Secondary, or N-roads, are where three-quarters of all fatal accidents take place and the speed limit will be reduced here, says Fernández Díaz.

Overall, the limit on these highways will fall from 100 to 90 kilometres per hour, and in other parts will be 'adapted according to the layout' of the road, explains the minister. But to compensate, speed limits on motorways will be increased 'where safety would not be compromised' - although by how much has not been confirmed.

Other moves include making cycle helmets obligatory for all - starting with the under-18s - and banning bikes from the pavement.

Finally, the ministry's traffic department plans to ban alcohol altogether at the wheel - not even a drop. This is only at the consideration stage at the moment, reveals Fernández Díaz. Accidents, particularly fatal ones, have fallen considerably in the last few years, but the minister says there is still room for improvement.

The State meteorological office, AEMET, warns all residents to stay out of the midday sun and to pay special attention to the elderly, sick and to children.

Drinking as much water as possible and keeping air flowing - windows should only be opened at night, as doing so in the daytime lets more heat in - are also crucial.

They also strongly advise against dropping cigarette butts or leaving bottles, spectacles, sunglasses or anything else reflective in direct sunlight, including in cars, or cigarette lighters, which can explode. Members of the public should avoid rural, mountainous or wooded areas unless absolutely necessary due to the risk of fires, and if they discover flames, to call the emergency services and where possible, stamp on the blaze or beat it with live branches ? not dead or wooden ones, since these will cause the fire to spread.

This has been the driest year since 1947 and one of the hottest since records began, with temperatures already over 30?C by early May in the south and east.

"DOWNS" include the value of the Euro, with the Pound buying 25% more than it did at the start of the recession when the currencies were at parity; hotels, bars and restaurants have cut prices, despite an increase in VAT; peak to present property prices are 44% lower on average.

"UPS" are led by a million a week tourist arrivals which are already showing an increase of nearly 5% and those from wash-out Britain are up 8% on last year; more serious property buyers are grabbing the best bargains along favourite Costas.

Beer sales are hitting record levels across the country. For British visitors, savings on holidays, property or business trips are around 35% compared with just a few years ago because the low cost airlines summer deals to popular Mallorca, Alicante and Malaga. 6M foreign tourists visited Spain in June, an increase of 4.7% on June 2011 and the best results for the past three years, thanks mainly to the number of German and British visitors.

The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism says 269,000 more tourists came to Spain in June 2012 than in the same month the previous year. The Balearic Islands were the most popular destination for foreign tourists, with a 5% increase in foreign visitors.

Sterling, on the crest of a wave last week against the Euro, has plummeted when the UK failed to rebound after three consecutive quarters of contraction, indicated by the latest data release.

Continued failure to solve the problems of the Euro has also dented confidence. It now seems both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank may be forced into more quantitative easing (QE) and that in turn would lead America to do the same - resulting in all three currencies being back where they started.

Already, property investors in Europe and the Middle East appear to be placing less importance on currency movements and focussing on the downward house prices in Spain. With many bargains missed this year while awaiting the best currency exchange rate, serious buyers have decided autumn is going to be their buying time.

The retirees from West Sussex had been living in their beloved 200,000€ bungalow in Vera, Almeria, for several years when they were informed that the regional government had rescinded the original licence they acquired from the local Town Hall, making their home illegal. A lengthy and costly fight to save their home ensued but on Tuesday afternoon, after six agonising years, they received the news they had been longing for.

Speaking to SUR in English, Christine says: "Out of the blue we received confirmation from our solicitor telling us that the court had made a decision and it was in our favour - the demolition notice on our home had been removed.

"Furthermore, the email said that the court had ruled that the Junta de Andalucía can make no further claim on the property and that our home was now 'legal and valid for all purposes.'"

Despite now facing a legal bill of 21,000 euros, the couple say they are "delighted and relieved."

A jubilant Christine explains: "It came as a great shock. We didn't expect that we would see this happen in our lifetime. It now feels we can get on with our lives as it has been hanging over us for so long.

"Over the last six years it has often felt that we weren't in control of our own lives as we had this property we couldn't sell, so we couldn't just pack up and go back to England. We just had to sit here and hope while someone else decided our fate." Contributing to their "total surprise" is the fact that their bungalow is one of several surrounding the former home of Helen and Len Prior, who watched heartbroken and powerless as their 350,000 euro villa was demolished in 2008 after the Junta declared the property 'illegal'.

