Urban Tourism accounts for 16% of Spanish Cities’ GDP

Granada City is one of Spain’s most visited destinations and owning a holiday home in this ancient city is a dream for many tourists who simply fall in love at first sight with the sheer beauty of the place and never quite shake off this dream. While the majority of holidaymakers are still heading to the Costas, a significant proportion of visitors are far more interested in Spain’s urban landscapes, preferring culture and heritage to roasting on a beach in Marbella, Ibiza or Palma de Mallorca.

According to a recent statement made by the president of Exeltur and Hotusa, Mr Amancio Lopez, urban tourism is now responsible for 16% of GDP in Spain’s cities, representing a “key driver” for city economies gripped by Spain’s financial crisis. Benefiting the hotel, retail and transport sectors the current boom in foreign visitor numbers has helped the country to keep afloat economically.

Low cost airlines and improved infrastructure have helped to open up provinces like Granada, where ski resorts as well as beach resorts offer great variety of landscape, amenities and attractions.
 
While stately Granada city with its Alhambra Palace, the Palacio de Daralborra, Granada Cathedral, Monesterio Iglesia de San Jeronimo, its plethora of churches, its night clubs, tapas bars, lively student population and stunningly beautiful architecture draws a particular type of visitor and property buyer, the Costa Tropical and Sierra Nevada are both just a short drive away and can rely on their very own enthusiastic fan base among international tourists.

Granada Airport also offers domestic flights to Madrid and Barcelona, making a city tour of Spain an easy to arrange prospect for holidaymakers. Granada may be an ancient city but thanks to the university and large number of students living in the city, it doesn’t feel “trapped in time” but modern, forward looking and vibrant.

There is an amazing array of things to do at night - which in turn attracts international bright young things looking for a holiday with a difference.
 
Granada City if perfect for property buyers looking for homes with character, something out of the ordinary. Most historic houses have been sympathetically restored and boast wonderfully quirky features that buyers simply won’t get with properties offered at the Costas, where every apartment complex looks pretty much like the one next door.

For those dreaming of an outdoor Mediterranean lifestyle, being a resident in Granada is very different from living in expat communities in beach resorts.

At the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Ibiza and even in Mallorca resort life can become quite stale and a little dull, especially when the main season is over and hotels, bars and restaurants close down for the winter. Many semi-permanent residents return to their home countries, visiting friends and families for Christmas and the New Year, leaving resorts depleted of residents and plunging whole communities into an enforced hibernation.

Critics of modern apartment complexes have complained that a large proportion of German and British expats never mix with Spanish residents, preferring instead to live in their own little “ghettos”, where German or British goods are sold in supermarkets and local restaurants cater almost exclusively for their nationalities and tastes.

In Granada residents seem to blend into their historic surroundings. They are absorbed by Spanish neighbourhoods rather than stand out as foreign nationals living in the safety of their expat communities. Granada is undoubtedly touristy and the summer months can be incredibly busy, but it is always buzzing with life, even in winter.
 
It is also cultured and sophisticated, proud of its heritage and as a result, attracts a very different kind of tourist - namely visitors who distribute their money evenly among urban retailers and hospitality businesses rather than staying in hotel resorts where all their meals and drinks are already prepaid and entertainment is provided as part of their package.

In Calle San Juan de Dios, Carril del Picón and c/Pedro Antonio bars stay open until the early morning hours and a friendly party atmosphere is guaranteed all year round. The discos and pubs in and around Plaza Menorca, c/Casillas de Prats and c/Trajano offer all night drinking and dancing to the trendy and those who’d like to be part of the “in” crowd.

If you are looking for a future home in Spain, hoping for a taste of real Mediterranean life, why not start your property search in Granada province?