Buy a bar resturant snackbar in mallorca 2010 brings a new season for bar owners. Buying a bar easy easy with basic paperwork and low business taxes.

The information below is a guide The guide was written by James in Mallorca 0n the island of Majorca and is hopefully a helpful guide into the process of buying a snack bar, restaurant cafee and will help avoid problems and hidden costs that may come with the business you choose .

Where to Start first thought whisn place choose an area ask james for list on best places.

Find a marina bar or beach bar just where do you start to look? In a town city or just in a village you will need help to find that great location.
Lease or
Freehold.
Your Time Scale.
Deposit what cash do you have
Renting reasons why not to?
Solicitor's
Tax
Electric and Water Bills
Hidden Costs you might want to change the style of trading of the business.
Learn the Language find the best and easy way for your family or team.
Things to Look for…make a list.
Where do you Start.?

It's most people's dreams to live in a different country and have a new life style with warmer weather all year round and to of course, make a lot more money. For me and my friend we started out by visiting Mallorca island of Majorca Spain quite a few times and getting to know the Spanish people and their ways. This can be an important part to the whole process as there is not always a friendly English  speaking community who will help you out.

We also did some research on the Internet and found many different web site dedicated to selling business in mallorca. After some time, doing research online and chatting to people in Palma de mallorca by phone.After sometime came across a cafe's bar that we liked the looks of. After a few  e-mails we went  to view this bar business and around 3 months later we purachase a trespaso lease.

 Trespaso or Lease.

With  this type of leasehold you are basically buying a rental contract for 5- 20 years . You are buying the contract off the landlord/lady who you will pay a monthly rent to. The rent can be anything from 700 euro upwards most are around 900 per month for a good class of property.

 Trespaso leasehold is by far the cheaper of any of the options in buying a business but if you have plenty of money to spare you could buy its freehold. When you have bought a lease by  funding it with our own money  you are know set to start trading  and will need help with licences and local taxes.Freehold near a beach with an apartment. find special staff with the right skills all you need to do is email us.         Yacuk1 @gmail.com

A Freehold

It is just like buying a property lawyer yes you need one. contract pre sale yes. final purchase contract and part with your money.

Best time Scales.
Seek advce on seasons and periods of slower trading find someone like James on the island of Mallorca always keep his mobile number to hand.
A Soulution is not always quick when you are abroad simply .don't expect anything to be quicker than your home country in Spain things and life style along with the pace are much slower. Fiesta days etc..

Things may seem to go quick but you will probably hit a snag. In addition, the Spanish paper work can be rather laid back and they never  seem to rush to do anything or see the need to speed things up. I would not worry about this though as once you have been living out in Balearics for a few months you will soon be joining them like we all do for afternoon naps. Paperwork normally takes  around 2 months but only a day to secure the contract. You can specify a time but obviously both parties have to agree so in theory it could take a few weeks normally.

 Cash Deposit.

Putting down a large deposit is advised as the Spanish have a lovely law for this area. If you put down a 5,000 euros deposit and it's agreed and the landlord property owner pulls out of the deal they have to give you double your deposit back. Should you pull out you lose the deposit so ensure that you are fully committed to buying the property before you put a deposit down you can appoint a key holder should you need to go back home to finish pack etc..

It's wise to make arrangements to visit places with James  first and find out as much information as possible. This way  there will only be small  surprises and the smaller you get the better it will be for you.

When you buy a business do not expect it to come with an apartment, a lot of the business for sale do not come with an apartments so this is your first extra cost a place to live.

 Finding somewhere? Renting.

When you first move over to Mallorcaor Majorca (or anywhere for that matter) unless you can afford to buy a apartment outright you will have to arrange rental property for 6 or 11 months. The reason for buying an apartment is that you need to be a resident and have a NIF/NIE number before you can get a mortgage but you maybe able to arrange a rent to buy option. Remember you also need to prove your income which is difficult when owning a bar as not many people keep this information or throw away the papers they need.

Renting is much the same as it is in the UK. You pay a deposit and a few months rent in advance and normally sign a contract. You will be looking at anything between 700 - 1600+ euros a month depending on what you go for villas, chalet or finca

Solicitors.

When you have signed your pre-contract for the business you then need a solicitor to finalize every thing. There are a few on the Island but we went with a company called  Ortaga Adrover  which has proven to be one of the smartest moves we have made. The people you deal with here are very helpful with everything and anything. They will keep you on the straight and narrow with bills and all legal issues.

Taxes.

The tax can be on the number of tables  members of staff and number of names on the bar licence, this price of this of course depends on these factors.  James leaves the Tax to be  dealt by a solicitor or notary (he/they should arrange which is best for you). Below is an example of how you pay the tax for the bar you own.

An example is:-                                                   Email  us for examples of the type of business you wish to buy.

Leased contract monthly.
Costs you might not know of.
Electric and Water Bills every two months.
Basura rubbish costs.
eb local taxes.

The electric and water are quite a cheap bill. The easiest method of paying these bills is to setup a direct debit payment which can be easy enough if you can speak Spanish Catalan or have someone go with you to the bank who can.  These things could be the last thing on your mind but are better not missed.
National Insurance needs to be paid for you and your bar staff. You pay this at the end of each month as normal like you would if you worked in the UK and you have to pay for anyone who you employ contracts can be short 6 months.

Change of Licence will of course have to happen. This cost us around 700 euros which is a one off payment. 

Community charge is a bill (amount depending on location) that you pay to keep the surrounding area tidy and in good repair.

Bins which are located around your bar business and obviously keep the area tidy is basura tax,  a quarterly 6 month or yearly bill you will have to pay to help keep the bins emptied and the streets clean Rubbish is collected three time a week normally.

Learn the Languages

When living abroad it's a must you learn some of the local language. There is going to be times when you are faced with a job or information that is in Spanish Catalan only, this could be something as simple as paying your water bill but without either some Spanish Catalan behind you or a friend who knows Spanish you are going to have trouble communicating what your wishes are.

Things to look for…

When buying a bar there are a few area's to look out for.

   Electrics - A lot of bars are still running on 2 phase electricity which is being phased out and being changed to 3 phase.

   Air Condition - Basically all bars should have air conditioning so something to look out for

Note: When you are going from place to place setting up  banks direct debits ensure you take a photo copy of your NIE/NIF number, Passport original and a contract licence as most places will need a these.

 There is so much that I've probably missed out something but this should help you and get you started. Please email me with things or matters as they change .   The page will be updated when I get new information which I think will prove helpful to anyone thinking about buying a bar so be sure to check back and add this page to your favourite so you can always find us.

The above is for information purpose only.  Ensure that if you are interested in buying a bar to take the correct legal route to ensure everything is above board and within the law of Spain.

Email   yacuk1@gmail.com           mobile 0034 680 562 418  call james  mobile email via gmail.