Saturday 16 July 2016

Three Ways to Avoids Crowds this Summer in Spain


Three Ways to Avoids Crowds this Summer in Spain


Spain has gone from preparing for the busiest summer ever to living with it. As the temperature rises the crowds are rising with it.

You and always avoid the crowds in the Costa del Sol
Even though Spain is expecting millions more visitors than usual thanks to terrorism scaring people away from other popular destinations, it’s still entirely possible for you to find your own little private piece of paradise. As long as you know where to find it anyway.

            1.      Keep Going South

There are a number of great beaches in the Costa del Sol including Pureto Banús, the Golden Mile, and Terremolinos. The Costa del Sol has everything you need to sit yourself down on the sand and occasionally slip into the sea.

During the summer however it also has a lot of tourists come by. You should be able to find a little patch of beach to sit down on but if you want some peace and quiet at the beach you need to keep going south. Go as south as you can. Go past Estepona, past Manilva, even go past Tarifia. Keep going until you reach Zahara de los Atunes. This is where the peace and quiet you’ve been craving is, along with the beautiful white sand and stunning ocean view.

2.      Run to The Hills

The roads heading in from the coastline resort make their way through plenty of mountains and scrubland before reaching those little towns and pueblos. Some of these roads will deliver you to the hidden traditional part of Spain. They show you the world of pueblos holding on to the hills, surrounding by beautiful valleys of olive and citrus groves.

Everything disappears and what you’re left with is pure, unfiltered Spain. It’s cheaper and friendlier than the rest of Spain too, with things moving at a pace you didn’t think existed anymore.

There are three inland villages in particular you owe it to yourself to visit; Yunquera, Alozaina and Casaraboneloa. They’re all pretty close to each other and just down the road from Marbella, making them seem like an entirely different world away from the Costa del Sol.

3.      Leave Early

This is less of an insider tip and more common sense really. But take a second to consider it. The Costa del Sol is filled with party towns. The people there won’t be waking up until around 11AM. So if you leave early and head out at 8 you can beat the crowds. Everything will be practically empty and yours to enjoy at your leisure.


Things get warm when the sun rises. Take a dip in the sea and dry off under the sun by 9 and take a morning stroll without getting too sweaty. Things are beautiful during a summer morning. You can see and do what you want to do before anyone else even wakes up.

Friday 15 July 2016

Property Prices up In Over 30 Spanish Provinces




Property Prices up In Over 30 Spanish Provinces

Even after Brexit the Costa del Sol will always be in demand
The demand for Spanish property from both domestic and foreign buyers is on the up, with house prices rising with it for more than 30 of the 50 Spanish provinces.

This price increase has been seen and enjoyed mostly in the Costa del Sol but it’s taken a little longer for the rest of the country to catch up.

It’s only natural that the Costa del Sol would see all of the attention as it is the healthiest holiday and property market in the country. The rest of the country catches up to Costa del Sol eventually and now it looks like it has. Property valuation firm Tinsa released new data showing that average property prices are on the up for over half of the country.

Spanish provinces are a little smaller than the Autonomous Regions such as Catalonia and Andalucía and so they offer a better insight into how things are. The province of Málaga for example covers the Costa del Sol so it’s seen the best recovery figures. Even so the smaller provinces are beginning to report increases of their own.

The data from Tinsa shows that Spanish property prices have risen an average of 0.8% in the past 12 months, with higher increases of up to 6% seen in regions around Marbella. When broken down the Tinsa data shows that 30 of the 50 Spanish provinces have reported a rise in average house prices since the second quarter of 2015.

The sharpest rise came out of La Rioja, one of the hardest hit y the post-boom slump. The rises are evidence that the region is slowly recovering. La Rioja is one of the places along the Mediterranean coast so it was only natural the region would recover eventually. Every province along the coastline except for Murcia saw prices increase year-over-year.

The data also showed that the price recovery has stretched and is now reaching the more domestically-driven markets away from the more popular regions like Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and the Canaries. Places like Extremadura, Castilla La-Mancha and Castilla y León are reporting their own property price increases.

