Eastenders’ Shane Richie On the Hunt for Costa del Sol Property

Eastenders’ Shane Richie House Hunting  Costa del Sol Property

There are some great things about Albert Square – there’s the local pub, the busy market, a café, a laundrette, and a train station that no one uses. Despite all these strengths it’s still nothing compared to the Costa del Sol.

With the Costa del Sol having one of the best climates

in the world and only 2.5 hours from the uk, it no wonder that

more and more stars are coming here.  

This is a fact that many, including actor Shane Richie, understand perfectly well. Shane is most-known for his portrayal of Alfie Moon in Eastenders. The Olive Press newspaper are now reporting that this 52 year old actor is looking for property in the Costa del Sol region and has been for a few months now.

It was believed that Richie wanted to find a beachside property in Calahonda but now he had his wife, Christie Goddard, are moving inland to take a look at some of the more traditional townhouses of Marbella.

Richard and Goddard married in 2007 and have three children together. No doubt a Costa del Sol property would make an excellent summer getaway for the family who are currently based in London.

Richie gained his love for Spain when he spent a lot of time in the Costa Brava while he was filming the hit ITV show Benidorm. An Olive Press source says that Richie wants to keep his options open. He would still prefer a property in Calahonda but he would be open to purchasing a villa, a townhouse, or a beachside property.

It’s not unheard of for popular British soap stars to find themselves falling in love with the Costa del Sol. Beverley Callard, known for playing Liz McDonald in Coronation Street, has been living along the coast for many years now. Richie’s fellow Eastenders actor Mike Reid, known for playing Frank Butcher, spent his final years in and around Marbella before he passed away in 2007.

There are a number of other TV stars who have lived in theCosta del Sol at some point or another including Cilla Black, Freddie Star, and Elliot Wright; former star of The Only Way is Essex.

Spanish Property Prices Continue Steady Climb in Summer

Spanish Property Prices Continue Steady Climb in Summer

Even Breix hasn't stopping the continual rise of prices

Spanish property prices are being knocked up a little as banks are becoming more generous with their money, which leads to higher demand and property prices.

Average house costs in Spain have risen by around 2% over the past 12 months leading to June 30^th, according to Ministry of Development data.

The figures from the Ministry show that the average price for a square metre of property is €1,506. This is the first time that figure has risen past €1,500 per-square-metre since 2013. The data also confirms that this quarter is the fifth in a row where the property prices were higher over the previous year, a complete turnaround on the six-year trend that saw the opposite be true.

To put it simply Spanish property prices have stopped declining, have stabilised, and have even begun increasing. There are some regions where property prices have been rising for a little longer, such as the ever-popular Costa del Sol, while other regions, particularly the inland regions that rarely see tourists or investors, have struggled to catch up.

Nowadays it looks like even that trend has stopped. The economic recovery of Spain may be slow but it’s steady and tangible. This year there were more jobs and a greater level of employment security than over a decade in Spain. This, when coupled with the confidence in the banking sector, has led to a market that is great for investment; which leads to property prices increasing.

Unfortunately not everyone is enjoying higher property prices. The trend is bucked in some regions including Navarra, Aragón and the Basque Country, where property prices are still declining.

It’s also worth noting that, while property prices are rising, they are still below the peak of 2008. Back then a square metre of property was worth around €2,101. These days house prices are around 28% less but they are at least above the lowest point of €1,456 per square metre seen in the third quarter of 2014.

Spanish Fashion Retailer Zara Leads Global Fashion Stakes

Spanish Fashion Retailer Zara Leads Global Fashion Stakes

The Spanish high street fashion retailer Zara has had one incredible year so far. Profits are up by over 8% compared to last year, fuelled in part by the company in Spain adopting a new business model.

Zara is led by one of the world’s richest men and Spanish entrepreneur Amancio Ortega, founder of the Inditex Group. In the six months following February 1^st the company reported €10.5 billion global sales for profits of €1.3 billion.

What is the secret to their success? Ortega believes that the success comes from their ability to get the latest fashion trends in their stores before any of their rivals can and offering them at competitive prices.

This is the business model that gave Zara the leeway to expand their global reach as they opened up 80 new stores around the world in the first half of the year. Zara also make their clothes closer to the markets that they serve as Zara clothes are typically made in Spain as the cost of living and manufacturing has been low including Portugal and North Africa, rather than the cheaper but more remote areas of China and India. As such they are just able to get their clothe sin the stores faster and easier than competing brands.

The company say that they can have a new design in store within just two weeks of it being drawn up, which shows how much Ortega cares about always being first and keeping up with the fickle world of fashion.

Zara represent a true Spanish success story and they have been enjoying these highs for a while now, but things can always change and experts agree that Zara can’t afford to rest on their laurels.

Making a big profit is actually a risk, according to Business Strategy Professor at the Madrid branch of Boston’s Suffolk University Noel Byrne. He warns that having a lot of profit means that your competition want a piece of the pie.

Byrne suggests that Zara should try to expand into the Asian markets, in particular South Korea and China. These two countries have seen the highest increases in individual spending on clothes since 2004.

The Spanish Economy Upturn Creates More Cars and Multimillionaires

The Spanish Economy Upturn Creates More Cars and Multimillionaires

Spain has always welcomed the rich and famous and now the economic recovery means that even the average Spaniards are enjoying having more money in their wallets.

The future looks bright in Spain as all sectors are doing well.

