Friday 17 March 2017

Three Signs Winter is Well and Truly Over in the Costa del Sol


The temperature is rising and everyone is out and about
Are there really people out there who still don’t understand the great climate that Spain has? It’s not much of a secret that the Spanish weather is delightful, but many people only know what Spain is like during the summer; when the skies are blue, the beaches are packed, and the sun tan lotion is constantly being applied.

What isn’t as well-known is the opinion of Spaniards and expats that the best times to visit Spain are actually the spring and the autumn. There are some obvious reasons for this if you were to think about it. These are the seasons when Spain can truly offer everything on a silver platter, but there’s none of the crowds, heat, or expenses that come with taking a trip in the summer.

It’s because of this that many Spaniards get excited when the winter settles down and spring kicks in. The Costa del Sol had a surprisingly sodden winter, but the time to celebrate the arrival of spring is now. Here are the three signs winter is well and truly over in the Costa del Sol.



The Beaches are Starting to Fill Up



As the temperature during the starts to reach between 16 and 24 Celsius during this part of the year, there’s a strong temptation to hit the beach. While the southwest winds are still bracing and tough to deal with, it’s hard to deny how inviting and warm a sheltered bit of sunshine can be. Not to mention it’s never too early to start working on your tan.


Don’t think about taking that dip in the Mediterranean Sea just yet though. Things are still very cold during the night, with temperatures dropping to below 10 Celsius, making the water colder than you think. You could find the air chased out of your lungs by the time you’re waist-deep. You can also expect those lengthened shadows cast by the setting sun to creep up on you, leaving you with a sudden chill that is a sharp contrast to the warm and inviting sunshine. Make sure you go prepared, but do go to the beach, as it will be pretty much all yours right now!

Everyone is Smiling


Spaniards are generally very happy people. Even expats from Northern Europe eventually become happy and cheery people by living in Spain. Even so, winter makes those on the Costa del Sol lose some of their cheer. At least until the weather warms up a little.

By the time February rolls around everyone is back and smiling as much as possible. The Spanish are smiling again whether they are on the bus, doing their shopping, waiting in traffic, getting served in a restaurant, or just making the rounds. Spaniards aren’t big fans of the cold. While some of them will still be fighting the elements until April, smiles are still fostered through the warmer temperatures, the extra sunlight, and the longer days. Embrace and enjoy that winter is over and that, from now on, you’re in for months of sunshine.

Thursday 16 March 2017

US Construction Firm Promises to Build Thousands of Home in Spain


US Construction Firm Promises to Build Thousands of Home in Spain


Seems like lots of countries are coming to invest and
build in Spain once again the carinas are arriving.
A lot of time and thought goes into every decision made by a major Wall Street investment firm. This is why many will welcome the news that Lone Star Funds – which began investing in the construction sector of Spain back in 2015 – have promised to increase their Spanish house building over the next few years.

This private equity-backed investment firm built 2,000 homes across 2016, and are pledging to build over 3,200 homes each year leading up to 2020; which says a lot about the way the Spanish property market has matured.

In the years between 2009 and 2016, bank lending to the Spanish real estate industry dropped 65%. This brought the construction industry of Spain to the point where any large-scale construction project would need significant private backing to succeed.

This meant that many Spanish developers were left out in the cold, hoping to receive more money from the bank or the government. Analysts say that US firms are a breed unto themselves, though.

Fernando Rodriguez, the general director of R.R. de Acuña& Asociados, a Madrid real estate firm, says that Lone Star uses an Anglo-Saxon model; meaning that they research every little detail and won’t build property in a place where demand won’t exist for the next two years at least. This approach is just what is needed by the sector, which was damaged by the Spanish method of just building whatever, whenever, and wherever. Spanish developers would just build as many houses as they wanted, which is a bad strategy.

There were around 675,000 new homes built in Spain each year between 1997 and 2006. The result was that around a million-and-a-half properties were left empty or not even finished during the crash. Most of these homes have found an owner now, but many of them are likely never going to be sold. They were built for urbanisations and towns that were never completed. Only 39,890 new homes were built in the country during 2015.

Even so, there’s now a lack of new properties in the most popular areas of Spain such as Madrid, Barcelona, and the Costa del Sol. There isn’t enough of a supply to keep up with the demand in these areas. Market analysts say that the plans Lone Star have to build a select number of houses in select areas shows that they have definitely done their research.

The wider Spanish property market – including resales – grew by over 13% last year. It’s expected that the growth will continue in the double digits for 2017 as the market continues to “normalise” and reach levels unseen since the boom period between 2007 and 2008.

