n Andalusia, the new government is determined and has continued to slash the property transfer tax and the stamp duty unabated in 2021 and now has a lower Wealth tax, mainly personal income tax (although their ability to tweak the latter is very limited because it is a national income tax). All those tax changes I have described in detail over the last three years have created in Andalusia an ultra-low taxation sector which not only attracts people who have an influence on the immobilization market, but also and most essentially large companies (read below). تنزيلات
Dereglementation. Andalusia's new administration is nowhere near streamlining and simplifying administration procedures, reducing bureaucracy. Take tourism licenses as a small example. What was a nightmarish convoluted system with seven different classifications in 2016 was now implemented with just two options by 2021, making it much easier to apply online for all concerned. These changes are continually translated in several respects, removing the deadwood in an extremely large public sector and making it more lean and efficient. It's not just words and empty promises, we are aware of the changes that have been made.
Technology. Technology. Malaga has an impressive technology hub in its PTA, home to over 3,000 start-ups. Malaga University works closely with the PTA to supply these small caps with a constant stream of highly skilled engineers, programmers and IT designers. Indeed, certain companies have attracted the attention of foreign venture capitalists. Swedish EQT Group, for instance, recently bought a Malaga technological start-up (Freepik) for €300mn, all of which had created a market of more than 40mn consumers.
Languages & Education. The Costa del Sol's renowned international private schools serve as the basis for excellent education in English, German and various other international languages. Top graduates are regularly invited by Shanghai to join the best universities in the world (Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, LSE, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, etc).
Low wages. Low wages. Although Spain's government has recently enforced a range of improvements to raise minimum wages, the truth is that Spanish wages are far behind EU standards, particularly those in Andalusia, and are on average 1/3 lower. This is particularly attractive for foreign investors and big companies who are interested in establishing a shop in Malaga.
Outstanding communications. Airports, toll roads, ports, modern rail system, etc.
Investors and big businesses. All these factors attract the attention of large global companies, which aim to create outposts in Europe, by working together. Last week, for instance, We learned that Vodafone has chosen Malaga to create its new R&D hub in Europe that creates more than 600 highly skilled jobs.
The weather. The weather. And last but not least, the beautiful weather is Malaga. Throughout the year Malaga boasts 330 days of sunshine combined with great white sandy beaches, many of which were awarded EU Blue Flags. More in my blog: eight reasons for buying property on the Costa del Sol (Andalusia). It's kind of bizarre, but the weather and even the countryside of Málaga reminds me of LA and California on a personal note.
Ultra-low taxation, deregulation, technological ingenuity, highly qualified local English-speaking workforce, low wages compared with European standards, private international schools (education and languages), great climates, etc. help to boost and foster large companies in Malaga. Do you begin to see the parallelisms now? Let me go on, please, I'm not finished yet.
We still lack the psychological element to link it all together and start driving, as we did in the 1980s. Fortunately, the nuclear threat is largely gone for us. But we have something similar to replace it today, the Chinese Covid-19 virus. The new vaccines will ensure that this threat becomes a distant bad dream in the next two years. The end of the pandemic will lead to people recovering from non-stop lockdowns their freedom to live their lives intensely. Freedom to travel freely abroad, spend lavishly in vacation, restaurants, second homes, go to cinema, etc. People need and want freedom badly after feeling so long caught in the threat of a fatal virus that has kept them too long grounded.