Good News for Marbella’s part-time Residents

Residential tourism contributes a large amount of money to Marbella’s economy, but until recently this has gone fairly unnoticed by local officials. Thankfully, airlines have been more “with it” and various airlines have just announced that there will be four new or rather restored routes to Malaga Airport for this summer’s tourist season. Marbella homeowners who spend part of the year in Britain and the rest of the year at the Costa del Sol will welcome this news.

One of the reasons the Costa del Sol in general and Marbella in particular are so popular with holiday home buyers is the fact that the Malaga province is so easily accessible from most European cities. This accessibility makes buying a Marbella property tempting for people planning to retire, as they can still go home for frequent visits to see their families, while spending the colder months of the year in sunny Spain.

Aer Lingus is restoring flights between Shannon and Malaga, now offering a twice weekly service as before. British Airways is also flying twice a week from London Heathrow to Malaga Airport again. Budget airline Jet2 offers passengers twice weekly flights from Belfast to Malaga Airport.
 
In total, the airlines serving Malaga Airport have scheduled 11,588,460 aircraft seats for tourism this summer, a five percent increase on last year’s summer months. Spanish airline Vueling offers Asturias to Malaga flights six times per week to deal with the increase in domestic air passenger traffic.

The airlines’ summer timetable will end in October, when the summertime ends and the clocks are turned back.
 
Good news for Marbella’s holidaying pets

The increased number of flights to Malaga is not the only good news semi-permanent residents are greeted with this summer. Pet owners have just learned that at least at Fuengirola’s beach dogs are welcome – travelling with one’s pet can be problematic, as most beaches don’t permit four-legged sun-worshippers to enjoy a day at the waterfront. However, the beach between Fuengirola and Mijas is now permitting dogs and their owners to have a great day out on a 5,000 square meter patch of dog-friendly shore. The present arrangement only dedicated 2,000 square meters of animal-friendly beach to dogs and their owners but this is about to change.

The stretch of beach is easily accessible as it lies just off the N-340 road and boasts a large parking lot. Dog owners will soon be able to enjoy long “walkies” and playtime with their dogs, making the purchase of a semi-permanent home in the greater Marbella area even more tempting.

Naturally, to keep everyone safe and happy, dogs and their owners must follow a few rules. They may only use this stretch of dog-friendly beach between 10am and 11pm during the summer months and between 10am and 9pm in winter. Dogs weighing more than 20kg must wear a muzzle, no matter how friendly they are. All owners must carry pet documentation at all times, when they take their dogs to the beach. They must also provide their own “poo” bags for their pets to keep the beach clean. Bins are being provided.

Fuengirola’s Mayor, Esperanza Oña, said in a statement: “This measure will not only benefit people with pets, who can now take a dip in the sea with their dog without feeling like a criminal; it also gives the opportunity to reinforce cleaning and health issues.”

Spending a day at the beach with the whole family, which for pet owners includes their dogs, will now be possible for everyone.
 
Fuengirola is quieter resort than Marbella and is a great place to start a property buying trip for people looking to buy their first Spanish holiday or semi-permanent home. A typical four-bed detached property in Fuengirola costs ca. EUR 320,000. A 4-bed townhouse starts at an asking price of EUR 225,000.

In Mijas a typical detached 3-bed villa with garden and pool costs around EUR 300,000, while second-hand 2-bed apartments start at around EUR 85,000.

Luxury 3-bed apartments in Bahia de Marbella cost around EUR 325,000, while in the east of Marbella, in the popular Elviria neighbourhood, a luxury 3-bed apartment can be found for EUR 220,000.