It may have gone sour for some, but the coverage of the reality faced by second home owners like us omits some important truths. By a Citywire reader.

In the foreground there were sheep grazing on rough, undeveloped grasslands; in the background mountains.

When built, the bungalow would sit at the end of a row of white homes, with a triangle of land that would remain undeveloped at the end. There would be nothing across the road from us apart from a few buildings in the distance and then the mountains beyond that. We had our own part of the Spanish dream, having saved for decades to fulfil it.

Ten years later and everyone now knows how the developers got greedy, the cranes took over, promises were broken and property values plummeted; in some cases bizarre land laws meant that people lost their homes.

That story has been told over and over again. But this is not a piece complaining of the ruthlessness of the Spanish authorities, fraud on the Costas, nor the overzealous developers.

The value of our house has of course dropped and the weak pound has taken its toll. The developers’ broke their promises – high rises now obscure our view of the hills – and this is no sleepy Spanish idyll. But it is a place boasting the best climate in Europe. It remains five minutes from the beach, and provides a sanctuary we are fortunate to enjoy from the bitter grey British winter.

Thanks to Ryanair it is cheap and easy to get to. And while the British influence is increasingly widespread in this part of the world (the Costa Blanca since you ask), speak a little Spanish – and it doesn’t have to be fluent – and the locals will cheerfully speak it back. The pound is weak, but that wont last forever and the Menú del Dia is still a bargain.

The value of our home may have dropped but like most of the Brits with houses in the Med, but this is not our first home and it is not our retirement fund. This is not because we are loaded; far from it, we bought it to enjoy it, which we have many many times.

The newspapers may be full of reports that the dream of owning second homes in Spain is dead, but for the majority of people – at least those who are in it for the lifestyle not a money-making opportunity – it’s alive and well.

That is not to say that people in our situation haven’t been faced with property nightmares, but that over the years the coverage and hype surrounding this has been disproportionate: for the fortunate majority the Spanish property dream is not dead.

Story from Citywire

Tags: budget airlines, buying property in Spain, low cost flights, Spanish property
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Britain has been designated the worst place to live in Europe, compared with nine other major countries, despite the fact that Brits earn by far the highest wages.

Life in sun-soaked Spain, where people retire earlier and live longer, was judged to be the best by researchers at uSwitch.com in the latest European Quality of Life index.

Earning 35,730 pounds ($56,410) a year on average, Brits are 10,000 pounds ($15,790) richer than their European neighbors, but that doesn’t translate into an easier life and they are getting a “raw deal” researchers concluded.

Shoppers in Britain pay higher prices for fuel, food, alcohol and cigarettes and receive poorer healthcare and education, the survey found.

“There is more to good living than money and this report shows why so many Brits are giving up on the UK and heading to France and Spain,” said Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com.

“We have lost all sense of balance between wealth and well-being,” she said.

British workers toil three years longer and die two years younger than their French counterparts.

The Spanish enjoy 2,665 hours of sunshine a year, compared with just 1,397 in Ireland and they pay five percent less taxes than their light-deprived Irish cousins.

The 10 major countries surveyed were ranked in the following order from best to worst quality of life: France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Ireland and Britain.

Tags: budget airlines, buying property in Spain, low cost flights, Madrid, Malaga, Marbella, tax benefits
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Op slechts twee vlieguren van Amsterdam ligt het plaatsje Huéscar, in het noordoosten van Andalusië. En daar kun je, midden tussen de authentieke bevolking van Spanje, de zigeuners, in een grotwoning overnachten.

Na het ‘witte’ kustplaatsje Nerja en het stadje Baeza, draaien we voorbij duizenden olijfbomen om een rots heen en ontvouwt er zich een prachtig panorama. Met uitzicht op de op twee na hoogste berg van Spanje, La Sagra (2350 m), kleurt de langzaam ondergaande zon het landschap van lichtroze tot grijswit en van groen tot okergeel. Via een oprit waar menig vorst zijn vingers bij aflikt, rijden we de vallei in en naderen het lieflijk ogende dorpje Huéscar met in het midden één enkele kerktoren.

Lees verder in de Reiskrant van de Telegraaf.

Of bekijk onze koophuizen in de buurt van Huéscar.

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Waarom er in Andalusië zoveel gebouwen doen denken aan Arabië en Noord-Afrika? De moslims heerste ruim 800 jaar over dit gebied.

Om de restanten van het zogeheten Al Andalus te zien, moet je naar de stad Granada. Hier vind je alles over de Iberische geschiedenis in de tijd dat de Moren heersers waren.
Het begint allemaal in de ochtend op de markt van Plaza Larga in het historische Islamitische kwartier Albayzin.

Vanaf hier heb je talloze stijle trappen omhoog, de wijk in. Probeer aan het einde van de stenen trede de zogeheten Mirador de San Cristóbal te vinden. De beloning is een panorama uitzicht…

Lees verder in de Reiskrant van de Telegraaf.

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Low cost carrier Ryanair has just opened up four new routes between Málaga and the UK, making the Costa del Sol accessible to even more potential homebuyers each year.

Ryanair already flies to 10 UK destinations from Málaga and will now add Glasgow Prestwick, London Stansted, Birmingham and Edinburgh to that list. The airline predicts there could be an extra 240,000 passengers a year on these new routes, including an extra 100,000 from Birmingham alone.

Ryanair has reported that just days since announcing the new routes 5,000 tickets have already been sold for Glasgow, 6,000 for London Stansted, 5,500 for Edinburgh, and 13,000 for Birmingham.

The new flights will also attract an increasing number of holidaymakers, boosting the buy-to-let market as well.

For more see www.ryanair.com

Tags: budget airlines, low cost flights, Malaga
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Met de flitstrein van Malaga naar Madrid in tweeënhalf uur

Behalve de AVE tussen Barcelona en Madrid via Tarragona rijden op het Iberisch schiereiland ook hogesnelheidstreinen tussen Madrid en Sevilla en Malaga via Cordoba. Ook tussen Madrid en Toledo en tussen Madrid en Huesca via Zaragoza. In de toekomst worden ook Santiago de Compostella in Gallicië en San Sebastian in Baskenland op het AVE-net aangesloten. De hogesnelheidslijn van Barcelona via Perpignan naar Montpellier in Zuid-Frankrijk is volop in aanleg. AVE rijdt vrijwel altijd op tijd. Renfe geeft, vanaf 15 minuten vertraging, de helft van de ticketprijs terug; bij meer dan een halfuur vertraging de volle ticketprijs. In Nederland te boeken bij NSHispeed, tel. 0900 – 9296. Kijk voor meer info en dienstregeling op www.renfe.com

Lees verder: De Telegraaf

Tags: Madrid, Malaga
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