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Brunch Fix in Madrid

November 29th, 2011 | Posted by JLynch in Food and Restaurants | Jamie - (0 Comments)

After several years in Madrid, one of the things I really miss about home is Sunday brunch. There are a few places I have tried out in Madrid that serve this delightful meal, but they are either far too expensive or only serve brunch on Saturdays.  I am happy to report that this past weekend I found my new go-to brunch spot in the Conde Duque neighborhood in the form of Toma, a cute little American-inspired café (the chef is a fellow American).  It is refreshing to see a place with an American touch that is not in the heavy-handed form of a 1950´s hamburger diner (we have much more to offer to international cuisine, Spain).   

The deal is this: for €18 you get a generous plate of assorted pastries (think Danishes, mini doughnuts, etc.), a choice of coffee or tea, a choice of a mimosa, orange juice or bloody mary, and a choice of main dish. Main dish options include (among other things), eggs Benedict, breakfast burritos, French toast, an omelet, and something called a “Mountain Breakfast.” I had the breakfast burritos (two corn tortillas filled with scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese topped with guacamole…YUM), and Raúl had the eggs Benedict. The eggs Benedict were good but had a distinctly Spanish flair that my American brunch palette was not expecting (jamón serrano instead of Canadian bacon, and a hunk of regular pan instead of an English muffin); true brunch-purists might want to opt for another plate.  With the exception of the French toast (which comes with a side of fruit), all of the other plates come with these absolutely delicious roasted potatoes which, together with the bloody mary, were the highlight of our meal.

Rounding out the experience was the great overall feel of the restaurant. It definitely had a bit of a Williamsburg, Brooklyn vibe, from the chill music and laid-back retro décor to some of the clientele, which when I was there included several customers sporting the popular Williamsburg accessory of ironic nerd glasses. It felt just like home and I loved it!

Next time you have one of those Sundays that only a bloody mary can cure, I highly advise a trip to Toma.  Sunday brunch is very popular there, so reservations are highly recommended. 

 Toma

Calle Conde Duque, 14

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Resident or Non Resident ?

November 28th, 2011 | Posted by Pierre in Banking | Work and Employment - (0 Comments)

Taxes, you know you love them. Or better said, not to pay them. Without the Taxman following around the world.

Anyway, let’s get to the point. There’s a simple rule to have in mind when fiddling with taxes as an Expat in Spain.

Are you a resident or not ?

There’s only 3 ways to be one:

  • You have lived more than half the year in Spain, including your many travels – Yes, you Erin, even if you travelled for your blog 200 days out of 365, as you went to and from Madrid, you are a resident ! ;-) Just jalous, love the blog. But still, a good example: if you live in Spain more than 6 months in total this fiscal year, even if you travelled a lot, you are a resident.
  • A majority of your economic interests are in Spain. Ok, we mean properties, companies, stocks, assets there.
  • As always in Spain, one of your friends is a politician and will just enable you to do pretty much anything. Ok, another joke – just kidding.

“But Pierre”, you may say, “even if all these jokes are amazingly funny, what does this mean to me ?”

You’re right. Back to the point. Well, it’s simple:

  • If you’re a resident, you pay taxes on all your revenues earned this fiscal year, wherever they were produced
  • If you’re not, you do not pay any taxes to Spain, for instance on all the revenue, including the incomes taxes you may have paid on salaries earned in Spain. Some exceptions may exist such as property taxes.

In a nutshell, you pay taxes on all your revenues of the fiscal year in your country of residence. Simple. Straightforward. Sweet.

If you want more information, you will find here all official information, in English por favor, on this resident/non resident question about taxes

Do not hesitate to comment and/or send me an e-mail if you have any kind of question.

Here was my post for GuiriGuide. For complete “how-to” guides to make your move to Madrid easy, have a look at my blog Moving2Madrid.com !

Madridly yours,
+Pierre-Alban Waters – Moving2Madrid.com – +Pierre-Alban Waters – Twitter – Linkedin – Newsletter.

+Pierre-Alban Waters

 

 

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Macedonia Fruit Café

November 26th, 2011 | Posted by Courtney in Food and Restaurants | Guiri Guest - (1 Comments)

Guiri Guest Laura is a recently-arrived English Language and Culture Assistant. She graduated from university in the Spring and is exploring the options that Madrid has to offer for her varying interests in fiction writing, Spanish, teaching, and Journalism. She is from the United States and is still figuring out all the little things that Guiris have to master to become true expatriates in this city.

*****

It’s a corny dream, to be sure, but I’ve always imagined that if I moved from the small-town environment in which I grew up to a big bustling city I would discover a little café, a coffee shop or something, where the waitress would know my order and just nod to me and start making my food and drink.