To this day, Mr and Mrs Prior continue to live in the garage on their former home's plot as they battle on for compensation through the courts.

According to the latest Post Office Family Holiday Report 2012, the Costa del Sol is one of the cheapest destinations in Europe for a getaway with the children in terms of the price of holiday essentials and weekly food shopping.

The Costa Blanca was also named in the top five cheapest locations for average vacation spending, while in the Post Office's recent Self-Catering on a Shoestring research, C'an Picafort in Majorca offered the best value on a weekly shop, while the Costa Blanca and San Climent in Menorca were in third and fifth places respectively. For example, a typical family shopping basket - including items such as milk, butter, bread, toilet rolls, tea bags and cheese - came to £57.67 in C'an Picafort. In Brighton in the UK, the same goods cost £89.08.

With spanish property prices down by 30.4 per cent on the peak recorded in December 2007, according to Tinsa, and the lower cost of living, more Brits may therefore be tempted to look into buying a home in the nation.

On Wednesday it was alleged that a small group of locals had reported to the Royal Gibraltar Police that a Guardia Civil launch had opened fire, for unknown reasons, on a Gibraltar boat out in the bay which was apparently on a pleasure ride.

This provoked widespread coverage in the Gibraltar media as the boat in question had evaded the Guardia Civil and raced to Ocean Village for safety. The Royal Gibraltar Police said it had spoken to the Guardia Civil who denied firing and would be taking no further action. The Gibraltar government issued no statement. All that changed on Monday when the Gibraltar government was stung into issuing a furious statement over a further incident on the Friday involving the Guardia Civil patrol boat, Rio Ceden.

The statement read: "Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar has received confirmed reports that officers of the Guardia Civil vessel Rio Ceden boarded and took control of a Gibraltar registered vessel in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and then forcibly conveyed it and its occupants to Algeciras at high speed and without navigational lights. They subsequently confiscated perfectly legal equipment aboard the vessel. The individuals aboard the vessel were not suspected of being involved in any illicit activity of any kind."

Abandoned horses which have been rehabilitated by volunteers can now be ridden in the well-known beauty spot. Lessons are also available for less experienced riders.

The horses are in very good condition and although there are no ponies, the horses can be ridden by children.

The teachers speak four languages, they have all the proper equipment and rides are just €20. For more information, see their website or contactVera Wates on 952 833 675 or veraannwateslo@yahoo.co.uk.

May was the seventh consecutive month of decline for the Euribor, the most widely used basis for setting the interest of variable-rate loans in Spain.

The Euribor for May was down 0.881 points from the same month last year, meaning mortgage-holders with an annual rate adjustment based on the May figure will see a reduction in their monthly payments.

For an average 150,000-euro, 25-year loan the drop would be nearly 65 euros a month, or close to 760 euros for the year.

What's more it has been quite open about its support. Around a month ago the message sent out by the Ministry of Industry was that it had no arguments to justify annulling Repsol's plans to search for gas off Mijas and Fuengirola since the project had received a favourable environmental impact report. Now they have gone even further. As well as reiterating Spain's need to reduce its dependence on imported fuel, the Government has told a reluctant tourism industry that finding gas on the Costa del Sol could even prove beneficial for the sector.

"Not only can we rule out any adverse affects on tourism, but, in the case of a positive result, the work has great potential to create wealth, complementing the region's economic activity which in turn would benefit the tourism industry itself".

This was the answer given in Parliament to a question asked by the Socialist member for Malaga, Miguel Ángel Heredia, about the effects of the two schemes aimed at prospecting for methane gas off the Malaga coastline.

Siroco is the name given to the project headed by Repsol with the participation of Gas Natural off the western Costa del Sol.

Meanwhile Chinook is the scheme developed by CNWL Oil España in the Alboran Sea (between Vélez-Málaga and Adra in the province of Almeria).

Both cases involve the organisations being granted exclusive rights to drill for gas, but don't automatically imply they have permission to start extracting fuel if it is found. In fact each step of the process requires the corresponding approval from the Ministry of Industry. For example the Chinook project is still waiting for authorisation to start a geological survey, while Siroco is pending the final authorisation to perforate the sea bed in spring 2013. In order to reach this stage the multinational's project has been given a thorough examination by the Environment Ministry which announced its approval in July 2011.

