Spain Set for Fifth Consecutive Annual Increase in Tourism

Spain Set for Fifth Consecutive Annual Increase in Tourism 

Tourism continues to break all records 

Spain is set to smash through the tourism figures of last year, which would mean Spain will register five consecutive years of annual increases in visitor numbers according to the latest data from tourism industry group Exceltur. 

The group is forecasting that tourism in 2017 could increase 4.17% over last year, which translates to around 80 million tourists heading to Spain. 

Over 75 million tourists headed to the Spanish sun last year, and Exceltur’s estimate is higher than the current 3.2% estimated increase. The upgrade comes as a result of a better-than-expected spring and Easter season, as well as a fine beginning to the summer season. 

Exceltur commented on their reassessment of Spanish tourism figures, saying that the change came as a result of strong increases in foreign demand. 

Spain has been a perennial favourite destination for summer package holidays, but the growing reputation the country has as a hub for weekend breaks in the city is having a strong impact on the numbers. Cities across the country recorded record numbers of overnight stays during the first half of the year, with some 2.7 million visitors staying overnight in Madrid alone between January and May; an increase of 19% over 2016. 

Barcelona has always been popular of course, but now other cities such as Valencia, Bilbao, Malaga, Cordoba, and Seville are seeing increases in popularity. The Vice President of Eceltur José Luiz Zoreda believes it is the combination of climate, accessibility, and perception of safety – following the recent terror attacks of London, Paris, and Berlin – that makes Spain so popular and attractive to tourists.

A drop in tourism across other countries has seen an increase in Spanish tourism. Exceltur estimates Spain is “borrowing” around 15 million tourists that would otherwise have visited countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, and France. 

In terms of nationality, Brits are still the most dominant tourist group, prompting Zoreda to suggest that the “Brexit effect” is something that just isn’t being felt in Spain. The number of American visitors has increased 19%, while there has been a massive increase of 35% in Asian tourists; most of whom come from China.

Spanish Property Sees Foreign Investment Double in One Year

Spain continues to be a fantastic place to buy property 

The latest data from real estate investment analysts JLL shows that the Spanish property market welcomed a total of €888 million from foreign investments during the first half of the year – over double the amount of investment in the same period of time in 2016.

The analysts found British, French, German, Swedish, and Russian buyers are still the largest sources of foreign investment in Spanish property, accounting for a total of 13.2% of properties purchased in Spain last year. This represented the largest amount of foreign buyers entering the Spanish market in over a decade, with all signs indicating 2017 will see another record set for foreign ownership.

Based on the figures from last year, Brits were responsiblefor 19% of the property bought by foreigners, once again taking the lead as the most prominent foreign nationality.

Eight percent of foreign buyers came from France, while 7.6% were German and 6.7% were Swedish.

A total of 53,000 properties in Spain were sold to foreigners in 2016, meaning that if current trends of foreign interest continues for the rest of 2017, there could be close to 100,000 Spanish properties sold to foreign buyers by the end of the year.

The Spanish property market is being boosted by more than just foreign interest. Domestic demand has increased thanks to the economic recovery and the growth of the job market, which has compelled young Spaniards to take their first steps on the property ladder; enticed by affordable property prices and favourable mortgages across the country.

Study Finds Spain Most Active EU Country

While Spain is currently being cooked by the kind of sweltering heat that is good for exercising in, the fact Spain sees so much warm weather all-year-long is no doubt one of the reasons that it is the most active country in the European Union.

Researchers from the Stanford University in America tracked average step counts of people across 46 countries based on data from their smartphones.

The study showed that the average Spaniard walks 5,936steps, putting the country ahead of every other country in the EU. Hong Kong was the most active country on a global scale, with China and Japan coming in second and third. Indonesia came in last.

The Spanish proved to be much more active than the rest of Europe. The rest of the top five was made up of Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Britain. The Greeks came in last for Europe, averaging around 4,400 steps each day.

The reason behind the research was to assess the correlation between activity and obesity and heart disease rates. This is one example where correlation is in fact causation. Hong Kong is one of the most active countries and also the country with some of the lowest heart disease and obesity rates there is. Hong Kong was also the country that saw the smallest gap between the most and least active walkers. The study showed there was also a connection between the size of this gap and obesity rates.

The Stanford professors refer to it as an “activity in equality” and say that it is a good indicator of the general health of the population of a country. Hong Kong scored top in the world with a rating of 22.2, while Spain was able to place in the global top 10 with a rating of 26.1.

Following the data would make the least active countries the USA, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Canada – which also happen to be the countries with the largest carbon footprints in the world per capita.

Given the active nature of Australians however, it looks like step-count data isn’t enough by itself to determine the health of a nation.

For Spain however, the combination of an outdoors lifestyle, Mediterranean diet, and solid balance between work and life have apparently created one of the healthiest countries there is.

IMF Predicts Greater Economic Improvement for Spain in 2017

Spain has to be the best place to live in the EU and has so much 

going for it.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded the economic outlook for Spain this week based on the explosion of the tourism sector, strong export market, and growing demand from domestic consumers.

The Spanish economy is now expected to grow by 3.1% according to the IMF. It’s last forecast from April suggested the Spanish economy would grow by 2.6% in 2017.

