that Judge Peinado cares, ordering (against the threat of an arrest warrant) the presence of Ms Gómez in court on June 9th.
From Diario de Sevilla here: ‘A Seville court postpones the trial of the former Vox Andalusian leader Francisco Serrano to March 2027. Serrano and his former associates face up to eight years in prison, although the private prosecution led by Rubén Sánchez is seeking ten years’.
…...
Media:
Opinion from The Guardian here: ‘Pedro Sánchez is loved everywhere – but not so much in Spain. Here’s why’. Le Monde (here in English) is also positive regarding Sánchez.
From Left Foot Forward here: ‘The Daily Mail mocked for ‘post-Brexit rule severely impacting’ Spanish tourism article’.
"After the state terrorism of the GAL, after the lies to the Spanish people about who was responsible for the Atocha bombings, after not knowing who M. Rajoy is, we have decided we are now going to incriminate Bambi (i.e. Zapatero)," says the comedian Ignatius Farray.
The main radio stations are La COPE (it belongs to the Conferencia Episcopal Española), Onda Cero (a sort of middle-of-the-way broadcaster belonging to Atresmedia) and La Cadena Ser which is, nominally, left wing and belongs to Grupo Prisa. A fuss has developed after a leading radio host for La Ser, one Àngels Barceló, has quit after 21 years in front of the microphone because her producer ‘wanted her to provide more conservative material’. The story at ExtraTele here. From Nueva Tribuna here: ‘When even La Ser moves to the Right, what is left for the listeners?
From El Chapuzas Informático here: ‘53% of all global web traffic are bots: most of them malicious. AI has drastically changed the world, and one of the most affected areas is how the internet works, which is now plagued by bots. According to the Bad Bot 2026 report, bots accounted for 53% of all global web traffic in 2025, compared to 47% generated by humans. This means that more than half of the interactions received by websites already come from automated systems controlled by AI’. Those comments and ‘likes’ on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube…
…...
Ecology:
‘Spain unveils climate social plan with €9,000 million for energy transition. The plan, which the government hopes to submit to Brussels before the end of the year, is built on two pillars: access to “decent, efficient” housing and the promotion of “sustainable, affordable” mobility. The Government unveiled its proposed Social Climate Plan earlier this week, which provides for public aid focused on mobility and housing. Pedro Sánchez stressed the urgency of continuing to act in the face of the climate emergency through a fair and ecological transition, arguing that “the energy revolution cannot be allowed to benefit only those who can afford to change their car, install solar panels on their roofs or refurbish their homes without public support”’. From EuroNews here.
‘Europe is now producing natural gas without extracting fossil fuels from the ground. A plant in Extremadura is producing it by combining green hydrogen and recycled CO₂, injecting it directly into the existing energy grid. The idea of producing natural gas without drilling wells or relying on fossil fuels has just ceased to be an experimental theory in Europe, in a project that could change how the continent understands its energy independence’. Found at Gizmodo here.
From El País in English here: ‘Spain’s unique Mar Menor (Murcia), ten years after the infamous pollution episode: From the ‘green soup’ to ‘a tiny Mediterranean’. Europe’s biggest saltwater lagoon made world headlines following contamination that led to a massive die-off of fish. Remarkable progress has since been made on restoration, but the natural space remains in an unstable balance’.
…...
Various:
In Spain, electric car sales are growing twice as fast as in the rest of Europe, according to Foro Coches Eléctricos here. ‘Electric car sales are growing strongly across Europe, but Spain has become one of the continent's most dynamic markets; BYD already leads national registrations and China dominates global production; rising oil prices are further accelerating the shift towards electric mobility’.
The son of the late founder of Mango has been investigated after his expensive top-of-the-line car sneaked on him. The Mercedes G63 recorded his previous (exploratory?) visits to the cliff where he and his dad (worth 4,500 million euros) had gone for a stroll in December 2024 with the sad result of a slip, a fall and a death.
Of the fourteen cities in Spain over 50,000 inhabitants without a train service, twelve of them are in Andalucía says Málaga Hoy.
From VisaHQ here: ‘Ireland opens a new Consulate General in Málaga to support the growing Irish community. Announcing the move earlier this month, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said the post will provide passport, emergency and notarial services to the estimated 40,000 Irish residents and tens of thousands of seasonal visitors in southern Spain’.
One for Sheldon Cooper here: ‘The origin of the flag of Zamora, one of the most curious in Spain: what is myth and what is history’. See the photo – it’s various coloured strips, eight red and one green.
From the ABC. ‘A shepherd from Seville guides 1,500 sheep from Cáceres to León through spectacular landscapes and nights spent under the open sky. This transhumancia (traditional livestock grazing routes) pays tribute to livestock farmer Paco Morgado on his retirement’.
‘How to visit the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba for free: the little-known time slot. It's worth getting up early to see one of the world's most impressive monuments without queuing and without paying’. El Diario de Córdoba says you should get there at 8.30am.
From elDiario.es here: ‘The film shot under the bombs of the Spanish Civil War to combat fascism, which the Nazis wanted to burn. Cannes presents the restored version of 'Sierra de Teruel', directed by the intellectual and activist André Malraux and with a screenplay by Max Aub’.
…...
Finally:
La Luna Vive Solita. De un Flamenco on YouTube here.
Ay, la luna vive allá arriba,
y nadie puede alcanzarla.
Prefiere vivir solita,
antes que vivir engañada.
Se esconde tras de la nube
cuando ve que hay falsedad,
que el silencio de la noche
dice siempre la Verdad...
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