Limits

The favourable verdict, however, did limit the work to February, March and April, so as not to coincide with the peak tourism season, the close season for fishing or the migration and reproduction periods for seabirds and whales. The permission demanded an economic and environmental restoration plan in the case of a spill or gas leak. Based on these requirements the Government claims that the works will "guarantee the safety of people, assets and the environment".

Crown Prince Salman kept out of the limelight in previous years but he was always among the Saudi visitors.

The ties between Spain and Saudi Arabia are stronger that ever. King Juan Carlos was the first foreign head of state to arrive in Saudi Arabia on a visit of condolence on Sunday.

Crown Prince Salman also visited Madrid recently for talks with Spanish companies interested in infrastructure works in Saudi Arabia after the signing of the high speed Mecca-Medina train link.

Store owners along the Golden Mile, especially the jewellers, who rely heavily on the Saudi visitors in these hard economic times, can continue to sleep easy.

Sources of the state tax agency revealed this week that they are working on the value added tax (IVA) increase demanded by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund (IMF). For the time being however this will involve moving some products currently subject to a reduced rate into the general 18 per cent tax band. Rajoy announced on Monday that more "difficult" economic measures would be coming "soon" in order to "grow and create employment".He gave no more clues, but tax agency sources have confirmed that the government is revising the list of products currently subject to the reduced IVA rates of four and eight per cent. In this way state income from value added tax would increase by applying the full 18 per cent rate to more items.

At present the 18 per cent rate is paid on the majority of consumer goods and services. Prime Minister Rajoy is clearly reluctant to increase this general rate, especially after he slammed the two per cent hike introduced by Zapatero in 2010 so fiercely and now fears heavy criticism as well as a slump in consumer spending.

To ease the blow the EU suggested expanding the top band without formally increasing the rates. In practice they will be increasing value added tax on certain products, but can use the term "expand" rather than "increase".At present the reduced rate of eight per cent tax is applied to some food products, glasses and contact lenses, catering and tourism, cultural events, newspapers, hairdressing, funeral services and certain health and farming equipment. The "super reduced" rate of four per cent is applied to products considered as basic essentials, such as bread, milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, cheese, books, medicines, and 'protected' housing. Rajoy warned the country of "difficult" measures to come during his speech to the General Assembly of the CEOE, the Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organisations.

Public Works councillor Javier Garcia said drivers would hardly be able to notice the difference.

Last year, the council paid an electricity bill of €4.2 million and given the current economic crisis, Garcia said it could no longer foot the bill. Councillors from the opposition parties have criticised the plan because it means the council will drop its demand for the Public Works ministry to foot the bill for lighting highways that belong to the state, not the local councils.

Junta health chief María Jes&uactue;s Montoro said last week that, thanks to the electronic prescription system used by the Andalucía health service (SAS), pharmacies will be able to see in real time when a pensioner has reached his or her co-pay limit for the month, and not charge any more.

Pensioners - including many foreign residents - used to get their medication for free but under the new system they must pay 10 per cent of the cost, up to a maximum of eight euros for those with incomes under 18,000 euros, 18 euros for incomes between 18,000 and 100,000 euros, and 60 euros a month for incomes over 100,000 euros.

In other areas of the country they will have to foot the bill for the entire 10 per cent regardless of the total for the month, and then get reimbursed for the overpayment within a maximum of six months. Pharmacy and healthcare groups have complained that the system could force some low-income retirees to stop taking medications if they can't afford to bridge the payment for expensive treatments. This will now not be a concern in Andalucía, said Sra Montero.

It is estimated that up to 70,000 vehicles will use the tunnel every day, relieved of the tailbacks that had become par for the course, especially with the avalanche of tourists in the summer months.

The Minister of Development, Ana Pastor, had the job on Tuesday evening of officially opening the tunnel just in time for one of the busiest weekends of the year in terms of tourist arrivals. She pointed out the "benefits" of the new infrastructure for tourism.

"It's very important that visitors find it easy to get in and out of the town", she said adding that she hoped the road would maintain the same high average daily volume of traffic "because that generates wealth and employment, which is what we really need at this time", she stressed.

The minister did recall that the works had been started by the former socialist minister Magdalena ?lvarez, although she stressed that later construction had been interrupted. "The mayor asked me to come and to resume the work and that's what we did," she said reminding those present that she had kept her promise that the tunnel would be open before July.

