Tax v Wages, comparatives world wide

Are the 'blue' countries real tax havens?

WORLD -- Just before you decide to pack your bags and head for another country -- maybe those in light blue on the maps -- perhaps thinking that these are real tax havens (nicely put in Spanish: 'fiscal paradises'), you should know that the minimum wages in many of those countries are well below the line when taxes must be paid. One example is Brazil, where the average salary is €6,969.91 per annum, just below the €7,046.85 when you start paying. This phenomenon is especially prevalent in countries where large parts of the population have very low incomes. If you want to know how the data was collected and used to create the maps, go to Movehub. In the meantime, we have more of their maps below (in all cases, you can click to enlarge).

Forty charged in Tráfico false documentation case

Two notaries, several 'gestorías' involved

(voxpopuli.com)

SEVILLE -- In a press release, the Guardia Civil's Tráfico unit has announced that they charged forty people on false public documentation issues. Among them are buyers and sellers of vehicles, notaries, gestores, and others. Investigations began ten months ago when the GC GIAT unit noticed certain irregularities in the information received in various documents presented online and at the Tráfico centres of the province. For example, vehicle transference documents carried the names of people who had died some six months before the documents' dates. Bills didn't look right either in many cases, as did documents regarding representation rights. Two notaries were charged because it was proved that people on the documents had never been seen by them, therefore the signatures had to be false. All those imputed in these cases have appeared before magistrates and we will be reporting on the outcome as soon as information is available.

New collective bargaining negotiations set the longest official daily working hours in 12 years

Salary increases stay the same as last year: 0.56%

MADRID -- Negotiations between unions and the employers' collectives have not recovered since the introduction of controversial new labour laws by the PP government. Official statistics show that there were 1,319 agreements signed over the first nine months of the year, only 100 more than last year and the worst since the crisis began. One of the principal inducements aimed at renewing the contracts was the so-called 'ultra-activity' clause in the law that kept current existing but outdated contracts, until a new one had been negotiated. Experts point out that the daily working hours rose by 30 annual hours for 2014, or 1,756 hours, compared to the same period last year, and the longest since 2002. Negotiations centred on new contracts starting on January 1, 2015, have fixed the annual working hours at 1,825, according to the Ministry of Employment. The Autonomous Communities with the longest work day:

Parents charged with son's absenteeism

• Couple faces 'family abandonment' charges for son's continuous non-schooling
• Local Police duties include combating truancy

LA LÍNEA (Cádiz) -- Local Police recently made the first charges for school absenteeism of the current school year. The parents of a boy who was not attending school on a regular basis were charged with 'family abandonment' (translatable to 'neglect of parental duty' in UK terms) and are due to appear in court when the Children Protection Prosecutor in Cádiz studies the case. The Law of Legal Protection of Minors establishes that any person or authority is aware that a minor is not being scholarised, or is continually absent during class time in a school period, and is between during the obligatory school ages of 6 to 16, is obliged to report it to the competent authority (Local Police, School, Council). One of the Local Police's duties is to try to locate and identify a child who is on the streets without the knowledge or consent of its parents or school.

Forty charged in Tráfico false documentation case

Two are notaries, several gestorías involved

Jefatura de Tráfico, Sevilla

SEVILLE -- In a press release, the Guardia Civil's Tráfico unit has charged forty people on false public documentation issues. Among them are buyers and sellers of vehicles, notaries, gestores, and others. Investigations began ten months ago when the GC GIAT unit noticed certain irregularities in the information received in various documents presented online and at the Tráfico centres of the province. For example, vehicle transference documents carried the names of people who had died some six months before the documents' dates. Bills didn't look right either in many cases, as did documents regarding representation rights. Two notaries were charged because it was proved that people on the documents had never been seen by them, therefore the signatures had to be false. All those imputed in these cases have appeared before magistrates and we will be reporting on the outcome as soon as information is available.

Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, Duchess of Alba, dies at 88

• Descended from King James II of Britain
• 14 times Grandee of Spain

(www.abc.es)

SEVILLE -- The family of the Duchess of Alba announced her passing this morning. She had been under medical care for a respiratory infection believed to be pneumonia. The most-titled person in the world, known as the representative of Spanish aristocracy, died at 88 at her home in Seville, the Dueñas Palace, where she had asked to be taken from the intensive care unit last Tuesday. This was the second time Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, as she was known to the media not wishing to repeat her main title, had been admitted to hospital in the last couple of months. A descendant of King James II of Britain through his bastard son James Fitz-James, who was born to his lover Arabella Churchill, the 18th Duchess of Alba held 7 Dukedoms, 1 Count-Dukedom, 19 Merquessates, 22 Countcies, 1 Viscountcy, and 1 Manorial title, according to Wikipedia. She was recently named the third richest woman in Spain on the Forbes Rich List. 

The sexiest man alive

HOLLYWOOD (USA) People magazine today named their choice for Sexiest Man Alive 2014. Anyone who knows anything about these things will immediately recognise Chris Hemsworth, of whom there are more pictures below the 'fold line'. The magazine says that he continues to smite bad guys as a hammer-wielding Norse god in The Avengers, will fight off a terrorist hacker in Michael Mann's upcoming cyber thriller, Blackhat, and battle a whale in Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea, but there was no contest when it came to naming Aussie Chris Hemsworth this year's Sexiest Man Alive. The actor, 31, thought it was "pretty funny" when he first heard the news – as did his wife, Spanish model Elsa Pataky, 38, whom he wed in 2010 and with whom he has a young daughter and twin sons.

Jimena Mushroom Days coming up very soon

JIMENA (Cádiz) What I've called Mushroom Days for a few years now (and more formally known as Mycology Workshops, approximately) are scheduled to take place on the weekend of November 28, 29 and 30 in their 17th year (!). People come from all over Spain -- and these days from other places in Europe: I met five Hungarians looking for wild mushrooms the other day -- to take part in a full programme of mushroom-related activities (no, don't ask about anything hallucinogenic, they're not in on this deal) including field trips, sorting, lectures, etc. Most of the bars and restaurants will be offering mushroom-based tapas and dishes. This year's crop promises greatness, according to the experts, so if you're a wild mushroom fan, this is your time of year. (See the whole programme HERE)

Wonderful work from former Jimena resident

Edy with one of her paintings

JIMENA (Cádiz) Edy Gosselin used to live in Jimena quite some time ago. She has a grandchild living here. Aside from the fact that she was a lovely person, she was an extraordinary painter. If you go to the page I probably invited you to Like (https://www.facebook.com/edygosselin?fref=ts) and go to the Pictures section, you will see the vast range of her talent -- from fabulous portraits to delicious abstracts. (I am very lucky: she has given us permission to use her paintings as illustrations here and on SpainInformer when it goes live.)

Leaders of the world: you MUST do better against Ebola

"Let's not allow the world leaders to
turn their backs on it"

BRISBANE (Australia) -- The G20 summit meeting  is taking place right now. This is why Save The Children, Oxfam, Plan España and Amnesty International Spain, among others, are urging the world leaders of the 20 richest countries put aside the resources necessary to battle Ebola with greater speed and efficiency. Some 166,000 signatures have already been gathered.
You can get full information and sign the petition here: http://www.savethechildren.net/ebola. It will take you just a few seconds, please do it.