Staff Reporter
By Charlie Mullins
SINCE I moved to Spain, I’ve never for a moment thought it was the wrong move.
But it’s a nice bit of validation to see businesses here bursting with life – while in the UK Labour has reduced the economy to life-support.
Last year Spain’s dynamic economy grew by 3.2%, almost four-times the euro-zone average, and triplefold what the sad UK managed – just a paltry 1.1%.
And I’ve just read (in the Olive Press, of course) that Spain has now overtaken South Korea and even Japan in the GDP per capita rankings.
It comes as no surprise – the place is buzzing.
Tourism is rocketing and local demand for goods and services has shops, bars and restaurants crammed packed with people who are just so enthusiastic about life.
Spain is definitely the place to do business right now and the world’s global elite are joining the tourists flocking towards the sun with cash to invest and an eye on healthy profits.
I’ve joined the local economy on the property side of things, but I’m not ruling out bringing my family’s new company – the WeFix Team – out here for a better business environment.
I love it in Spain. I have been coming here for 20 years, but after moving here a year ago I think I understand the culture and the way things work here.
I think what Spain has going for it is a unique mix of locals and ex-pats from all over the planet, Russians, French, Italian, even the odd Aussie, and us Brits like me of course.
And what’s more, people – and I’m including the government here – want people to succeed.
Sure there’s the Spanish national sport of producing red tape and strange rules, but once you get used to it, there’s always a work-around and things get done.
And the attitude to business and success is much more like the US than the UK.
This morning I did an interview for the BBC where they asked me my thoughts on the UK Government’s idea to bring in a wealth tax.
The other guest on the show was trying to make out that I should feel ashamed of being successful.
There’s a lot of this sort of attitude everywhere you look in the UK, and it’s coming from a bunch of socialist MPs, most of whom have never had a real job in their lives.
They see wealth creators like me as cash cows and don’t have the brains to figure out that high taxes will be the death of a once great country.
What I would add however is that people need to be careful they wish for and a prime example of this kind of economic suicide are the anti-tourist protests that have become popular in Spain and across Europe. You can go all nationalistic and anti-foreigner like has happened in the UK and wind up with no jobs and a tanking economy, and very soon the investors will take their cash and find a less hostile place to spend it.
Charlie Mullins OBE is a British businessman. He is the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, London’s largest independent plumbing company, which he sold in 2021
READ MORE:
- MULLINS IT OVER: Everyone loses over Gibraltar – but the monkeys couldn’t care less
- MULLINS IT OVER: From delayed footpaths to Brexit border queues, life in the sun runs on its own clock, writes Charlie Mullins
- MULLINS IT OVER: From Spanish property madness bureaucratic blind spots, life abroad isn’t all sunshine and sangria
- MULLINS IT OVER: Welcome to the Costa del
Click here to read more Spain News from The Olive Press.