Before the official unveiling of a kilometre marker post, a representative of the construction group gave some details of the mammoth project that is now complete. To sum up: a total cost of 85 million euros; a daily average of 45,000 to 70,000 vehicles; 5.7 million euros on safety measures; three roundabouts and "great difficulties in diverting traffic".

For the people of San Pedro Tuesday marked the end of 20 years demanding a solution to the traffic problem and five long years of works. Locals did not turn out 'en masse' but some did go along to witness the opening, despite the strict security measures in place.

These figures have been influenced especially by the drop in price of fuels and lubricants, which were then offset by the price changes in tobacco and food.

The National Statistics Institute also published their flash estimates for the Harmonised CPI (HICP), which measures changes in prices using the same method in all countries of the eurozone. According to this data, year-on-year inflation stood at 1.8% in June, one-tenth less than the previous month.

The short answer, according to pundits, is that it won't for the next nine months: They say that the banks will continue to offload the 20% of unsold homes they control in the big cities and popular Costas at the similar price discount and the same generous mortgages.

The inter-bank competition to sell-off 400,000 unwanted apartments and villas may increase as they strive to match current discounts, averaging 44% from peak 2008 to present, but the price pressure is expected to ease when the new funding becomes available in March 2013.

That means the Spanish banks taking up the Eurozone loans can strengthen their balance sheets and help reduce Bond interest without having to sell off all their property assets at the same big discounts.

Tradition dictates that on the stroke of midnight, you leap over the flames - having firstly set fire to your 'wish list&apos' for the coming year - and run into the sea, jumping the waves three times.

Many swear that their heart's desires always come true if they follow the ritual, but even if this is not the case, they certainly get a great evening's open-air partying out of it.

Readers are warned that some Costa towns have granted permission to host the traditional bonfires on the beach tomorrow night (Saturday), but others have not. Check with you local council if this is allowed in your area to make sure you don't find yourself in the middle of an 'illegal' bash.

Four of the nine beaches are within the municipal boundaries of the city of Malaga. The Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, will hand over the awards to representatives of the respective town halls at an event held on June 5th.

Andalucía is the Spanish region with the most Q distinctions, some 58 out of a total of 173 around Spain. Almeria has the highest concentration of quality beaches, with a total of 26.

The Q for Quality awards are handed out according to how the different beaches comply with the UNE 187001 regulations for tourism. These cover facilities available and services provided such as cleaning, security, lifeguards, information and other services aimed at making a tourist?s visit to the beach more satisfactory.

You aren't the only one. Americans are getting more interested in other European real estate, too: U.S. searches for all European properties are up 26 percent from a year ago, according to a leading agent, and especially for listings in France, Italy and Switzerland where prices are generally holding steady or rising slightly.

But in Portugal, where a bank crisis similar to Spain's may be on its way, U.S. interest fell last year. International realtors have been warning buyers to wait and see in Greece.

So for Americans looking to plunge in close to a market bottom, the moment may be ripest in Spain. For example, In the luxurious Sotogrande complex, on the Costa del we are seeing apartments down to $800,000, from $1.4 million and in general prices have fallen dramatically all along the coast.

In fact some of the main construction firms in the country are among the bidders for the contract for the 'environmental integration' of the land obtained for the construction of the new terminal and second runway.

At present the Ministry of Development has 38 projects on its desk, the majority proposed by temporary groups formed by a total of 78 companies. The successful bidder will have the job of landscaping the land that runs alongside the new runway and its access strips, outside the security area.

Gardens are also planned for the area adjoining the north access road, as well as in the open spaces left around the buildings and roads both in the old and new area of the airport. The project will also include modifications to the existing landscaped areas to make them blend in with the rest of the gardens. Water saving features such as an integrated irrigation system are also envisaged.

The second runway is due to come into service at the beginning of 2012 although no date has been set for the opening.

The 'Votes for Britons' campaign is urging the 5.6 million Britons who permanently reside overseas, including those here on the Costa del Sol, to sign a petition on their website, votes-for-expat-brits.com, and to lobby ministers on the issue of enfranchisement.

Under the current legislation, Britons who live overseas automatically lose their right to take part in general elections if they have lived abroad for more than 15 years.

"Other nationalities who chose to live abroad don't face having their right to vote taken away because they live in Spain or France, for example," Anita Rieu-Sicart, a journalist working for the campaign, tells SUR in English.

