Typical! My Spanish bank, BBVA, is threatening to shut my
account down if I don’t give information for the “Ley de Blanqueo de Capital”
they want to make sure I am not spending government money on hookers and
chalets, or something like that. BBVA wants my passport, they want to know how
I make my money – here in the US!
I tell them I don’t even live in Madrid, I just visit,
I filled out the “form of no residente” I have a bank account to pay for my
piso expenses, mortgage, gas, luz,. Not
enough info, they want more would you please call us says BBVA?
So I call from California,
they ask me their most obsessive question, “is your job in the US Temporary or Permanent? ” ONLY
TWO CHOICES! Temporary or Permanent, always the same obsession – permanent job
of course is the only correct answer that ANYBODY wants to hear. If you don’t
have a permanent job you are a nobody, a low-life, and a nothing.
So, what do I answer at 5 am in the morning still slightly
groggy? Well, first off, “Temporary” and “Permanent” mean nothing to an
American, ALL jobs are temporary! Next, I own a company, a corporation, a small
corporation, but a corporation none the less, with employees - of which I am
one. So what am I? Temporary or Permanent? As far as I am concerned NOTHING is
permanent, especially my corporation, my “job”, even if I have been 21 years in
business. Market conditions could change and I could be out. So I make a fatal
error, I say “Self-Employed”.
ALARMS GO OFF! The BBVA dude’s computer freezes up. He says,
his computer will not accept “self-employed”. There are only two choices in
Spain TEMPORARY or PERMANENT. I pause ... I say….. you know… I am an employee of my company
so my job is permanent. Yes, please put down Permanent. TOO LATE! Can’t continue! Computer won't accept it! Please go to your
bank branch – In Madrid! To finish the form.
So Spain,
I’d like to say a few words in defense of the Self-Employed. Do you know how
many people in the US
are self-employed and who contribute to the economy? Give people jobs, create
products and major innovations? A SHIT LOAD! You do know that Bill Gates, Steve
Jobs, Elon Musk, were all self-employed when they started, right?
No box to check for “self-employed” ? Spain, that’s a problem….