In Madrid, I found this in the form of Macedonia Fruit Café. Like many other breakfast spots in the city, it offers breakfast specials that include tea, coffee, juice, along with pastries, toast, or sandwiches. However, unlike many of the places I’ve seen, it sells free-trade coffee and products from Intermón Oxfam, a non-profit committed to fair wages for the people who produce the products it sells, as well as educating the public about poverty and fighting to end hunger around the world.

The café has a cute, bright feeling and is done in oranges, yellows, and greens that make the walls look as fresh as the fruit that decorates everything; there is even a bar with a glass top that contains a rack of (hopefully) fake apples. A small cup of fresh juice can be acquired for one euro, and a full range of snacks and smoothies are available.

My favorite food there, hands down, is one of their breakfast specials, el desayuno Macedonia: for €2.30, I get a drink of my choice (my go-to is café con leche, but you can get a tea or a macchiato or what you will) and tostada con tomate, a big piece of artisan bread toasted with olive oil and tomato on top. Perfect at just about any time of day, I have eaten this so many times now that the woman who habitually runs the café just raises her eyebrows when I walk in and asks, “Macedonia con café con leche?” I generally just nod, unless I happen to be in the mood for a juice or a slice of cheesecake.

Macedonia Fruit Café is located near Chamberí on Calle Miguel Angel, and you definitely should check it out when you are in the neighborhood, but this post is more a tribute to good waiters and waitresses and bartenders everywhere than just to this particular spot. Wherever you live or work, it’s worth the trouble to find a place with a good coffee or a cheap beer and get to know the people who run the place, so that you can greet them with a grin rather than just a request. You can make a new friend and turn a random spot for a coffee into a little home.

Macedonia Fruit Café

C/ Miguel Ángel, 24

28010 Madrid

Some Perks of Working in Spain

November 22nd, 2011 | Posted by JLynch in Jamie | Work and Employment - (2 Comments)

For me, adjusting to corporate life in Spain was not the easiest thing in the world.  The concept of a two hour lunch, strolling in at 10.00 and taking various leisurely coffee and/or smoke breaks was completely foreign to me after having been “raised” in the trenches of Corporate America in New York, where eating a sandwich at my cube with one hand while typing a memo with the other were par for the course.   Now that I have been here for some time, however, I have been able to observe, and even take advantage of, the many benefits that having a permanent contract in Spain have to offer.  A few of the highlights include:

  • -When you get married, you get an extra 15 days of time off.  Fresh off my honeymoon, I can say this one has been the most significant perk for me. Counting down from the day of your wedding, you have 15 days (on top of your vacation time afforded by your Company) to enjoy and take time off. Since it is 15 días naturales, weekends are included in the count, but it is a wonderful treat nonetheless.
  • -If you are moving house, you also get a bonus day off.  I could have used this in NY, where I moved 4 times in 6 years!
  • -Employees are entitled to at least 30 natural days, or 22 business days, of paid time off per year.  That is pretty incredible, especially considering it is a minimum.
  • -Minimum permitted maternity leave is 16 uninterrupted weeks for the mother, and 13 natural days for the father.  On top of this, mothers are also permitted to take time off for breastfeeding. This can be taken in various ways, including 1 hour per day until the baby is 9 months, 2 half hour increments per day until the baby is 9 months, or two extra weeks of maternity leave tacked onto the end of the 16 weeks. Where I work, taking the extra two weeks seems to be the common choice, at least from a practical standpoint.
  •  -Parents have the right to take a jornada reducida, or shortened work day (with a proportional decrease in salary) to take care of their children. This right exists until the youngest child is 8 years old.  It is pretty common where I work for women to start working this shorter day once they have a baby.

Working in Spain is certainly not easy, but knowing there are benefits like these certainly helps to ease the pain.

 

 

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Interactive Map of Best Private Schools for Expat Kids in Madrid

November 21st, 2011 | Posted by Pierre in Household | Logistics | Pierre - (0 Comments)
Interactive map of the Best Schools for Expats Kids in Madrid

Interactive map of the Best Schools for Expats Kids in Madrid

Interactive map of the Best Schools for Expats Kids in Madrid

Today, I wanted to share an interactive map I did with the Best Private Schools for Expat Children in Madrid.

I wast trying to help an american family to choose the best school and realized how hard it was to get a global picture. So I worked on simplifying the decision process for the first criteria: location. After doing some good research, this map lists all the good schools, and really helps to understand to realize that, for instance, private expat schools are mainly in north-west madrid and the suburbs. Oh, and if you wondered about prices: from 4,000 to 20,000 €  a year.

As for other details or if you want more advice on how to choose the best school, head to my detailed how-to blog for moving to madrid tips: head to this specific “how to choose the best private school for expat kids” post on Moving2Madrid.

Of course, as always, if you need any help or advice for choosing a school and/or moving to madrid, do not hesitate to email me !

Madridly yours,
Pierre Waters – Moving2Madrid
+Pierre-Alban Waters