French PM makes expat tax regime commitment

If you are serious about receiving the best financial advice in Spain, chances are any adviser you choose will recommend that, in the absence of a committed property investment strategy, you do not invest too heavily in Spanish real estate.

However, for the enthusiastic expat who has recently fallen in love with the country and the idea of owning a small piece, or perhaps a larger chunk, of its picturesque and romantic charms, it can be hard to resist.

But the truth is that there is often a reason why a property might be going at a bargain basement rate. For example, investment in whole abandoned villages in isolated locations such as Aragón and Galicia has recently become something of a phenomenon, when the reality is that the outlay, which can be under €100,000, will buy you little more than a dilapidated shell without water, gas, electricity, telephone or internet services. So, making your bargain purchase habitable in these circumstances is likely to cost at least ten times as much the initial purchase price.

Another year is nearly over with a new one about to begin and while the financial outlook for 2019 looks unclear, one thing we can say with some certainty is that the financial markets have been anything but boring during 2018. Volatility has been at the fore, lately mainly as a result of political uncertainty in Europe and the UK, and the American/Chinese trade war.

On the monetary front, the belief is that US interest rate expectations are peaking and that we will possibly have two more hikes in 2019 at 0.25% each. With little chance of interest rate rises in Europe this will mean little respite for hard pressed savers.