The upgrade means that Spain is one of the leaders of the EU when it comes to economic success and growing GDP. The IMF added that it was impossible to rule out the idea that Spain might be upgraded again later in the year, especially if more records are broken in the tourism sector this year.

It’s more than just the perpetual attraction of the country for holidaymakers that is boosting the Spanish economy. The IMF were also keen to praise how the government’s reforms in the economy and labour market created momentum, stressing the growing consumer confidence and demand. Altogether, it could create a virtuous circle where money is spent, jobs are created, and the economy expands.

While the government should be trying harder to tackle the problems of youth unemployment and wage suppression, the performance of the Spanish export sector shows the quality of the standards and the competitive nature of Spanish industry according to the IMF.

Spanish GDP rose by 3.2% last year, with growth of over 2.5% in 2015. When it comes to 2018, economists believe that the Spanish economy will continue to grow, especially as the construction and property sectors continue to grow and offer their support.

Amount of Pension-Age Brits Living in Spain Doubles Across Past Decade

Amount of Pension-Age Brits Living in Spain Doubles Across Past Decade

Living in Spain has become so easy all the pensioners just 

love the lifestyle

A recent study from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK and the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE) in Spain has revealed that the number of Brits aged 65 and over and living in Spain has increased bymore than double in the past decade. 

The report from the ONS/INE showed that over 121,000 Brits of a pensionable age are living in Spain – which is around 40% of the entire British community of Spain. 

Some 108,433 of these 121,000 Brits are believed to receive a state pension in Spain, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. 

Even though the number of British pensioners has more than doubled since 2007, the number tends to slowly rise each year. There hasn’t been a year that saw a sudden spike in numbers. It’s much more likely that the reason for the increase is just a matter of ageing. Brits have been living in Spain so long that they are reaching pensionable age. 

According to the official data from the ONS/INE, there were 296,000 British citizens who had spent more than 12 months living in Spain by the end of 2016. This is more than double the 116,000 Spaniards living in the UK between 2013 and 2015. 

The official figures for the amount of Brits in Spain are quite below the expected 1 million+ Brits actually living in Spain. The higher estimate comes from a report from the UN in 2015 that suggests over two-thirds of Brits are not officially registered at their local town hall in Spain. 

However, even if you use the lower official figure, there are plenty more Brits living in Spain than there are in other foreign countries. The second and third most popular countries are France and Ireland. 

When it comes to Spaniards living in Britain, the data showed 59% of them were employed in the UK, while 78% of them were working in the education, finance, health, and hospitality industries.

Spain continues is recovery and smashes all records yet again.

May Sees 9-Year High in Spanish Home Sales

The recovery of the Spanish property market has carried over to the summer, as the latest official data from the National Statistics Institute shows home sales reached a nine-year high in the month of May.

It was the summer of 2008 nine years ago; back when people began to notice the signs of an impending financial crisis. Even so, the moods were still high, if a little lower than during the summer of 2007.

Since then however, the property sector has been ravaged by a Spanish double-dip recession, an EU crisis, and a global credit crunch. It took a long time for recovery to begin, with things only looking up in 2013.

Despite the delay, the past 18 months have been very positive overall, and the latest data from the INE is the best seen for some time.

The official figures show that 44,782 homes were registered as sold in May this year; the highest monthly figure seen since back in September 2008, and a whopping increase on May from last year of 22.9%.

This is hardly an isolated incident either. When combined, the first five months saw a total of 191,537 properties change hands in Spain; an 11.8% increase on the first five months of 2016.

To offer a larger view, data from the INE also shows that, for the 12 months leading to the end of May 2017, home sales transactions were around 425,000; an incredibly encouraging 11.9% annual increase.

There are always regional imbalances when it comes to the number of transactions, but the data showed that sales were up in 16 out of 17 of the Spanish autonomous regions over last year. The Balearics and Castille-La Mancha in particular had strong sales; with increases of over 35%.

Other recent data from the INE shows that property pricesincreased by an average of 5.3% nationwide.

Going for Gold in Malaga

Going for Gold in Malaga

The games were fantastic for all that came to watch

Malaga played host to the 21^st edition of the World Transplant Games this year, putting it firmly in the spotlight. 2,300 athletes from across 50+ countries competed in the city in 17 sporting events held across 11 venues across the capital city of the Costa del Sol. 

The games are organised by the World Transplant Games Federation and recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The Malaga games mark the first time ever that the games have taken place in Spain. It’s very fitting that the games were held in Malaga. Spain is recognised as being the world leader of transplants – with some 4,818 transplant operations performed last year – and Andalucia had more organ donors in 2016 than the national average of the country. Andalucia has 47.1 donors per million people. The famous Carlos Haya regional Hospital of Malaga performed the most kidney transplants in Spain last year, with 173. 

There are even more milestones for the latest Transplant Games including that this year’s games are the first time that organ donors and their families will be competing against athletes that have received organ donations; with ages ranging between just four years old to eighty. All of these athletes have had a life-saving transplant operation.

The Transplant Games cover a range of sporting events including cycling, track and field, swimming, golf, tennis, and more. This year saw the introduction of kayaking and padel tennis as events. 

The games are held once every two years, with the first ever edition of the Transplant Games was held in 1978 in Portsmouth in the UK. 99 athletes from across France, Greece, Germany, the US and the UK gathered for the event.