The data from Tinsa is extrapolated over the entire past 12-month period. So the data builds on the recent data out of the EU showing that property prices in spain were up over 4% in the previous quarter.

Thursday 14 July 2016

Will Things Be Different Now? The Spanish Have Voted, But There’s Still a Deadlock


Will Things Be Different Now? The Spanish Have Voted, But There’s Still a Deadlock




Spanish acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy once more got the most votes in the general election but, once again, his People’s Party failed to get that much needed majority government.

Mariano Rajoy definitely looked triumphant, and it’s not hard to see why. His party once again won the most votes in the general election. It would appear to be a good sign that the country has a lot of faith in his ability to run the country but, as things always are in Spanish politics, things are never how they appear.

While the country did manage to win the most votes once again, winning 137 seats and 33% of the votes, this still wasn’t enough to secure them an overall majority. So once again the country is in almost the exact same situation they were after the general election of December.

If there is to be a proper government in Spain then a coalition needs to be put together. If Rajoy wants to stay Prime Minister then he needs to get the support of other parties in order to put together a majority government. This might not be too likely given that his party leans to the right while his main rivals, the Socialist PSOE (who won 85 seats and 23% of the votes), Podemos (71 seats and 21%) and Ciudadanos (32 seats, 13%) are all leaning to the left.

What this means is that the PP would likely need to get support from the smaller parties. These parties only have 25 seats between them though. Even if he got the support of all of them it would not be enough to put a majority government together.

Rajoy is optimistic though. He said that he believes they will be able to come to an agreement within a month and that there was no point in continuing to drag things out for longer.

The PP received some surprising support from within the Socialist PSOE party. The Extremadura leader Guillermo Fernández Vara believes that Rajoy should be back in government as soon as possible. The PP at least managed to secure more votes than they earned in December with 15 more seats than that general election. Vara believes that this shows the voters back Rajoy and now it’s what they need to do too.

The secretary of PSOE César Luena has other ideas however. He says that their party doesn’t plan to support the PP because of his taxation policies in Spain; saying instead that they plan to replace Rajoy. So this political circus is set to carry on for a while yet. Podemos, who were expected to earn more votes this time, actually lost around a million votes. One suggestion political commentators have made is that the Brexit has put people off voting for the radical parties with more people voting for the status quo.

In the end though the extra PP votes are not enough to let them assume control of the country. Even though the party was in charge as the economy began to recover many people in Spain are still eager to see change happen. It may be that Podemos are trying to change too much however and the change the Socialists are offering is less dramatic than that of Podemos.

It’s not hard to understand why all of this has become so confusing. For now though it’s hoped that the political parties will be able to put aside their differences and come together to do what is right for the people of Spain by keeping the economy moving and the cost of living in spain down , but only time will tell.

Wednesday 13 July 2016

16.5% of Flights to Spain in May Came From The UK


16.5% of Flights to Spain in May Came From The UK


Malaga Airport is living up to its new expansion
with record number of Brits coming to
the Costa del Sol
Even though the summer has just started Spanish airports are already seeing record passenger numbers.

Things may be heating up with the Brexit but no matter what comes from the result it’s clear that Brits just can’t get enough of Spain.

While things are still heating up in the relationship between the EU and the UK, with people throwing around xenophobia and mistrust, the latest data suggests that Spain is still very much beloved by the UK.

The figures in question show that 16.5% of all the passengers arriving at Spanish airports during May were either coming from or going back to airports in the UK, helping lead to the overall rise of 11.3% in overall passengers over the last month. A total of 13.43 million Brits have passed through a Spanish airport during the first five months of 2016.

Spanish airports were just under 12% busier this May than they were in May of last year. So it looks like Spain really could see their old tourism records smashed in 2016.

During the first five months of 2016 all 16 of Spain’s major airports saw a dramatic increase in visitors. El Prat in Barcelona alone saw 16 million passengers during this time; a rise of 13.4% compared to last year.

The Barajas airport in Madrid was just as busy. They saw just over 19 million passengers themselves and Malaga Airport saw an impressive 5.7 million passengers. Overall over 21 million people made their way through Spanish airport terminals in May. That’s one record down already as this number is much higher than the older record set in May of 2008.

