Friday 1 December 2017

Data Shows Spanish Building Industry to Grow 4% Annually

Data Shows Spanish Building Industry to Grow 4% Annually


Crain's have returned to the Costa de Sol which is all positive 
Bloomberg describes the Madrid skyline as being a forest of cranes. While the capital of Spain is still nothing compared to the forest of cranes Dubai once was, there is definitely a noteworthy amount of building work happening around the city.

The Spanish construction industry is back and better than ever. The number of new builds in 2013 fell off a cliff, dropping 96% compared to the peak of 2006. Not many would have predicted that it would take just four years for the industry to be full of cash and confidence once more.

Data from the Ministry of Public Works shows that the building industry – which includes constructing new homes and offices – is set to grow 4% annually through 2020, with a 5% increase expected in just Madrid.

The benefits of the stable real estate industry are being felt outside of Madrid as well. Building sites are propping up all over Spain, with data from Bloomberg showing a small but steady increase in construction.

Building activity is beginning to reflect the Spanish economy, which itself is expected to rise by over 3% for the third year running. The data shows a positive trend where projects are quickly replacing one another and leading to constant activity. The building industry appears to be making up for lost time.

Additional data from the College of Property Registrars in Spain shows that property sales for new homes in Madrid and Catalonia has increased 10% for the first quarter of 2017, almost identical to the growth in resale properties. The fortunes of the two sectors are connected, even though new build activity typically follows the trends in resales – a trend that is particularly true for the Costa del Sol, where new build activity has picked up significantly in the past 18 months.

Felix Lores, an economist with BBVA Research, believes Spain has learned their lesson from the last property boom. This time the recovery is being anchored on sustainable models of consumption and exports rather than on the bubble of short-term credit.

This represents a significant difference from what happened in the past. It’s expected that the annual increase for new home constructions in 2017 and 2017 will be over 6%. Typically a surge in construction activity would lead to an increase in GDP, which relied on the property sector. This time things are the other way around.

Thursday 30 November 2017

Passenger Numbers for Malaga Airport Take Off

Passenger Numbers for Malaga Airport Take Off 

Malaga Airport continues to break all passenger records
If you were to take facets of Spanish life and turn it into a graph, almost all of those lines would be sharply pointed upwards. Whether it’s the economy, house prices, jobs, or life expectancy – things are going well for Spain and her people. Now tourism can be thrown into this cocktail as this year is set to be the very best year for visitor numbers in Spain; spending, overnight stays, and the number of flights to and from the country are all up


The most popular tourist destinations are the ones leading the charge; the Balearics, the Canaries, the Costa Brava, and the Costa del Sol. While the passenger data from Malaga Airport in 2017 isn’t complete just yet, the stats for 2016 – recently published by the EU statistics agency Eurostat have proven to be encouraging. 

The data shows that there has been a 15.7$ increase in passenger numbers to Malaga airport in 2016 over 2015, making the Costa del Sol hub the second-fastest growing airport across all of Europe; falling just behind London-Luton. 


Around 16.6 million passengers in all passed through the Malaga airport across last year, a figure that is almost definitely going to be surpassed by the end of 2017. 


The figures from the El Prat airport in Barcelona have been even more impressive, bring in in 43.7 million passengers last year for an annual increase of 11%. Some locals might not be too happy about this though given that there have been campaigns in the city to limit tourism. 


All in all, Spanish airports proved to be the third-busiest in Europe in 2016, dealing with 194 million passengers. Germany proved to be second-busiest, with 201 million passengers (hardly surprising when you consider Germany has the biggest population in Europe), while the UK had the busiest airports welcoming 249 million passengers in 2016. This is a combination of Britain being such a strong tourist destination, as well as the collective desire of Brits to get away from the country and enjoy warmer climates elsewhere.

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Spanish Property Sales up 16% in August

Spanish Property Sales up 16% in August


Property sales continue to rise
The 41,282 homes sold in August means that the Spanish property sector has once again enjoyed the benefits of the improved economic outlook across Europe in the summer. The sales figures for August come from official INE data and represent an increase of 16% compared to August of 2016. It’s the seventh year in a row that monthly home sales have increased for 2017.