Developers and real estate experts are now looking to China as a golden opportunity to revive sales after business groups and individuals have started to show an interest in buying a second home on the Costa del Sol. To this we can add the properties being bought by Chinese residents in the province of Malaga, who have traditionally rented their homes but now consider buying, attracted by the lower prices.

According to the National Statistics Institute, there are now around 6,000 Chinese citizens registered on their local population census in the province of Malaga, almost double the figure from 2006.

With a reputation for being tireless workers, savers and reliable payers there's no wonder that they are being seen as almost perfect customers.

The director of the institute of Business Practice (IPE), José Antonio Pérez, even goes so far as to suggest that the Chinese "could be a cornerstone in the recovery of the economy".

Meanwhile the president of the Federation of Developers and Residential Tourism in Andalucía, Ricardo Arranz, adds that this is an emerging market that should not be ignored. "They are very interested in Europe and Spain and have very significant spending power", points out the developer, who has already had contact with numerous wealthy Asians considering purchasing houses, developments and even hotels.

"They are looking for the chance to buy at a good price", he explains.

In a poll 21 per cent of those who asked said that they don't want to be in the country during the great sporting event. The exodus of Britons will start in June when the effects first begin to be felt, such as the stricter security measures which accompany the Games.

The Tourist Board is already working on a strategy to intensify publicity so as not to miss this opportunity, which comes at a time when Spain is the favoured destination of the English and the Malaga coast is an important area.

According to Elías Bendodo, president of the Tourist Board, the recovery of the English market during the last year has been key for the tourist industry. More than 35 per cent of arrivals at Malaga airport in 2011 came from the United Kingdom.

On Sunday, in what has been described as their most important game ever, they beat Sporting one-nil to gain a coveted place in Europe's Champions League.

Expectations had been high all over the city and beyond throughout the weekend, starting with several thousand fans dressed in Malaga shirts descending on Calle Larios. Meanwhile blue and white flags decorated lampposts and even the city's buses to add to the pre-match atmosphere.

The team didn't let their fans and their city down. The goalless first half heightened tension in La Rosaleda, as a draw would not be enough to gain a place in the Champions if Atlético won against Villarreal. Relief came soon after half time, however, when Rondon headed the ball into the back of the net from a corner taken by Cazorla. Euphoria took over the nearly 30,000 fans in La Rosaleda as well as the thousands more watching the match across the city and the Costa del Sol.

Tension interrupted the celebrations once again though when Atlético scored in Villarreal; Malaga had to hold onto their lead whatever. However the final whistle was not far off and La Rosaleda became one big party.

The players returned to the pitch wearing T-shirts showing their appreciation to the fans, with Pellegrini and even Sheikh Al-Thani greeting the crowds. Celebrations then spread over into the city's Paseo del Parque where the blue and white partying went on until the early hours.

Amadeu Altafaj, spokesman for the European Commission (EC), said in a radio interview reported by Reuters that the Spanish government urgently needs to tell the EC what it plans to do to prop up Bankia after it was revealed it needs €19 billion (£15.2 billion) of recapitalisation.

The European Central Bank (ECB) this week rejected proposals from Madrid concerning the injection of sovereign bonds worth this amount into Bankia, which would then be swapped for cash when the next round of ECB refinancing takes place.

Yesterday (May 30th), the EC suggested it could offer assistance in the form of a eurozone rescue fund and an extension on the deadline by which Spain needs to cut its budget deficit, according to Reuters. It is not yet known whether the country will take up this aid.

Bankia has suffered a large proportion of the losses that have been generated by the collapse of the Spanish property market, with the crash revealing a huge portfolio of bad debt.

The visit ended with smiles all round as the investors announced a trip to the province of Malaga in June and the Costa representatives were pleasantly surprised by the extent of the demand. Chairman of the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, Elías Bendodo and the president of the Malaga Developers Associations, José Prado, have reported that the average planned investment in luxury property is some three million euros, while there is also a high demand for apartments in the 200,000 to 400,000 price range.

According to research by Holiday Lettings, demand for villas and apartments in the European country was particularly strong during the first three months of 2012. The group said this shows the appeal of short-haul locations in Europe has not diminished in recent years.

"Destinations don't have to be new and exciting to attract the most tourists," Holiday Lettings noted.

