Find out Why Wine Consumption Increases in Spain for First Time in a Decade

Find Out Why Wine Consumption Increases in Spain for First Time in a Decade

Spanish wine is the best in the world

One of the most simple pleasures of life in Spain is drinking so wonderful wine and relaxing by the side of a pool, on the beach, or in a bodega.

Even so, the reality is that wine consumption in Spain has been falling for the past few years. No one understand just why it happened either. The economy might have been partly to blame, of course, but people will often turn to affordable, simple treats during tough times so they can get through them easier. There’s nothing quite as cheap in Spain as local wine.

There is also the suggestion that Spanish wine has become boring and staid, especially among the younger generation. Younger Spaniards appear to prefer drinking spirits like rum and gin, and beers, rather than wine.

However, in 2016, it looks like this trend is reversed. The latest data from the Spanish Wine Market Observatory (Observatorio Español del Mercado del Vino) showed a 4% increase of Spanish wine consumption, with a total of 9.8 million hectolitres consumed.

Spain is the present world leader in producing wine, with a total of 42 million hectolitres made each year. Even though Spain is the leading producer of wine, it’s one of the lowest as far as consumption goes when compared to other top producers. By 2014, the annual wine consumption in Spain was just 21 litres per head; down from over 40 in 1970.

The figure has now risen to around 22 litres per head, which puts it on par with the UK, but still very far below the average annual wine consumption in the other leading wine producing nations of Europe.

The official shows, for example, that Slovakians and Croatians are drinking around 44 litres of wine each per year. The French are drinking around 42.5 litres, while the Portuguese are drinking 41.7 litres and the Italians are drinking 33 litres.

While these countries might have high average wine consumptions, they all pale in comparison to The Vatican. This small country has an average wine consumption of 53.83 litres per person per year.

Spanish wine regardless of the consumption with young people still represents some of the best wine in Europe due to quality and price.

Demand for New Spanish Homes Increases 32.5% in a Year

Demand for New Spanish Homes Increases 32.5% in a Year

Buying off plan property is back in demand as each

new development sells out very quickly

While resale homes are making up the bulk of the Spanish property mark

et, there’s been an improvement in the new build sector across recent months. The data from the Ministry of Development shows that, for the first eleven months of last year, there were 32.5% more requests for building permits than during this time period in 2015.

There were a total of over 59,999 building permits granted in the first 11 months of 2016, which is the most granted in this amount of time for over five years. It is a massive increase of 72% compared to the same time period in 2014; just three years ago.

5,934 permits were granted in November alone – an increase of 25% over 2015 and the most permits granted in a November since 2010.

The data would suggest that the recovery of the Spanish housing market is pretty balanced; positive figures are being posted by both the resale and new build sectors.

What is most encouraging is the sustainable, stable growth of the new build sector. Before the market crashed in 2008, Spanish property was being constructed at lightning speeds. In just 2006, some 900,000 new homes received building permission.

It was obvious that the rate of development was unsustainable. It took the country over half a decade to work through the incomplete, unsold, or just unsellable homes. These days things are looking much better. There’s barely any oversupply left at all in the most popular areas of Spain such as the Costa Brava, Costa del Sol, and the Balearic and Canary Islands.