Three Films You Need to See Before Moving to Spain

Three Films You Need to See Before Moving to Spain

Are you thinking about moving to Spain? These three movies will definitely get you in the mood.

It can feel like moving anywhere, even to Spain, is a laundry list of chores that never seems to end and just leaves what should be an incredibly exciting time the most stressful time.

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Filling in all those forms and applications, all the legal and financial paperwork, doing all the packing and tying up all those loose ends…it’s easy to see how it can be overwhelming. It’s still important to take some time to remind yourself of why you chose to move Spain in the first place. These three movies are definitely a great way to do that.

Here are the three films you need to see before moving to Spain.

1.      Al Sur de Grande

“Al sur de Grande” means “South from Granada” in English. This 2003 movie is about a lost and demobilised soldier from England who makes his home in rural Andalucía for a year. It’s a great movie that will also prepare you for some of the big culture shocks waiting in Spain.

The backdrop of the movie is beautiful thanks to the Alpujarra hills nestled into the background. The dry humour and the excellent performances make this movie great by itself. But if you’re about to live in Spain yourself you’ll definitely connect to the Englishman as he does what you’re about to do. From the initial language barriers and small misunderstandings to the wide world of love the narrative of the movie could very well sync up with your own experiences.

2.      The Business

The Business is a 2005 movie filmed in and around Pureto Banús. The movie, released at the height of the gangster movie period, fits that theme quite well. It follows 80s wannabe wideboy Danny Dyer as he falls in love with the fast lifestyle and easy money of the Costa del Sol before feeling that his own personal morals don’t really match up with what he and his friends are doing. He finds himself knocked from his perch and in need of a new identity.

While many Brits won’t really see themselves in the characters in the movie the film still does a great job of capturing the “anything goes” essence of Puerto Banús that, while it’s not as prevalent as it used to be, is still there in places. There’s also plenty of glitz and glamour left so the movie still shows what you can expect from Puerto Banús as a whole.

3.      Spanglish

Believe it or not a US comedy from Adam Sandler set in L.A can actually prepare you for life in Spain. The movie centres around the ignorance of the Spanish felt by the Anglo-Saxons and showcases Sandler as he attempts to understand the language, passion, and soul of his Hispanic housemaid, played brilliantly by Sevillian Paz Vega.

Sandler’s wife, portrayed by Téa Leoni, showcases the complete opposite; she displays complete indifference and ignorance to her Mexican servants and enjoys her superiority over them. While Brits and Spaniards are much more respectful and honest than this the movie still contains important messages about cultural sensitivity, tact, and humility that will serve any Brit heading to Spain well.

Brits In Spain Need to Speak Out Soon or Miss Their Chance With EU Referendum Vote

Brits In Spain Need to Speak Out Soon or Miss Their Chance With EU Referendum Vote

The numbers may be shocking but it’s worth taking another look at them. There are currently just 283,000 Brits officially registered as a Spanish resident with the padrón. This number is small because it’s only around one quarter of the actual Brits living in Spain. Of this number only 11,000 of them are still registered to vote in the UK.

These are statistics that should worry every Brit with an interest in politics outside of the motherland. It doesn’t matter if they are in Germany, Spain, France or anywhere else in the European Union. They need to correct this oversight.

Brits in Spain need to register their vote

David Cameron recently told the European Commission his plans to renew the terms of the UK’s membership of the EU. He set out a series of reforms, proposals and promises that he would offer British people to entice them to stay in the EU. The vote will still be left to the British people though and a referendum vote could happen as early as June.

Nobody is quite sure what the so-called “Brexit” would do for the EU or Britain itself. There is one thing for sure though. If the British leave the EU then it makes things difficult for the millions of Brits who are already outside of the UK and living elsewhere in the EU.

This is why the British emabassies in Spain and France have launched awareness campaigns to get Brits living there to go and register to vote in the referendum. It’s called the Your Vote Matters campaign and, given how much they will be affected, it’s hard to argue with the name.

Foreign Office Data suggests that only 5% of overseas voters have registered to be involved in the referendum. Other embassies, such as those in Germany, Ireland, Poland, Austria and Denmark are getting involved and using social media to further the awareness campaign.

The British Ambassador to Spain, Simon Manley, met with a community of expats living on the Costa del Sol to show his support for the campaign.