The organisation added that economic troubles have led to property values in Spain falling by more than a quarter over the last year. As a result, it believes foreign property buyers may be able to bag a holiday home at a knockdown price, as long as it is "well situated and the realities of the holiday let marketplace have been considered".

Government sources maintain that the underpass will be in use by the beginning of July, as the Minister Ana Pastor predicted on her first visit to the works. The date has not been confirmed but it is possible that the tunnel opening could take place on June 26th when the Minister will be in Malaga for the official inauguration of the second runway at the airport. This will allow as many as 72 flights to arrive or depart from the Costa del Sol every hour.

In an article posted on Round Town News, lawyer Carlos Baos, of the White and Baos law firm, pointed out it is mandatory for those classed as non-resident in Spain to submit a non-resident tax return. This applies even if no income is earned from any assets in the country, with Mr Baos explaining the Spanish tax office has recently indicated it will crack down on those who do not comply with this legislation.

He stressed the importance of contacting the relevant authorities and updating a tax status, as this can help avoid penalty charges or other fines being levied.

We expect prices to bottom-out completely this year, and foreign buyers from stronger Eurozone economies to continue to buy property in Spain while prices are low.

Starting in 2013, we expect a slight upturn in prices will signal a more widespread return of buyer confidence, and the start of the next upswing in Spanish house prices. Hopefully, the drastic market peaks and troughs of former years will be tempered by more sustainable lending practices.

If the market continues to exhibit a 10 year peak to trough cycle, we should see steady house price growth in Spain between 2013 and 2018

Since then, the value of properties has been reduced by between 10% and 40%. Confirming the new reality of this unique market, a director of one of the real estate companies located on the 'Golden Mile' of Marbella (Málaga), told El Mundo that in 2011 the sale of luxury properties increased by 20% over 2010 due to the "aggressive" price adjustments made by the owners in order to sell.

The value of homes located in the best areas, which cost between 600,000 and 800,000 euros, has dropped by around 20 to 30%, while the value of houses in unconsolidated areas, i.e. housing only 50% built and without access to services, has fallen by 30 to 40%.

The real estate expert said that, in Marbella "there is a group of people who have the liquidity and who have been waiting years for prices to come down." Currently, "this potential demand with purchasing power means they have realised that this is the time to buy," he said.

The typical profile of these new buyers corresponds mainly to people over 50 years, businessmen and foreigners from northern Europe.

This is the assertion of Liz Rowlinson, editor of A Place in the Sun magazine, who explained buying a property in Spain or another popular destination can often be a more attractive option than other kinds of investment.

"It just shows that in this climate you have to be very hard-nosed about returns and the bottom line with costs," she stated. She acknowledged there is an increasing number of holiday homeowners who are considering selling up, after Home Away revealed 65 per cent of respondents to a survey it conducted are thinking about putting their overseas property on the market.

However, Ms Rowlinson pointed out it is not uncommon for second homeowners to look into selling their asset, adding this attitude is "symptomatic of the climate that we are in at the moment" due to the continuing economic problems in the eurozone.

Managing director of Currency Index Robin Haynes pointed out having internet access on a trip away has become increasingly important due to the rising use of smartphones and social media. His comments come after research released earlier this month by Espana Breaks revealed almost one-fifth (19 per cent) of people looking for a Spanish property to rent asked about WiFi connectivity.

Meanwhile, one and two-bedroom villas or apartments were much more popular than larger holiday homes - something investors may want to bear in mind if they are considering buying real estate in Spain.

In response to growing interest from visitors, both these real estate options will form a significant part of the promotions presented at the fair. Gaining access to housing through renting has become an important route for families and in particular for the young. For this reason, SIMA 2012 has launched the initiative SIMA Rental, with the aim of highlighting the companies who are presenting this type of offer, both on their website and in the different promotional media that will take place during the exhibition.

"We still expect a new recession in Europe, although we believe it will be mild, with a gradual return to growth thanks to the growing demand from emerging countries, the strength of demand in developed countries and the restoration of investor confidence," said the company.

According to El Economista, the baseline scenario of S & P considers there will be a flat growth of the economies of the eurozone as a whole, with growth of 0.5% in France and 0.6% in Germany, while in UK the gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 0.5%.

"With respect to the housing market, we look forward to seeing the beginning of a significant recovery in 2013, which will improve macroeconomic conditions and reduce unemployment," said the agency, which they hope "will boost consumer demand and the valuation of real estate."

