Culture Spain – for all things Spanish

So, 2011 was officially the worst year for property sales since the Spanish property crash began in early 2008.  Sales were down 20% compared to 2010, which means they were almost 60% down from the halcyon days of 2007. Of course, this is no surprise given the parlous nature of the Spanish economy and the continuing climb in unemployment in [...]

Recently, I have seen a flock of articles about buying Spanish property – many of which, frankly, look like barely concealed press releases from parties with vested interests in ‘talking’ the Spanish property market ‘up’. Meanwhile, there have been continued reports about the considerable problems of the debt laden Spanish banks, who are deeply troubled, not lending and now the [...]

It has just been announced that unemployment in Spain has reached 5.4 million people, amounting to an unemployment rate in Spain of 22.9% – some 400,000 people more than during the third quarter of 2011.  Meanwhile, 48.6% of Spain’s 16-24 year olds have no work, creating a living tragedy and a ‘lost’ generation. Can anyone be surprised by this horrendous [...]

Are you trying to sell your property in La Safor? Do you have a flat in Gandia or a townhouse near Gandia or a villa on an estate close to Gandia that you want to sell? If you do – then why not list your property in La Safor with Casalasafor, who specialise in selling property around the Gandia area? [...]

If you are living in Spain or thinking of doing so (or of buying a holiday home in Spain) then you should know that Spanish property is fundamentally different to that found in the UK and US – and many Nordic countries. You may think that I am referring to the build quality of properties in Spain or perhaps their [...]

Over the years I have seen, probably, thousands of properties for sale in Spain and these have varied from beach apartments in Spain and village town houses (new and old) – all the way through to luxury villas and fincas.  However, what most of the properties had in common were owners remarkable for their lack of marketing skill and pro activity. [...]

I suppose I have to raise the awful spectre that I have seen mentioned nowhere else – the future of the Euro and its affect upon Spanish property.  I do this with some reluctance as the Spanish property market hardly needs another knock, let alone just as foreign buyers appear to be returning to Spain to pick up the stunning [...]

Evidently, 39% of all Spanish men have used a prostitute, over 900 cases of stolen babies in Spain under Franco are being investigated and ETA have declared that they will no longer use violence to obtain the independence of the Basque country from Spain.  The PP (conservative party) are still on course to win the General Elections in Spain on [...]

The news in Spain over the past week has seen the Spanish Indignado movement effectively go global, the Spanish secretary of State for housing claim that it has always been safe to buy Spanish property(!), the downgrading of the Spanish banks and the credit rating of Spain itself.  The Spanish government has stated that it has a 4 billion Euro [...]

The past week in Spain has seen the wedding of the elderly Duchess of Alba, unemployment in Spain reach a 15 year high and a strike by Spanish teachers.  Meanwhile, although the majority of Spaniards are Catholic, 57% (a figure rising annually) do not go to church regularly.  Elsewhere, a residential home is being constructed for gay Spaniards and El [...]