The only anomaly in 2017 came when figures dipped slightly in April 2016 – a blip that is believed to be caused by April being the month of Easter this year.

August saw a nationwide increase in home sales across all 17 of the autonomous regions of Spain, with a 37.9% increase in Castilla-La Mancha and a 32.5% increase in Comunidad Valenciana, which saw 163 sales per 100,000 inhabitants.

When taken as a yearly figure through the end of August, Spanish home sales reached 315,795 so far in 2017; an increase of 14% compared to the same time period in 2016.

Looking even further, the 12 months between August of 2016 and 2017 shows 443,483 properties were sold. This represents an increase of 13.1% over the figure for the previous 12 months and showcases a massive increase of activity in the property market since 2014, when property sales were less than 300,000 annually.

Tuesday 28 November 2017

Are Spaniards Really Living Longer Because of Siestas?

Are Spaniards Really Living Longer Because of Siestas?


Could the Siesta be the reason the Spanish enjoy a longer life?
The siesta is one of the most admired aspects of Spanish daily life that leaves other Europeans somewhat bemused and envious. 

Outside of the fact that there’s nothing stopping Brits, Germans, and Scandinavians from adopting the siesta culture themselves, most cultures have trouble wrapping their heads around the idea of napping for a few hours in the middle of the day. Could it be that the Spanish have been on to something for all these years though?

The truth is that Spaniards work for much longer than most other Europeans, and they’re also living longer than other Europeans; which begs the question of how much of that is because of siestas.

The latest World Happiness Report 2017 ranked nations on a range of metrics to determine happiness. One major one was longevity, which Spain came in second place for after Japan thanks to an 82.8 year life expectancy. 

This is hardly new of course, but researchers have been – albeit correctly – putting this down to the Mediterranean diet. While the diet is partly the reason why, the report believes that the humble siesta could have something to do with it as well.

People have the idea that Spaniards are just sleeping when the shops close between 2 and 5PM, but the reality is that this is how they organise their working shifts. If you work continuously with just half an hour for your lunch then you’re bound to eat a quick takeaway or some fast food. If you’re allowed to stop working for a few hours then you are more likely to go home or to a restaurant where you can relax and enjoy several courses and have the time needed to let it digest. That’s much healthier than any takeaway.


It’s not necessarily getting to sleep, but getting to relax and socialise during the day that may be giving Spaniards better longevity. The report also argued that the higher density of Spanish towns and cities mean Spaniards spend longer on their feet and walk much more during their day than other nationalities.


Monday 27 November 2017

Spain Welcomes Record Numbers of Tourists and Foreign Property Activity in First Half of 2017

Spain Welcomes Record Numbers of Tourists and Foreign Property Activity in First Half of 2017



Spain has had another record breaking summer 
The Spanish property market and tourism industry is performing as well as ever, according to the latest data from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and the National Statistics Institute (INE). The data shows that several records were broken during the first half of 2017. 

Foreign investment in Spanish properties was pushed up to €888 million during the first half of the year, much higher than the amount spent during the first half of 2016; a paltry (by comparison) €330 million. 

JLL believe that overseas investors will snap up over €1 billion in Spanish property during 2017, which would make 2017 the eight year in a row where foreign investment in Spanish real estate has increased. 

Spain has been moving at full speed as far as tourism goes for several years now, but the latest data from the INE shows some 36.3 million tourists visited Spain during the first half of the year – which is the time BEFORE the busy summer months of July and August. 

This puts Spain in the position to smash through records set last year, and could mean over 80 million tourists visit the country in 2017, which would push Spain into the top spot for global tourism. 

There was another trend evident in the data; the connection between foreign property ownership and tourism. Around 8.5% of the tourists staying in Spain in 2017 did so in their own holiday accommodations; properties that had been purchased to be holidayed in. This marks the highest this figure has ever been, and it’s only going to increase.


It’s been a decade since the real estate crisis happened but now the Spanish property market appears to be thriving. People see the benefits of owning a Spanish property such as being able to better enjoy holidays and to relocate entirely. There’s no doubt Spain is set to see another record breaking year for international investment.