Under the new guidelines, homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage will be given extra support by financial institutions to help prevent repossessions.

In order to qualify for assistance, which can involve restructuring the loan for a period of up to 40 years, every member of the family in question must be unemployed and the cost of repaying the mortgage needs to equate to at least 60 per cent of their income.

The aim is to allow Spanish property owners to remain in their homes, with the country's deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria pointing out over 1.5 million families in the nation are currently out of work.

At present, evicted homeowners can still be saddled with debt even after losing their property, as banks can demand further payment if the value of the house in question has fallen below the amount remaining on the mortgage.

In most areas of Andalucía, including the Costa, prices are even higher, with 95-octane petrol at more than 1.40 euros a litre at many filling stations. The previous historic high for petrol in Spain was from May 5, 2011, when the price hit 1.381 euros a litre.

Diesel prices are also soaring, hitting an average of 1.35 euros a litre last week, up 1.9 per cent from just the previous week.

Compared to this time last year, petrol prices are up 9.6 per cent while diesel is up nine per cent, meaning a 55-litre fill-up costs drivers an average of 6.50 euros more than it did a year ago.

The price pressure is likely to continue as the Brent oil price broke 120 dollars a barrel last week amid continued instability in the oil market and threats that Iran could cut its exportations to much of Europe, including Spain, ahead of the planned EU embargo in Iranian oil imports beginning in July. At the weekend Iran announced it was halting exports to France and the UK.

Known as the ITE (Inspeccion Técnica de Edificios), the by-law will require the owners of all buildings more than 25 years old to commission a technical inspection of the building to certify its safety and proper condition.

Once the ordinance takes effect - it was provisionally approved at Saturday's council meeting - owners will have two years to get an inspection performed by an architect or building inspector. After the initial inspection, follow-up checks will be required every 15 years for buildings less than 50 years old and every 10 years for those more than 50 years old, explained public works councillor Manuel Navarro.

A leading specialist has published its worldwide housing market statistics for the final quarter of last year, revealing Spanish property saw 2.86 per cent wiped off its value in the last three months of 2011, compared to the period between July and September.

Meanwhile, the annual figures showed property prices in Spain fell by 9.27 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the same timeframe in 2010. Only Athens in Greece, Warsaw in Poland and Ireland saw greater annual declines in residential real estate prices over the course of last year.

Last week, one property expert advised investors to consider the merits of purchasing distressed property in Spain as banks are more willing to lend on this kind of asset, as they want to reduce their exposure to the country's real estate sector.

In addition, Fernandez-Cuesta pointed out that the properties which are now selling most are those within the 100,000 euros to 120,000 euros price range, and which are offering 100% financing. In the report, the property consultant said that, of the 200 industry executives surveyed, 90% believe that prices in the residential market will continue to fall, although when asked what cities are closer to reaching the price adjustment they pointed to Madrid and Barcelona.

As for the segments within the residential market which will have more opportunities for property development, those surveyed indicated the rent-to-buy and refurbished housing options as most favourable, while new developments remained low on the list.

They spend around three days on their visits to Marbella and spend an average of €3,000 and €50,000 in a location which is all the more attractive with 25 per cent of Andalucia's five-star hotels, as well as golf courses, leisure areas, health facilities and schools.

Meanwhile, Malaga city is also looking to become one of the favourite destinations for Chinese tourists within six years, according to Culture, Tourism and Sports Councillor, Damian Caneda, and will work on their culture, gastronomy and flamenco offer, as well as promoting the football club.

The number of Chinese tourists who visited Spain last year increased by 24.5 per cent to 128,500, of which a third stayed in Cataluña, a third visit Madrid and the surrounding areas, and the other third choose Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba and Malaga.

The plan includes 1,915 homes, a golf course and a congress hall on the 6,000ha property the Libyan government owns in Benahavis, La Resinera. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy spoke to the new Libyan Ambasador who confirmed that meetings had been requested to determine what would happen with their properties in Spain.

The daily indicator stood at 1.664% on Friday and is 0.338 percent down since 19th December, when it last saw an increase up to 2.002%.

El Mundo reported that with only a few days till the close of February, the Euribor is likely to stay at a monthly rate of 1.704%, which represents a drop of ten hundredths from the level marked by the indicator a year ago.

