Life at the Costa del Sol and the Costa Tropical in Spain is less rosy than it used to be - the lack of money in governmental coffers means services are being cut everywhere, building projects are not being continued and promised improvements to beaches are not made either.
At the Costa Tropical Seville has cut all of the government subsidies that had been earmarked for new facilities. Beaches like the one at Salobreña get very busy during the summer months and could have done with new shower facilities, changing rooms and improvements to pedestrian’s paths and trails, but will have to do without this year.
Before the Spanish property market collapsed and the Spanish economy went into free-fall, the Andalusian municipal coffers regularly contributed in the region of EUR 1 million to keep facilities at Granada Province’s beaches updated and well maintained. In 2010, however, this sum had already been already cut to just EUR 500,000. Last year only the installation of buoys to mark safe bathing zones was financed by Seville. This spring even the money for the buoys has been withheld. The Province of Granada is trying to raise the money for urgent maintenance works them selves this year, such as painting the changing rooms or repairs to faulty beach shower facilities.
Brits thinking of retiring to Spain should ensure they have adequate funds to cover all eventualities. In San Luis in Motril for example the lack of governmental subsidies has resulted in a residential home for the elderly not having received any funds for the past three months. Being short of EUR 100,000 has put the residential home into financial difficulties.
Spain’s new government, lead by the Peoples’ Party, is hoping to kick-start the property market and therefore the economy by making housing far more affordable, both for foreign and domestic buyers. The rekindling of the tourism industry has already resulted in some regions seeing more property investors coming back to snap up bargains, which buyers intend to use as holiday lets.
Buying a property at the Costa del Sol or Costa Tropical in the Granada Province for the purpose of letting it to holidaymakers will see a good return in the long term, particularly since many of the properties currently on the market are distressed sales offered by banks. Generous finance deals of up to 110% mortgages are sometimes part of these super-deals.
As with all purchases of property, location is incredibly important. In Marbella property prices haven’t gone down nearly as much as they have at the over-developed Costa Blanca for example, but then, glamorous Marbella has always been a cut above the rest. Here wealthy, cash rich investors have been waiting for years for property prices to tumble and now they are stepping in to buy up prime property.
In the Granada Province, where buyers have the great choice of buying either in the ski resorts of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range or in the City of Granada with its world-famous Alhambra Palace or seafront properties at the Costa Tropical, prices have been reduced considerably and many resale homes have come on the market for a fraction of what their owners paid for them originally.
With such large British, Scandinavian, French and German expat communities already living at the Costa del Sol and in the Granada Province, buying a second home or permanent residence now, when prices are low, is tempting, especially if this has been a long-held dream. Buyers should be cautious of the pitfalls the state of the Spanish economy holds and make adequate provisions such as private health care insurance and top up their pension prior to moving to Spain, if that is possible.
In the past many expats relied on using the state-run facilities and enhanced their monthly pension payments with part-time jobs. With the Eurozone countries’ economies being in financial turmoil, such part-time jobs are scarce and without large savings it can be hard to finance the dream of living in the sun permanently.
For those who can make the move to Spain, a very different life awaits them.