Culture Spain – for all things Spanish

A few days ago, the Bank of Spain confirmed what a number of estate agents and Spanish property portals have been saying for some time – that Spanish property sales to foreigners were increasing dramatically.  In fact, the Bank of Spain claims that the amount of money invested in Spanish property by foreign buyers during 2011 rose to 4,748 million [...]

So, over the past couple of weeks the true state of the Spanish property market is becoming apparent and confirms what I have been saying for a long time.  In short, average property prices across Spain have fallen by around 40% since the height of the boom in 2007 – not the 20% that the Spanish government has been steadfastly [...]

Have you been thinking of buying a property in Spain or moving here but been put it off because you cannot understand the Spanish property market? Are you confused by what is happening and unsure whether to buy now or wait – or do you think that perhaps you may have lost the opportunity of buying your dream home in [...]

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 [...]

So, 2011 gradually ebbs away – a year that many people in Spain will be pleased to see disappear, hoping that 2012 will herald better times ahead.  Unfortunately, I fear that may not be the case and there are compelling arguments to suggest that 2012 may be more difficult and challenging for Spain than 2011. So, how does one round [...]

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 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 [...]

Well, the bad news seems to keep coming for the Spanish economy in 2011 with confirmation of what I have been writing about over the past few months. Firstly, Spanish regional debt appears to be as dangerously out of control as national Spanish finances were before the Spanish national government of Zapatero imposed austerity measures.  Indeed, a recent article in [...]

So, Culture Spain has just received its 100,000th unique visitor – in just over twelve months (since 22 July 2010)! Meanwhile, the number of people coming onto Culture Spain has been steadily increasing day by day, month by month.  This, we believe, is because we strive hard to provide information about Spain that is consistently objective and authoritative – whilst [...]

A snippet of news in El Pais (national Spanish newspaper) has just caught my attention.  It concerns property prices in Spain and, by association, the economy of Spain. Evidently, the ‘Bank of Spain on Wednesday (01.06.11) predicted that home prices would continue to fall for the next two years as the property market strains to adjust to an over-supply of [...]

I saw an interesting article in the Euro Weekly News today, the contents of which deserve comment.  The article revolves around the Spanish property crash and the number of properties for sale in Spain. According to the Spanish economist Ricardo Verges, there are some 2,320,000 new houses for sale in Spain – a number that is nothing less than breathtaking.  [...]

I found a recent article by El Pais interesting.  This relates to the Spanish savings banks called ‘Cajas’.  These are usually quite small, local institutions  with only a few branches, a bit like the UK’s old building societies.  That said, not all Cajas comprise only a branch or two.  la Caixa (the biggest Caja) is enormous and has about 4,700 [...]