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Malaga Airport Has Impressive Start to 2017 Thanks to 18.4% Increase in Passengers


Malaga Airport Has Impressive Start to 2017 Thanks to 18.4% Increase in Passengers


Tourism numbers don’t appear to be on the way down at all as 867,382 passengers passed through
Malaga airport last month, marking an increase of 18.4% year-on-year.
Malaga and the Costa del sol continue to break passenger records

This comes after a year of broken records that saw every record in Spain broken time and time again. It looks like 2017 could be another record-breaking year as airports across Spain are reporting an average increase in tourists of 10%.

The latest data from the Spanish airport operator Aena shows that all 18 of the busiest terminals in the country registered a year-on-year increase last month. The largest increase (29.3%) was reported at la Palma, which was followed by Valencia (19.8% increase) and Malaga-Costa del Sol (18.4) – the equivalent of 867,382 passengers. The stats for January 20017 showed there was a total of 7,286 take-offs and landings at the airport, which was an increase of 15.3%.

As expected, the charge was led by the UK, as 245,421 Brits entered/left Malaga during January, an increase of 18.3% over January of 2016. Next were the domestic passengers, followed by the Germans and Dutch tourists, numbering 62,184 and 54,142 respectively.

Its no wonder that Spain and Malaga area is smashing all records due to the low cost of living, great climate and southern spain represents a great place to visit and live.


Tuesday 14 March 2017

Dubai Firm Set to Make Major Investments in Spanish Property Market

Dubai Firm Set to Make Major Investments in Spanish Property Market


Investment is arriving from all corners of the world
It wasn’t all that long ago when thinking of Dubai made you think of a futuristic metropol
is, coming forth from the desert and offering affordable, luxurious property to all those who could take a trip to the UAE.

Times have certainly changed. What used to be considered the main rival for Spain in terms of investment property has now become little more than a shadow of what it once was – at least as far as expats are concerned.

Dubai was more reckless than even Spain during the property wave that peaked at the turn of the millennium, and the crash of that wave was much more spectacular. There are entire sections of the city that remain undeveloped as thousands of people lost their credit.

Dubai still retained its appeal to people with their own capital though, and the Emirates is managing to recover quite well these days. It might be a while yet before it starts rivalling the real estate recovery of Spain, but there is always opportunity whenever there is money – and Dubai certainly has money.

The opportunity appears to lie in Spain. Dubai-based holding company Imperio Group announced this week that they plan to invest €50 million in the Spanish real estate market through 2017, and are likely to invest even more in 2018.

The group has a penchant for investing in old properties and renovating them, and they’ve found an ample hunting ground in Barcelona. They spent €6.5 million this month alone investing in the Vinçon Building on Pau Claris street.

The Vinçon building overlooks La Pedrea and Imperio Group have plans to create a range of luxurious dwellings within the building.

Imperio is looking to create 19 apartments within the Eixample district which, if you’ll pardon the pun, is another fine example of the appeal Barcelona has to foreigners.

If you’re a regular reader then you won’t be that surprised to learn about the Emirates investing in northern and southern Spain, but there’s a bigger picture you might be missing. Given that US heavyweight Lone Star has announced plans to invest in Spanish property, and all of the good news streaming in from the real estate sector during the last two years, there is plenty of reason to celebrate that wealthy Dubai investors are now joining the investment bonanza. It’s also something that would have seemed impossible a decade ago.

Monday 13 March 2017

Spanish Version of White House Website Deleted Under President Trump

Spanish Version of White House Website Deleted Under President Trump

Its outrageous that Trump has deleted the website ?? 
We’re barely into the reign of President Donald Trump and already the man is making waves and sparking conversation around the world.

There’s a lot of dismay around the world at the prospect of what the tycoon-turned-president may or may not do, but there’s already plenty of reason for Spain to be ticked off as the Spanish version of the White House website has been deleted.

Attempting to load up the Spanish version of the website brings up an error page, with visitors unsure if the Spanish version of the site has been completely deleted under the Trump administration, or is just not being updated.

Even so, given that there are 52 Spanish speakers in the US, it seems careless to get rid of important information written in the first language of many people in the United States.

Spain is, of course, more than concerned about the pages being deleted. The Spanish Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, spoke of his regret over the deletion of the Spanish version of the website, calling it a bad idea. He added that the reason it is a bad idea is because it cuts 52million Spanish speakers off from a vital communication tool.

There are 320 million people living in the United States, with around 37 million of them classified as Hispanic. It’s estimated that some 13 million Latin Americans voted in the November election; many of whom likely voted for the Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton.

The Spanish government issued a statement about the deleted service, reminding President Trump of how the Spanish language has played an important role in bringing together the multicultural North American society.

Trump made a number of disparaging remarks about Latin Americans during his presidential campaign, and many people are worried about the effect the Trump presidency could have on the Mexicans and Hispanics living in the United States.

To contrast the situation, former US president Barack Obama will be sending the first four weeks outside of the White House with his family in the home of the US Spanish ambassador; who resides in the pro-Latino community of Southern California.