When you invest with ABIS, you are not buying shares directly in a Spanish property company. You are buying shares in a UK holding company, which in turn owns the property company that holds the hotel. It is a deliberate piece of structuring, and one that carries a genuine, practical benefit for our investors.
The problem it solves
Hotels are, by nature, local businesses. The building, the operating licence and the company that runs the hotel all sit in the country where the hotel itself is located — Spain, in the case of our current portfolio. That is exactly where they belong.
Our investors, however, are rarely based in that same country. Most live in the UK, elsewhere in Europe, or further afield. When a Spanish company pays money to someone living outside that country, the local tax authority deducts a share of it before the payment is even made. This is a routine part of how cross-border investment income works, and it applies regardless of who is investing or how the deal is structured.
That deducted amount is not lost. In most cases it can be reclaimed, or offset against tax owed at home, under the tax treaty between the investor's country and Spain. But the process to do so involves paperwork, proof of residency, and often a wait measured in months rather than days before the balance is returned.
What the UK holding company changes
By placing a UK company between the investor and the local property company, the payment an investor actually receives is made by the UK company, not directly from Spain.
The UK does not deduct tax from dividend payments. As a result, there is no longer a deduction abroad followed by a separate reclaim at home — there is a single point at which tax is dealt with: the investor's own annual tax return, in their own country, under rules they already understand.
It is worth being precise about what this does, and does not, achieve. It does not reduce the total amount of tax owed. Investors still declare the income and pay tax on it in the ordinary way, according to their own country of residence. What the structure removes is the friction in getting there — the deduction, the reclaim, the delay — replacing it with a single, straightforward step.
A recognised approach, not a shortcut
This is not a workaround unique to ABIS. It reflects how well-structured cross-border property investment is generally arranged across Europe. Fractional and syndicated real estate offerings are routinely built this way, for the same reason: it keeps legal ownership of the asset precisely where it should be, while keeping the investor's own position as simple as it can reasonably be made.
In practical terms, it also means every investor in a given project, regardless of where they are based, receives their return through the same UK entity, under the same terms — without needing to engage directly with Spanish tax administration.
Where independent advice still matters
This structure simplifies where and how tax is dealt with. It does not remove the need for proper, personal advice. Every investor's position depends on where they are resident, what other income they have, and the specific treaty that applies to them — and that is a conversation worth having with a qualified adviser before investing, not after. What we can say with confidence is that the structure itself is designed to make that conversation as straightforward as possible.
Explore our current opportunities
You can view our current fractional hotel investment opportunities, including our 4-star hotel in Galicia and the Nova Ruta Hotel and Restaurant, on our fractional ownership page.
Galicia 4-star hotel and Nova Ruta Hotel & Restaurant — structured through our UK holding company.
Straightforward structures for serious cross-border investors.