New Restrictions on NIE Numbers Put Off Investors
A row between the Secretariat of Labour and Immigration and the Central Police Station is threatening to discourage hundreds of potential property buyers from taking the plunge. The former has ruled, against the opinion of the latter, that the obligatory NIE numbers can no longer be applied by representatives with a power of attorney and so personal attendance is mandatory (as from the 3rd Jan 2012).
Although the reason behind the disagreement appears to be how both Government offices interpret a particular norm, the consequences can be devastating given that NIE numbers are now required for almost anything and many people will just not feel that Spain is a country worth investing in if you need to queue up at 6 AM at police stations, get a ticket, walk to a specific bank to pay the fee and then go back to the police station to apply for the number: buying property, setting up a business, signing up for a job and many other legal matters just don’t deserve this third-world treatment. In Madrid, a city that aspires to become a European financial hub, you can expect a 3 month wait for an appointment to apply for the NIE.
Also, there is a total lack of uniformity in what documentation is required: for EU and Non-EU citizens alike, some police stations in the Costa Blanca are asking for notarized documents of the property one wishes to buy, others will accept a reservation contract (original or copy) and proof of payment of deposit and if you are not around to pick the number up, you will have to give an official power of attorney to someone if you are in Ibiza. The random nature of documentation requirements is perplexing to professionals and unbearable to investors.
Spanish Consulates, not particularly equipped to assist investors, have been commissioned to process applications and return an NIE number within 5 working days (RD 557/2011), a tall order for some of such offices not used to dull admin work. And that is if you have a consulate nearby, as cost-cutting has meant that the Spanish Government has closed many (e.g. Manchester and Hamburg), so if you happen to be a billionaire currently in Vladivostok looking at buying a property for a zillion euros that you have already visited and reserved, and you are told that you need to fly to Moscow, or back to Marbella, to apply for the NIE that you forgot to get whilst property hunting, then Spain has a problem.
The property industry is dismayed by what are probably the weirdest, craziest and most idiotic laws around Europe, and is hoping that as with most things, common sense will ultimately prevail.

It sometimes happens that, when you start off a new business venture where reputation is considered to be crucial, you need to start off with a slate cleaner than clean. Of course, it is quite possible that one has left a few debts unpaid, particularly with lending entities (who cares, really!) and perhaps a bit of social security or taxes, as they are the last to the get paid, generally.
Last Sunday morning, while cycling around La Cala area, I spotted what looked like an isolated bored Spanish donkey with what looked like a kind of a smallish stork on its back, the latter presumably going about the job of cleansing the animal from parasites, and the former happily accepting it. This is what they call symbiosis, or a mutually beneficial relationship involving close physical contact between two organisms that aren’t the same species. I took some pictures but the mobile was not powerful, unfortunately. In a strange mental composition exercise whilst negotiating the curves, I immediately thought of more than a handful of Spanish property developers and Mr. Carlo S. Mottola, in what could be one of the biggest cases or fraud in the Spanish property sector, and the relationship they had struck to bring misery, anguish and pain to, once again, off-plan property buyers. On the one side of the fraud, sitting comfortably on top of the donkey, Mr. Mottola, the man behind the bogus Compagnie Des Garanties de Du Luxembourg S.A., Company of Guaranties Ltd. and Cauzione, flouting every mandatory insurance legislation provision and without a penny behind him, and with the Spanish Insurance watchdog DGS (Dirección General de Seguros) warning about his activities as early as 2003 (and who incidentally have done nothing since), erected himself as the provider of surety contracts worth tens of millions of pounds knowing full well he could have never honoured them, if we notice the following:
And again in 2008, another payment:
And what about the American company? 
About to wind down for the weekend, yesterday evening I received an email from Alexandra Goss, personal finance reporter for the 
Acting on behalf of over 160 claimants (of a total of 290), Lawbird, in conjunction with the Prosecutor and other accusing lawyers, has 

The clients thought they’d be soon grinning from ear to ear once their application was approved, but the lenders knew that this ability to grin could be quickly challenged by grimace…
I make no disguise that, professionally, I am closely connected to property, therefore this post, to many, will have limited significance due to obvious bias. If I was however to collate my experiences over the years, good and bad, when dealing in real estate in Spain, and I compare them with how transactions are conducted these days, I would necessarily conclude that it is now safer than ever to invest in property in Spain.