Scores of Retirees to cash in their British Pension and head to Spain
Since April 2015 British pensioners are finally able to get their hands on their pension money before they officially retire. UK Chancellor George Osborne's reforms mean that retirees can take out a large cash sum and invest it in their dream home at the Costa del Sol.
The reform allows people to make unlimited withdrawals from their pension funds after age 55. Although not everyone will rush to withdraw money, those who do, want to invest it overseas in property.
According to Jamie Jenkins, head of pensions at insurers Standard Life, it is "too early to draw any definite trends", since so far people withdrawing money have given a wide range of reasons for doing so. "Everything from paying off debt to purchasing a speedboat," Jamie explains. "It serves to remind us how varied people's lives are."
Buying property tops the list by miles and while some are withdrawing their pension money to pay off UK mortgages, others want their pension payout early to invest in British property or buy a holiday home abroad.
Investing in Business rather than Spanish Property can be slow
Among these lucky over-55s may also be some who want to invest in commercial enterprises in addition to buying a retirement home abroad. If running a tapas bar, restaurant or pedal boat hire place at one of Marbella's beaches is not your thing, how about breeding snails and snails' eggs, the new white caviar?
Spain's Association of Snail Breeders is currently starting to produce white caviar, that's snails eggs to you and me, for the domestic market and export purposes. At prices of around 1,600 to 1,800 euros per kilo, the snails' eggs are considered an exclusive gourmet product that is causing a minor revolution in the gastronomy industry. Production is as slow as the proverbial snail, involving an arduous process that requires meticulous attention to detail and a considerable investment of time.
A fertile snail can produce an average of 150 eggs per day, which weigh just 3.5 gramms, if scooped into a jar. Provided all of your 275 snails - or one industrious creature laying eggs 275 times - pass quality control, you'll have a kilogramme of white caviar in no time...
Joint Efforts bring Home the Bacon
Some twenty local breeders in Malaga, who belong to the Association of Andalusian Snail Breeders (Acha), have formed a co-operative. This should help them secure a deal with an international distributor, who demands a minimum of 300 kilos of snail eggs per annum. One snail farm alone could not fulfil such an order, but several joining forces can.
Since many Malaga snail breeders are only just starting out, having been in business for just a year or less, new local farms have so far expressed an interest in the project "white caviar" and are busy adapting their farms to accommodate this new venture.
So what does a snail farm need?
The majority of breeders allow their snails to roam free in fields, although this takes place in designated areas with sterilised soil so that egg-laying can take place. Eggs must be collected within 24 hours of being laid. Eggs must be checked for any bad ones, washed and marinated in brine to preserve them at low temperature, before they are bottled after 5 or 6 days and made ready for sale.
To get the project going, the Association is getting a new central lab ready in Villanueva del Trabuco, where the selection, preparation and packaging of eggs will take place. Eggs will be sold in jars of 30 and 50 gramms respectively.
Costa del Sol's new Aphrodisiac
Snails eggs may look similar to regular caviar, the eggs being similar in size, but that's where similarities end. There's no fishy taste; instead, the eggs taste of fresh fields, forests and earthy landscapes, sporting a pleasant texture quite unlike traditional caviar. Already people are referring to these tiny white pearls as Andalusia's new aphrodisiac.
Malaga's climate is ideal for rearing the Cornu aspersum species of snail, a slightly larger variant of the common snail. The new caviar initiative is at present merely a diversification; snails are predominantly reared for their meat. They sell for around six euros per kilogramme to wholesalers and nearly twice that at retail price.
The Association believes each breeder will only need an investment of between 3,000 to 4,000 euros to get the white caviar production started. Good news for pensioners currently raiding their pension funds in search of Marbella dream homes, Costa del Sol sun and that seductive Andalusia lifestyle!