The dark days that used to plague the Spanish economy appear to have lasted from 2009 to 2013. The market really boomed following the millennium with everyone getting their hands on credit and good wages. It looked like the fun would never end. Rising so high just meant that the inevitable crash was so much worse. It was made even worse because the country was finally able to say goodbye to the dictator Franco before everything went wrong.

Spain seems to have learned a lot from the double-dip recession and the country is now heading down the road of growth. Economists across all of Europe are predicting that Spain with its low cost of living will be one of the fastest-growing economies across all of the Eurozone both this year and next year. It’s not hard to see why given how well Spain has been doing in their top industries such as property, tourism, manufacturing and agriculture.

More good news was delivered this week with two additional metrics. Now the official data shows that Spain is selling more vehicles and there are more multimillionaires spreading the wealth.

Car sales are always a good indicator of how much confidence the people have in the economy of their country. When things aren’t going so well, such as when jobs are scarce, pay is low, and credit is hard to find, there’s always a drop in car sales. Many families feel that a car is something they can live without if they need to. Of course vehicle sales start to pick back up when things look better.

The statistics published this past week by the national association of car salesman of Spain; the GANVAM, showed that almost 1.3 million vehicles were sold in Spain between January and August. This is an increase of almost 13% compared to this time period last year. It looks like Spain could very well see more than 2 million cars sold by the end of the year; a feat not seen in seven years.

There’s also a higher demand for new cars with vehicles that are less than three years old accounting for almost a third of those sales.

The Spanish tax agency published data that shows that the amount of Spaniards declaring more than €30 million of assets last year was up 8% on the amount the previous year, which is another good sign the economy is doing better. Even the Spanish property market has finished its 7 year down cycle and is heading up in the right direction.

Recent Marches Show How Much Spanish Love to Protest

Recent Marches Show How Much Spanish Love to Protest

Even though the tourism industry is booming, the economy is recovering, and the politicians can’t agree on anything, there are still problems the Spanish wish to air. The two main issues are Catalonia’s bid for independence and bullfighting.

Spanish citizens love to protest and come out in large numbers

It’s estimated that some 540,000 people attended a rally held in Barcelona on Sunday. The rally was held to support the creation of a legally binding independence referendum. The leader of the separatists Carles Puigdemont has set a target of 2017 as the deadline for when Catalans should be given the vote on if they want to be independent from Spain.

Madrid has always stopped these independence efforts and will likely do so this time around. Even though it looks like Catalonia will never win this battle it is never enough to stop them from fighting it. The Catalan National Day is regularly used as a means to drum up more support for the independence bid. There was also a non-legally binding vote held back in 2014 that saw 1.6 million Catalonians say they favoured a split from Spain. This should be all the proof that is needed to secure a vote on the issue.

There is just something about the psyche of the Spanish and Catalan people that sees opposing injustice as a virtue. As such the Spaniards are often marching or protesting for a good portion of the year.

There was another protest held in the capital of Madrid about something that is close to the heart of millions around the world as well as the Spanish. That is the issue of bullfighting. There are many supporters of bullfighting but it looks like the bloodsport has no place in the more modern and liberal Spain, never mind in society as a whole.

Thousands of people marched through Spain declaring that if bullfighting was a representation of Spain they must not be Spanish. This is a valid and interesting interpretation of the history of Spain. Indeed if the Spanish no longer identify with something that has long been used to represent Spain and her people then is it still valid in Spanish society?

It looks like the protests are having an effect and the popularity of bullfighting is on the way down. “Only” 1,736 bullfights happened across Spain which is down 132 from 2014. Whether it is traditional or not it looks like Spaniards are turning their back on the sport but some would argue that apathy is perhaps more dangerous than opposition.

Whether this apathy for bullfighting infects the fight for independence for Catalan remains to be seen, but it doesn’t seem likely given the passion of the Catalan people.

Spain Second Best Place for Expats to Live According to HSBC Poll

Spain Second Best Place for Expats to Live According to HSBC Poll

Spain and the Costa del Sol continues to attract

expats looking for a better quality of life and a low cost of living.

If you want your experience as an expat to be one of fun, safety, and relaxation then you should definitely consider Spain. HSBC recently ran their latest Expat Explorer Survey and it showed that Spain was ranked second globally. Spain did particularly well when it comes to health, culture, the quality of life, cost of living and the Spanish social life.

Even though Singapore came first again Spain still showed that it was a country that was able to deliver things that matter to expats. They were ranked first when it comes to health and second on categories relating to the quality of life and the social life.

Spain came in 16^th place overall out of the 66 countries included. Spain was let down it’s below average ranking in economic performance; especially career progression, wage growth, and job security.

Most people who are considering moving to Spain would feel that it ticks every box for them if they don’t need to work though. This is why retirees have always loved Spain, as have families who want access to great healthcare, a good climate, and a fun and varied social life.

The HSBC survey takes countries and ranks them across the three main categories of economics, experience, and family. Each category also has several sub-categories. Spain came in second overall in the Experience section (New Zealand came first), and did well in each sub-category including property, safety, integration, making friends, and culture. It also came in fifth in the Family category, with Sweden coming first. Spain performed well in tolerance, childcare, education and integration.

When it came to money Switzerland was king as over 30% of expats living in Switzerland earned over $200,000. The UK stuck to their reputation of being about as average as possible; coming in 20^th and neither failing nor exceeding in anything. London itself at least performed well when it came to job prospects.

The data from this survey shows that there are three kinds of expats; there are those who move for work, those who move for family, and those looking for a higher quality of life. If family and life are what matter to you then Spain is the place for you.