Friday 30 December 2016

Three Great Ways to Ring in the New Year, Spanish Style



Three Great Ways to Ring in the New Year, Spanish Style
Bringing in the New Year in Marbella is always special
Okay it’s not even Christmas, but with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas sometimes we forget about New Year’s Eve until it’s midnight and you’re by yourself with the TV listening to other people having a lot of fun.

The good news is that if you’re spending New Year’s Eve in Spain then you’re never too far away from the nearest party. This is one of the great things about living in Spain and expat life; you’re surrounded by good friends who are always up for a laugh.

However the waiting will always prove to be the hardest part. It’s all too easy to find yourself thinking that someone else will do something, just as you would in any crowd. This can often leave everyone disappointed. So why not handle things a little differently this year?

Here are three great ways to ring in the new year, Spanish style, to give yourself the best start to 2017 possible.

12 Lucky Grapes
Wine is made using grapes and Spaniards eat grapes at the stroke of midnight for good luck. If you remember that wine is made with grapes you’ve got a good idea where we’re going with this. The tradition is to eat 12 grapes, one at each stroke of midnight. Why not break from tradition just a little and have a little bit of wine each strike instead? 12 sips is about half a glass and you’ll have already had a lot by then so it’s not like a little more can hurt.

On the Right Foot
Some areas of Spain observe the tradition of starting the year off on the right foot literally. So you would need to step forward with the right foot as the clock strikes midnight. Let’s get a little more creative with this. What about if your right foot stepped you into something different, like a pool? Or into a limousine ready to take you out? Or maybe it just takes you to the stereo so you can change the music. It doesn’t matter where it takes you. What matters is that you start the new year in a memorable fashion.

Do it Twice!
Thanks to the strange time-zone that Spain is in the country as an hour ahead of their neighbour Portugal. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous and want to keep the party going then why not have to New Year’s Eves by driving and head to Portugal to do it all over again? It can be boring to just wait at the border so instead you should ring in the new year in Spain in the western town Badajoz. From there you grab your designated driver and make the 25-minute drive across the border to Elvas. If you time it right then it’ll be about 11:30 PM and you can regale the locals with tales of the future.

Thursday 29 December 2016

FT Reporting Stars Are Aligning for the Spanish Property Market



Spanish Property Market has grown and strengthened


Spain has finally turned the property corner and the
next 7 years looks excellent, buy property Costa del Sol.
The Financial Times are reporting that the  Spanish property industry has grown and strengthened so much that it recently turned a very large corner.

Following the massive price declines of up to 42% that happened between 2007 – 2014, the Spanish property market of today is filled with much more confidence and activity across the country. The market is supported by the improved economy, a new government, and the ever-present foreign investment.

During the third quarter of the year property prices went up by 7% and 9% respectively in Madrid and Barcelona over last year, with an increase in nationwide sales by 10% according to the latest data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE).

The FT is reporting that investors can see how well the Spanish economy is growing and that businesses are beginning to jump back into commercial real estate.

Fernando Encinar, the co-founder of property portal Idealista spoke to the FT and said that there was a time between 2010 and 2012 when international investors avoided the Spanish property market. The lack of trust in the Spanish property market is gone and in its place are investors saying they want yield.

The FT reports that the recovery has been a gradual affair which is in line with how VIVA have read the market.

The post-recession upswing was originally recognised back in 2013 when the recovery began in the most protected areas such as Marbella. Following this came the interest from opportunistic investors that decided to go for those high-risk high-reward investments.

Investment firms including Cerberus Capital Management, Goldman Sachs, and Blackstone started purchasing property and it didn’t take long for private individuals to join in.

Miguel Pereda, the chief executive of Grupo Lar, says that consumption has recovered in Spain and that there has been a drop in unemployment. With an increase in consumer confidence has also come a 9.2% increase in sales for Pereda.

Investment has increased 25% in commercial real estate across the past year, with CBRE calculating that some €13 billion was invested in 2015. The amount of residential sales has also increased by figures in the double digits during the past 18 months, which has led to a snowball effect of an increase in demand and sales prices.

It looks like after six years of being considered a taboo of the economy the real estate off-plan developers are getting back in the game, and the stars are once again lining up for the Spanish property market.

Contact Costa Del Sol Property Group for the latest new builds today.