The Spanish airport management company Aena said that this rise in popularity is due to the cheaper fuel, leading to a drop in airfares, as well as the relative safety of the country. Spain is now a safer country than other popular tourist destinations Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia.

The drive is almost definitely coming from tourism though as the increase is mostly down to British tourists due to the cost of living being so low, and Spain being so safe and for so many other reasons. Germans came in second with 11.5% of international flights coming from Germany, with Italy and France coming in third and fourth.

Tuesday 12 July 2016

Spanish Property Prices Up At Highest Rate In Over Eight Years


Spanish Property Prices Up At Highest Rate In Over Eight Years

Spanish property prices were up 6.3% leading up to March 2016. Spain may have experienced some frantic campaigning in the lead-up to the general election last week, but the political situation caused by the December general election seems to not have affected the revival of the property market.

This was further evidenced after the national statistics unit published data showing that not only is the market growing, but property prices are also up by 6.3% in the 12 months leading to the 31st of March 2016. This is the eighth year in a row that prices have risen following the six year year-by-year fall in prices since 2007.

It’s made better news because this rise is being seen in every Spanish region. 6.3% is only the nationwide average with some areas, such as Madrid, seeing higher rises. Madrid saw the highest rises of 9.7%, the Balearics saw a rise of 8.8%, Catalunya saw a rise of 8.6% and the Canaries saw a rise of 5.9%.

Prices were up 1.5% over the rise seen in the previous quarter. The regional variations were as varied as the regional variations in overall price rise. Prices in Madrid were up 2.9% over the last quarter with a rise of 2.1% in the Canaries, a rise of 1.5% in both the Balearics and Galicia. However there was a 0.2% drop in property prices in La Rioja and a 0.4% drop in Castilla-La Mancha.
One of the biggest rises was properties for sale in the Costa del Sol as it continues its recovery.

Monday 11 July 2016

Spain Aims to Bring In Bollywood


Spain Aims to Bring In Bollywood


Spain is becoming increasingly popular with Hollywood film producers and now the country is trying to be just as appealing to Bollywood, bringing in plenty of Indian filmmakers in the process.

Bollywood loves the Spanish fiestas and celebrations.
The Spanish landscapes and cities are often used in movies that require a Wild West background. Spain also played host to some of the locations in Star Wars and has even Game of Thrones has been filmed there.

What Spain expects will appeal to the Bollywood boys are the ferias and fiestas and celebrations in Spain. Bringing in Bollywood also means bringing in a lot of Indian tourists with it too, a win-win for the country.

Madrid will play host to the annual International Film Awards; essentially the Indian Oscars. The event is going to bring some of the biggest stars of Bollywood to Spain including major names like Hrithik Roshan, star of the 2011 Bollywood epic Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

While you might struggle to get your mouth around that name you should definitely try and find a copy of it for yourself. The movie was set in Spain, with the La Tomatina festival in Buñol featured in the movie. It was filmed in Seville, Barcelona and the Costa Brava. It was the best selling movie of 2011 in Bollywood and brought a lot of positive attention to the diverse landscapes Spain offers to Bollywood producers.

Enrique Ruiz de Lera, the director of the London office of Turespaña, the company behind the deal with Bollywood producers, told the Spanish media that they saw an instant rise in the number of people requesting visas to get into Spain.

The figures released by the Spanish tourism industry show that over 60,000 Indian tourists came to the country in 2011, much higher than the previous year. The number had risen again by 2015; this time to 85,000. As the middle-class of India grows so too does the number of people making their way to Spain; already the top tourist destination in Europe.

The UN World Tourism Organisation expect that 50 million tourists worldwide will come from India by 2020, a massive increase on the 18 million Indian tourists of 2014. The tourism board of Spain, Turespaña, believe that the biggest factor in the rise of Spanish popularity with India is the success of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and they are keen to do more business with Bollywood.

Turespaña are expected to put together adverts featuring top Bollywood stars enjoying themselves at the Madrid show and in some of the more extravagant locations of Spain, showcasing what the country has to offer.