He said that even though expats are interested in the referendum not enough of them are really aware of it. He urged the expats to become more aware about the referendum and how they can get involved. They can register to vote through the government website (www.gov.uk) and you should encourage other people you know to do the same.

Brits who have been abroad for less than 15 years are able to vote through the constituency they used to live. It is pretty simple to register from overseas but it can take longer than most people realise.

This is why expats with properties inland Spain and elsewhere are being encouraged to visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. They should have their passport with them and their previous UK postcode ready to speed up the process.

The need to start constructing new off plan housing projects on the Costa del Sol

The need to start constructing new off plan housing projects on the Costa del Sol

Specialists are now saying that construction needs to kick-starting house development projects in specific towns in Malaga province, Marbella area has the least amount and where the new housing stock could do with a boost as it still currently lies at a minimal level compared to second hand homes.

They also warn the urgency to start building properties in places like Malaga city, Benalmadena and Torremolinos as soon as possible, before the housing stocks dry up.

These are only a few of the conclusions drawn in the 2015 Tinsa valuation company’s most recent report on housing in Spanish coastal regions.

Crain's are returning to the Costa del Sol 

The worst years of the crisis has left vast pockets of houses in many coastal regions of Spain and selling them in such a slow market proved to be quite challenging. In the last few areas, however, the circumstances have changed. In Malaga province, for instance, the Tinsa report indicates that Marbella and Benahavís have now been in a recovering process for same time and each of these areas has had an exceptionally blooming real estate recovery.

As for Marbella, the report echoes something that local builders and developers have been saying for quite a while: that there is only a small number of remaining unsold housing stock in the area, and these have been hard to sell, because foreign clients, look for something more stylish, and exclusive and modern, but have found many don’t fit their buying criteria.

During the previous year, Marbella property for sale turned into one of the five major places to buy property with recording the highest amount of property sales, as shown by the data published by the Ministry of Public Works, with a total of 3,997 (28.7% higher than the year before). There was also a whopping 101% rise in new property transactions. Manilva area also relished extra-ordinary levels of growth, with an unbelievable surge of 193%.

A large portion of the properties that were purchased were by foreign investors mostly northern Europeans, who without them would have made the crisis even worse. According to Tinsa’s assessments, 60% of property sales in Marbella and Manilva were bought by investors from the UK, France, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland Switzerland, Norway, North Africa or the Persian Gulf.

The insufficient housing stocks that the experts have been warnings about for some time, by some new housing projects where upon the work is just starting and which will be sold off and understood that there will be more new projects planned, in view of the significant amount of land which is being obtained and bought by investors and developers alike. Which is a very positive sign moving forward?

The Tinsa report reveals that this also mirrors the current situation in Mijas, Estepona and Benhavis. A promising forcast indeed but it coincides with the latest controversy triggered by the dissolution of the Urban Plan for Marbella and the Coastal Regulation Plan.The effects these will have on the progress of forthcoming development projects are yet to be determined.

In Malaga province, the Tinsa report recognises three altogether different regions. In La Axarguia its prices are balancing out and demand from Spanish buyers is reigniting. In the surrounding communities, there is a lot of new housing stock, in spite of the fact that it is starting to reduce..

Between Torremolinos to Mijas there has been a rather encouraging scenario in that there is lots of interest among investors in the unfinished developments and lots of the housing stock has been slowly selling due to the price decreases over time, making them more attractive as buying property in the Costa del Sol area will always be in demand.

Also some property developments on the Costa del Sol which had been halted for financial reasons have started back up, and some others that have been completely built have been auctioned off by the banks.

It has been the Spanish and foreign developers who have been reviving the housing development projects in the areas between Marbella and Manilva.

The Tinsa reports does suggest great ‘signs of recovery’ in Marbella and Benahavís and ‘signs of improvement’ in adjoining Casares, Manliva and Estepona where lies a larger stock of housing, compared with that in Marbella which is basically has none left.

One important factor demonstrating the level of confidence portrayed by investors in these areas is the fact that in the most property sales in Marbella and Benhavis, have been paid by cash in 70 per of house purchases.

The conclusion by the report shows that buying property in the Costa del Sol will always be in demand by foreign buyers and the whole area of the coast will continue to be in demand no matter what financial restraints are thrown at it.

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