“Catastrazo” coming on Spain's Costa Blanca

In light of falling income from ex-pat property owners in the Costa Blanca, Spain, taxes and fees on new property projects have failed to be realised, so more and more municipalities are asking the Catastro (the office in the Ministry of Finance regulating the fiscal values of property) to revise, upwardly, the property values in their areas. In this way they hope to raise the ‘missing’ tax income. There are now 3.5 million dwellings due for revision, of their often very low values, 15% of the total housing stock. Since the fiscal value of the Catastro is the basis for calculation of the local rates, such a revision will mean higher IBI-taxes for property owners and for some, higher Patrimonio payments too.

Meanwhile, more Spanish construction companies have gone to the wall.

The important construction company Seop has filed for voluntary bankruptcy. It is a subsidiary company of the Eagle group, currently with a number of projects under construction in Albacete, Murcia and Alicante. 70 subcontractors and suppliers on the Costa Blanca are left with unpaid bills totalling 10 million Euro. The Basque construction company Ereaga has suspended payments, as too has the Canarian company Mazotti and the Catalan Sanchez Romero.  The Cosmani property group,  Immobiliaria Amuerma and Jale Construcciones in Cadiz, the Madrid builder Prasie and Construart Valencia have done likewise.

The sale of the shares in the leading property company Colonial to the Dubai Investment Fund is again in danger, due in part to the banks not agreeing the deal. The shares of Colonial fell another 23.53% last week. Also the promotion company Martinsa-Fadesa (biggest in Europe) has problems in refinancing its debts, and has missed a part instalment of 362 million Euro from total debts of 2,800 million that should have been paid on the 26th of March.