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22/02/2023 –
VALÈNCIA (VP). Félix Delaguía, a specialist in tax and real estate law, together with his partner, Sonia Gomez Luzón, runs Delaguía & Luzón, a law firm of lawyers and tax advisors based in Valencia, with more than 50 years of experience and specialising in labour, legal and tax advice.
What makes you different at Delaguía & Luzón?
We have several areas of expertise that complement each other, because we are lawyers, tax advisors and accountants at the same time, hence our ability to provide our clients with a clear, transparent and comprehensive response. It should be noted that 80% of our clients are foreigners, most of them French-speaking, as we are recognised and certified by the French Embassy. We also collaborate with the French and Belgian Chambers of Commerce in Valencia, and we are partners in France of the law and accountancy firm Hans & Associes, which is a firm with more than 30 offices and 350 professionals.
Specifically, what kind of advice do you offer?
For companies, we offer comprehensive financial, tax, legal and corporate management advice, including all commercial and tax procedures (company incorporations, capital increases or reductions, share transfers, changes of director, shareholder agreements, etc.).
In the area of personal taxation, we work for both residents and non-residents. Our objective is to optimise and avoid double taxation. Lately we have a lot of demand from Spanish residents who have worked abroad during their career, and are returning. In our opinion, this movement will increase in the coming years as many Spanish expats want to retire or return to Spain after years of professional life abroad.
We also act in international successions, when the deceased or one of his heirs or an estate has a link with Spain. This service is also in great demand as there are more and more links between non-Spanish people with assets in various countries, including Spain, and this will mean that in the future these matters will not be understood without an international perspective, as well as knowledge of the civil legal system of various countries.
Finally, we offer a legal support service within the framework of a real estate acquisition, from the purchase offer to the signing before a notary, a function which does not exist in Spain and which is very much required by foreigners, given the differences with the role of the notary in Spain compared to other countries, where they act almost like lawyers, which is not the case here.
And what makes you different from other international law firms in Valencia?
We are a Valencian law firm, with decades of local experience. We know the Spanish regulations in line with international regulations and we know how to optimise their Spanish application, according to the specificities of each person, whether they are Spanish residents or not. Therefore, our way of working is based on both Spanish and foreign experience, as most of us have had expatriate experience. The languages we work in are French, English and Russian all of them at native level and obviously Spanish and Valencian for our compatriots.
Why do you find it interesting to address an international clientele?
Valencia is changing and every day there are more and more foreigners wanting to settle or invest here, whether they are European or not, for example there are currently many Canadians attracted to Valencia, a fact that was not frequent a few years ago… It is worth highlighting the new visa for digital nomads that allows them greater facilities.
In short, Valencia is valorated for the quality of life we have, but in line with the new professional market. In our opinion, this momentum will continue for a few years, given our competitiveness in terms of market also compared to Madrid or Barcelona. We would like to highlight the new trends in more ecological and shared housing projects such as coliving, which allow for a more open and flexible installation.
Do you also advise foreign companies?
Yes, in fact it is one of the areas with the greatest boom in the last 2 years after the pandemic. We help companies based abroad who want to have an entity in Spain, and bring workers to our territory. We accompany them in the creation of the company or the identification of the holding company in Spain, then the recruitment of the employees, and all the additional tax services once here, etc.
The important thing for these companies is to work face to face and as a team. It is a demand that they always ask us for, because the new style of work is professional to professional, where with social networks and internet, people are more informed every day, and what they are looking for is confirmation.