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Tax refunds for visiting Brits
Five establishments in Spain are in the top 20 of a new list of The World ’ s 50 Best Restaurants Award published last month . Highest placed at No 3 was Asador Etxebarri in the Basque Country ( pictured ), Disfrutar in Barcelona came in fifth place while Mugaritz in San Sebastian was at 14 . Elkano , also in the Basque Counrty at 16 and Madrid ’ s Diverxo at 20 made up the quintet of successful eateries . The No 1 spot went to Noma in Copenhagen where lunch for two with wine would set you back well over € 600 .
Prize Surprise
The author Carmen Mola , author of three gritty police novels , is not the female Italian academic she was believed to be . In Barcelona last month , when her name was announced as winner of the € 1 million Planeta prize , the world ’ s highest paying literary award , three Spanish TV scriptwriters stepped up to claim the prize and revealed they had been secretly collaborating on the novels for the last four years under the pseudonym .
Their winning novel , The Beast , which deals with the murders of children during an 1834 outbreak of cholera in Madrid , beat 653 other contenders to take the prize .
Cannabis opposed
Spain ’ s coalition government was split last month on the issue of cannabis for recreational use . The larger PSOE socialist group joined opposition parties Partido Popular and Vox to oppose the move in a vote on October 19 . However , the smaller coalition partner , Unidas Podemos , sided with those in favour . The unlikely partnerships ensured that the proposal was thrown out by 263 votes against to 79 in favour , with nine abstentions .
Spain is well-represented at this year ’ s World Travel Market in London which runs from November 1 to 3 , with many participants highlighting one of the hidden benefits of Brexit for British visitors to the EU . UK nationals can now reclaim value-added tax ( VAT ) on goods purchased in EU member countries on their return home .
Visitors from Britain to all of Spain ( with the exception of the Canary Islands ) can recover VAT , although experts say the take up so far has been slow . Global Blue which specialises in the field has estimated that only 10 per cent of UK holidaymakers returning from Spain between January and September took advantage of the law . For other nationalities , says Global Blue , the figure is around 50 per cent .
There also appears to be little awareness of the refunds available to British shoppers in retail outlets , although El Corte Inglés has been promoting tax-free shopping for Brits in a campaign with Iberia Airlines . The retailer has promised to promote this during the World Travel Market , explaining that , “ We have to take
Bikers warned in Frigiliana
The MA-5105 around Frigiliana has been named as one of the nine most dangerous stretches of road for motorcyclists in the province of Málaga . The Spanish roads authority DGT ( Dirección General de Tráfico ) explained last month that the number of fatal accidents over the last five years and the number of bends on the route were taken into account in compiling the list .
The DGT said last month that new signs were being erected on the high risk roads warning riders of the number of accidents recorded in the area . Specially installed surveillance is also being operated at such black spots .
The deputy delegate of the Government in Málaga , Javier Salas , said that the advantage of this moment to change the inertia .”
The rate of VAT ( IVA in Spain ) varies but it can be claimed back on a range of purchases . Global Blue says recent figures show that 27 per cent of claims so far have been made from visitors to Málaga , with 55 per cent of the spending on jewellery and watches and 40 per cent on clothes and accessories .
To claim a refund on returning to the UK , a tax-free form must be obtained at the point of purchase which lists all items upon which the tax has been charged . This must then be validated within three months by a Customs Officer when leaving Spain . If the form is not validated , the goods are considered to have remained in Spain and a refund cannot be made .
Note that anyone who travels to another EU country before returning to the UK will find the Customs check is done in the country where they finally leave the EU . Further information is available at https :// ec . europa . eu / taxation _ customs / guide-vat-refund-visitors-eu _ en .
situation in the province was the third worst in Spain , following Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . The provincial head of the DGT , Aída Vilaret , added that “ human error is the main cause ” of accidents , although it is not the only one .
The N-340 coast road immediately west of Nerja , where there have been six fatalities in the last five years , is on the list , along with a number of mountain roads . The highest accident rate is given as the A-397 in Igualeja , south of Ronda , between kilometre points 19.8 and 22.4 .
See Jottings on page 22
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