Bank Repossession in Tenerife

This article describes the actions that a bank will take when they repossess your property, but it is best to try to negotiate with your bank first.  Even during the course of this process, you may be able to reach an out of court settlement with your bank such as a dacion en pago, which creates a clean break with your outstanding debt.

Driving without insurance in Tenerife

It is no longer necessary to carry the original of your vehicle insurance documents with you while you are driving in it.  There is a database in Spain  known as FIVA  which contains all the vehicles and the insured’s names of vehicles in Spain. The fines for not being insured €2.600.  In addition, you can lose penalty points even if you have a foreign EU DL, for example a UK one, with the new cooperation system between the various EU countries.

Using a Lawyer in Tenerife

Often estate agents will advise that you do not need to use a lawyer; they might employ some administrative staff to handle the conveyancing process.  A surprising number of transactions meet problems, and in these cases are best handled by a lawyer.  Estate agents have been known to ‘paper over the cracks’ when met with inconsistencies in their enthusiasm to make the sale happen.  Often a problem may not rear its ugly head for years, in which case the agent may yet have planted some time-bombs.  Basically, if an agent advises you not to use a lawyer: find another estate agent!

How is the recession affecting Tenerife?

As Spain’s unemployment figure are about to soar through the 3 million mark, many expats wonder how the recession is going to affect Tenerife.  Already the evidence is easy to see as shops and businesses have been closing all around the island. 

Law and order in Tenerife

Crime rates are lower in Tenerife than most places in Europe, but you may need to report a crime or file a complaint, for example if a business has sold a product under false pretences or if a company has not delivered on its promises.

There are several police forces in Tenerife including the Guardia Civil, the Policía Nacional, the Policía Local and the all new Policía Canaria.  Tenerife Lifeline also covers the court system and prisons in Tenerife.  Hopefully information that may be interesting, but never actually needed!

Patrimonio Tax Abolished?

As a pre-election pledge in December 2007, Zapatero promised that he would do away with Patrimonio tax.  He confirmed that he would again when the socialists acceded to power earlier this year and again in August.  However people received conflicting advice from Tenerife tax consultants, lawyers and even tax officials. Many of them said that the abolition was not confirmed.

Problems ‘back home’

A legal problem that haunts you from your previous life can snowball into an expensive and stressful exercise and is generally best nipped in the bud using a lawyer in Tenerife, qualified to practice in the country you came from.  However, you should exercise caution in doing so as there are all sorts of people willing to give legal advice, and not all will be qualified to do so. 

Lawyers in Tenerife

The Spanish legal system is quite different from what you are used to and you cannot assume that the law will be the same in Tenerife as it is in the UK or Ireland.  By far the best use of an abogado, or lawyer, is to guide you and help to prevent you landing in trouble, rather than trying to get you out of it, after the event.  A perennial problem for any expat is finding a good lawyer.  With the difference in language, culture and law, it can be difficult to exercise sound judgment.  Nevertheless there are a number of factors that can help to guide you: