This past week we strengthened our strategy and our team in the UK. Claudio Rodríguez Vera, tax adviser and abogado, moved to our office in Southampton, giving coverage to our clients in the Southeast, while Julio Prieto, european lawyer, is now working from our London Strand offices.
In Southampton, we are launching our Anglo-Spanish claims department together with our partners at Lawdit Solicitor’s to support Britons with claims in Spain, from banks abusive floor clauses to money lost in Off plan projects, as well as advising UK non-resident in Spain in dealing with the Spanish Tax Office.
We are also supporting the creation of the Association of British Consumers in Spain. The association is very much needed and will play a key role to pressure banks and the Spanish government to stop them delaying the payments of interest owned to consumers and promoting class actions.
Regarding #Brexit, it is worth noticing Tony Blair’s come back with a “renewed sense of mission”; he says: UK could restrict immigration without Brexit.
In the media front, while we continue working for a successful launch of As Arabia, Leon Fernando del Canto, met in New York last week with Oath , the brand company managing HuffPost, Yahoo Sports, AOL.com, MAKERS, Tumblr, Flickr, BUILD Studios, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Mail among many others.
Also in New York, he met Lara Setrakian founder of News Deeply, to discuss the future of Media Editorials, and new tendencies in the sector. News Deeply recognizes that journalistic integrity is crucial to their work, and they have made it part of their competitive advantage to maintain the highest ethical standards in what they deliver
Continuing with media news. Our firm has facilitated the creation of the Arabic Sports Platform, and the signature of the agreement to launch the platform between the Spanish Sports Portal Diario AS and the Dar Al Sharq Group from Qatar. Next week, on September 25th in Madridthe official signature will take place followed by a Press Conference launching AS ARABIA, platform development. Attending the event will be different personalities related with the sports world:, ambassadors, government sports representatives and the top executive team from Grupo PRISA and Dar Al Sharq Group from Qatar.
In London, Julio Prieto was invited by the Canning House to their conference ‘The Changing Face of the Media’ in Latin America, where speakers Mr. Graco Perez, International Relations Journalist in Honduras for the newspaper ‘La Prensa’, and Mr. Chumel Torres, comedian, youtuber, TV and Radio Host, explained the situation of press and media in Latin America, specially with regards to freedom of speech and the influence of politicians.
Del Canto Chambers is committed to freedom of speech through press and media in the world, which is essential to defend the democratic values. We also support journalists on their defence of a truthful and a contrasted information out of political and lobbies influences.
In Spain, our colleague Laia Fernández tells us in an article how the Governement of the Balearic Islands has approved by Decree Law the modification on the rental of touristic accommodations. In this way, the number of visitors to the islands is limited and the business of renting apartments (booming in recent years) is properly regulated. The limit has been set at 623,624 places for tourists and the long-term objective is to reduce the supply gradually. Likewise, the Balearic Government will fine with up to 400,000 euros any platforms (such as Airbnb or Homeaway) that do not remove the advertisements of touristic flats —which are now declared illegal. Owners of flats or apartments wanting to rent their properties to tourists are at risk of being fined with up to € 40,000.
Our partner Jesus Armesto, Film producer at Almutafilm continues to participate in cinema festivals with the documentary ¨The Keys to Memory”. The film was presented at the festival organized by Fundación 3 culturas en Seville, and has been selected finalist at the Cinema Festival of Casares, which will take place on the first week of October. The documentary has been shown in many universities in Andalusia, and it is a very good material to reflect on, where students are finding answers to historical memory of Andalusia, and learning about the unexplained history of the Al Andalus in the textbooks they have studied so far. The film is co-produced by the Arabic Al Jazeera Documentary Channel that will soon present the documentary divided in two chapters to he Arab world.
Regarding Gulf Crisis, last week the Qatari Emir visited Germany, France and US to discuss Gulf dispute. After 100 days of staying inside of Qatar, the Emir has embarked on a multi-country tour to bolster international support for his nation. Following a first visit to Turkey, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has meet with Germany’s president in Berlin, then travelled to France and met its leader, and this week he is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump stateside.
One more week in which we continue reporting on the latest relevant issues and subjects our Firm is involved with. Meanwhile, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.
Xavier Nova (@xavinova)
Managing Partner at Del Canto Chambers
