Everyone knows that there is currently an over-supply of Spanish property along the Costas, leading to webpage after webpage of so-called bargains and distressed sales in places such as the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca, undoubtedly the most popular areas for most property-seekers.

One of the jewels in the Costa del Sol property market is of course Marbella, home to the rich and famous, the glamorous yacht-harbour of Puerto Banus, the Saudi Royal Palace on the Golden Mile, and the atmospheric Old Town in Marbella itself. Continue reading »

The recent torrential rain that we have seen here on the Costa del Sol at least provided some small shred of comfort for local residents.

The region´s reservoirs have doubled in capacity in the last few weeks, with December´s rainfall alone guaranteeing water for the next 2 years here in Andalucia – yes, it rained THAT much! Continue reading »

I must admit that I sat down last week to watch Piers Morgan´s appraisal of Marbella on ITV with an element of fear and trepidation. After all, he hadn´t been too kind in the past during similar exposes of places such as Monaco and Dubai.

Although Morgan managed to dig up some dirt and spent a proportion of the programme focusing on Marbella´s seedier side of life, I personally thought that, for the most part, he portrayed Marbella as a great, fun place to be, and actually managed to inject a dose of much-needed glamour into proceedings. The main message that came across to me was that Marbella attracts hordes of the seriously wealthy – in fact everywhere he went, there seemed to be Ferraris, palaces, 5 star beach clubs, and flowing champagne – not a bad life really! The fact that much of this wealth seemed to have been squandered on homes that were rarely occupied, cars that were driven simply for fun and so much champagne that it ended up being sprayed across the naked torsos of overly-moneyed teenage boys on a beach somewhere, only really added to the jaw-dropping spectacle. Continue reading »

Most buyers of property in Spain have a habit of treating and viewing the entire Spanish property market in very general terms – at the moment, the widespread view is that the market is on its knees, prices are falling dramatically, and that vendors are desperate to sell.

This is wishful thinking on the part of prospective buyers.

Just as in any property market, there are areas that are still attracting high demand, just as there are undoubtedly areas with problems of over-supply and falling prices.

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Ok. I´ve seen the place I want. It´s gorgeous. It´s a 3 bed townhouse in Rio Real – yes I know, going back to the same area, but it is nice, trust me. In fact, it´s not really a townhouse. It´s a semi-detached villa, with all of the boxes ticked – covered terrace, eat-in kitchen, fireplace, great views, south-east facing. It needs a lick of paint and a bit of updating, but it´s been reduced from €620k to €470k and is located in one of Marbella´s best areas. Having sold my 2 bed apartment for €499,000 last year, I could even end up ´quids-in´ on this whole house-moving experience if I get the place for a good price.

Apparently the vendor isn´t desperate. He retained a 10% deposit from a buyer who was unable to complete last year, hence why it´s now at a lower price.

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Pharmacies in Spain are great. When I first landed here on the Costa del Sol 8 years ago, I was amazed to find that the local pharmacists in Marbella would dispense a month´s worth of my beta-blockers over the counter without prescription. Even now, I´m still buying over the counter, and paying around 3 euros for the privilege. Imagine that in the UK?!

My friends were equally impressed. In fact, in the event of us having any aches, pains or sniffles, we would simply pop along to the pharmacy, ask for a solution, and “hey presto!” we were feeling great again in no time. Who needed doctors?

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