Spain’s property market is going from strength to strength, with more and more investment from overseas buyers. For holiday home owners, this is unlikely to taper off even after Brexit. The European Commission’s Vice President has said that visas will unlikely be needed by UK nationals for short stays.
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Brexit
There’s no escaping Brexit even here in Spain. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said in a recent interview “ “If I were Theresa May, I would call a second referendum, no doubt.” Mr. Sanchez joins 2 other EU leaders in suggesting this, Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta and Andrej Babis, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.
Sanchez went on to declare “The UK is a marvellous country with a positive influence on the politics of Europe but has chosen a path of self-absorption which isn’t going to be good either for the UK or for Europe.” He feels that Brexit is a great loss for both Europe and the UK and expressed his hope that “it would be reconsidered in the future.”
Encouraging news
British people will be unlikely to need a visa to stay in Spain for part of the year after Brexit.
Mr. Sanchez added that citizen’s rights would be safeguarded by both countries, even after a no deal Brexit. I appreciate and thank very much Prime Minister May’s commitment to safeguarding those rights,” he said. “We will do the same with the 300,000 Britons who’re in Spain.”
Visas
It has been reported is various newspapers that British people might need a visa to travel to Europe after a no deal Brexit. Happily, this will not be the case. Frans Timmermans, the vice president of the European Commission said on 13 November that “On visas we propose to amend the visa regulation to allow UK nationals to be exempt from any visa for short stays in the EU once EU law stops applying to the UK, but of course an important point: this is entirely conditional on the UK also doing the same thing for EU nationals, reciprocating.”
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This is excellent news for the millions of British people who travel to Spain on holiday each year and will be applicable to stays of up to 90 days in any 180 day stretch. One hopes that the British government will comply and Europeans will not need visas to enter the UK.
Toll-free motorways
Earlier this year, the Spanish government announced that several of Spain’s motorways would become toll free when current franchises for the running and management of these roads ended. As from 1st December the AP -1 motorway which runs from Burgos in Castilla y Léon to Armiñón in the Basque Country will no longer carry tolls.
The next two motorways to become toll free will be the AP -4 running between Seville and Cadíz and the AP -7 which tracks the Mediterranean coast. This will certainly be welcomed by the thousands of British people who use this route for holidays or to return to their second homes, but they will have to wait until 01 January 2020.
Other motorways whose franchises expire before the next general election in Spain will also become toll free. If the PSOE party regains power, they will continue to make motorways in Spain toll free.
Property investments
There has been a marked increase in foreigners purchasing property in Spain, led by the British and Irish. The Association of Spanish Land Registrars has reported that property sales were up by 11% during the months April to June 2018. Despite the worries of Brexit, the British are still the largest group buying Spanish homes. They constitute 15% of the market. This is almost twice the number of French buying in Spain. However, the largest increase in property purchase has been led by the Irish, up by 47%.
The current most popular area is the Valencian Community, followed by Andalusia and Catalonia.
Most liveable cities
The Economist Intelligence Unit compiles an annual list of the most liveable cities worldwide. This year Barcelona is at number 30 whilst Madrid takes 39th place. To put this in perspective, London is at number 48 and Manchester at no 35.
The report used 5 criteria for ranking the cities – stability, health and infrastructure, culture, education and environment. The city holding first place as the most liveable city is Vienna in Austria.
English speakers in Spain
Spain’s National Statistics Office (INE) brought out an interesting report in October. To the casual observer it might appear that parts of the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol are entirely inhabited by English speaking people. Not so according to the report. Spain has a population of 46.5 million and foreigners make up just over 10% at 4.7 million. It is not the British who are the largest foreign group but the Moroccans followed by Romanians and the Chinese. People whose mother tongue is English, including Canadians, Americans, Australians and South Africans account for just 7% of the 4.7 million foreigners.
Benidorm has the highest propertion of English-speakers in Spain.
The data gives an idea of the the true numbers but is based on the padron, which is a list of residents in every district. Many people however do not register – which, by the way is breaking the law. Also not taken into account are the people with second homes who just spend a few months in Spain, mostly in the warmer months.
Where do English speakers really live?
Benidorm is the place with the largest concentration of English speakers. Little surprise there. There are 2,222 British people registered as resident there, amounting to 3.7% of the town’s population.
The largest number of British reside in the province of Alicante, with 67,000 registered. Then it’s the Valencian Community with 75,700. A similar number live in Andalusia, in particular around Almería and the Costa del Sol. In 3rd place is the north eastern region of CATALONIA with 7000 living in Barcelona alone. In total there are 13,500 British people registered in the region.
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The Canary Islands attract the British and other foreigners because of the wonderful climate with 25,000 British settled across the various islands and 14,000 have headed to the Balearic Islands. The British are second only to the Americans in MADRID with 9,500 appearing on the padron.
Environmentally-friendly plans for Spain
The government wants to totally decarbonise Spain by 2050. So says the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez. He is putting forward a plan to set up electric charging points in Spanish cities with a population of more than 50,000 and to create low emission areas which already exist in parts of Madrid and Barcelona.
From 2040, a ban on the sale of all diesel and petrol vehicles will come into force, following Britain and France’s initiatives. Fracking will also be banned as will subsidies for fossil fuels.
Ban on painkiller for British tourists?
After the death of 10 British tourists who were prescribed the painkiller Nolotil, the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) has amended its advice and says that Nolotil should not be prescribed for people in Spain on short trips.
The 10 people who died after taking the drug, died from blood poisoning after succumbing to agranulosis which produces a steep drop in the white blood cell count. Although this drug isn’t licenced in several countries, including Britain, it is widely prescribed in Spain. The manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim, claims that the drug is available in pain in several generic varieties and there is no reason to suggest that particular groups, such as the British, are likely to suffer side effects.
Spanish cheese top of the world
Each year the World Cheese Awards list the 15 top cheeses from a vast pool of 3,500 from 40 different countries. This year the awards were held in Norway and Spain has 3 cheeses in the list.
In 6th position is the Madurat, made by Formatges Mas El Garet in Tona, Barcelona. 11th is Maxurata Semicurado con Pimentón (medium matured with paprika) produced by the Livestock Farmers’ Group, Puerto del Rosario on the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries.
Fuerteventura is famous in Spain for its beaches, but did you know it also produces fantastic cheese?
At no 14 is Entrepinares manufactured in Valladolid bearing the name La Reserva (the reserve) which is sold in Mercadona supermarkets at a very reasonable price of 10.20€ a kilo. An absolute bargain for such an excellent cheese.
A further 12 Spanish cheeses appeared in the top 80 out of 3,500 and their producers were awarded the esteemed Gold Medal.
Is sixty considered old?
On a lighter note, a presenter of a popular Spanish chat show took offence when a reporter called women of 60 “elderly ladies.” The chat show host, Ana Rosa Quintana, who is 62 announced “Women of 60, elderly? And what if I said you lot were idiots? These days, calling a woman of 60 ‘elderly’ seems a bit exaggerated, to me.”
If you have any questions about buying or living in Spain, call our friendly Spain Resource Team on 020 7898 0549 or email [email protected].
She was offended for women of 60 in general. A female collaborator then suggested that 66 could be described as elderly, however an institution as lofty as the United Nations disagrees. In its recent study about ages, it suggests that “adolescence” is now between the ages 0f 10 and 24,” young adults” is the term from 25 to 65 and middle-aged is from 66 to 79.
A person is “elderly” when they reach 80, some 20 years after 60 years as described in the TV show. No doubt most people of 60 plus would agree!
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