The expectation of better liquidity facilities from the European Central Bank (ECB) is gradually easing tensions in the European interbanking market and is encouraging financial institutions to lend money.

They wrestled with a corrugated iron roof in a crowded parking lot near to the Fuengirola feria ground, the viscously flapping and potentially lethally sharp edged rusted metal structure was eventually brought under control and then cut away by the firemen.

Elsewhere in the town trees blew down blocking pavements and scooters where dashed to the ground as the wind knocked them over like bowling pins.

With this new regulatory framework in place, new businesses may be opened without having to wait for prior municipal permission, and the minister said during his appearance before the Congressional Economy Committee that they will negotiate with the Federation of Municipalities with regards to the particular powers of the new licence.

He placed special emphasis on the need for comprehensive reforms in the commercial distribution sector, which employs 3 million people. The minister then announced that they are soon to embark on a 'road show', travelling to key financial centres of Europe, Asia and America in order to explain the reforms being put in place by the Spanish Government.

Last year's growth in Malaga was above the Andalusian average which stayed at 0.2 per cent, according to Unicaja estimates with the fourth quarter statistics still to be released. Only Seville did better than Malaga with growth of one per cent. The rest of the Andalusian provinces registered a slight fall in economic activity, the worst results being in Almeria.

For 2012 AEA predicts that Andalucía's GDP will rise by 0.4 per cent.

At the presentation of this most recent report, Felisa Becerra stressed the importance of the tourism industry in this minor growth, as well as the improved commercial balance.

Malaga is the Andalusian province with the smallest fall in the sale of motor vehicles: between January and September 2011 sales fell by 23.5 per cent compared with the Andalusian average of 32 per cent. This is also the leading province in the region for business dynamism with a total of 3,111 new companies formed in the first nine months of last year, an increase of 13.4% per cent and a third of the regional total.

However what is really propping up the local economy is the tourism industry which showed clearly positive figures in 2011. The number of visitors staying in hotels increased by 5.5 per cent between January and September, reaching a total of almost 3.5 million. This improvement comes hand in hand with a growth of 12 per cent in foreign visitors while national tourists fell by one per cent. This year the Andalusian Analysts believe that the results will be similar to those of 2011.

Despite the positive tourism figures 2012 is not set to be a year for creation of employment. The AEA was clear that unemployment is unlikely to fall this year and that the rate (which is already over 30 per cent) could rise even further. While the AEA points out that this is above all a time of "great uncertainty", the "first steps are being taken" towards the end of the crisis.

He highlighted the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and Alicante as the three most popular regions for property investors at present.

"Consolidated areas that are well-established with a good range of amenities and services will be the most interesting and will be where people are looking," Mr Stucklin stated.

However, he warned there is over-priced property on sale, so buyers need to do their research before committing to a purchase.

The Cabinet says that the plan will meet the eurozone pact and will allow the country to avoid being attacked further by the financial markets.

Spain's higher than expected year-end deficit, which jumped from the forecast six per cent to eight per cent, was the catalyst for these previously unforeseen steps, according to the Spanish Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. This two per cent 'gap' represents a shortfall of approximately 20 billion euros.

"This is the beginning of the beginning," said Sáenz de Santamaria, adding that the country is facing "an extraordinary, unexpected situation, which will force us to take extraordinary and unexpected measures."

A total of 8.9 billion euros is being slashed from government departments' budgets in 2012. The Ministry for Public Works bears the brunt with a 1.6 billion euro cut; followed by the Foreign, Industry and Finance ministries, that will lose a billion each.

Indeed, no department remains unaffected. For instance, the Employment, Health, and Defence ministries will lose 485 million, 409 million and 340 million euros, respectively. The majority of the cuts will be presented in the new budget in March.

Born in Villalba (Galicia), Fraga was known more for his vehement character which overshadowed his culture and discipline. He was referred to by most as Don Manuel and only consented to a few close friends addressing him with 'tú'. The image of Fraga that sticks in most Spaniards' minds is the widely published photograph of him emerging from the sea in Palomares, Almeria, in the company of the US ambassador in March 1966. At the time Fraga was Franco's Minister for Information and Tourism, a post he held between 1962 and 1969, and this role involved proving to the world that the Almeria waters were safe to swim in. In January that year two US planes, a B52 and a KC-135, had crashed in the air off the Almeria coastline. As a result seven crew members lost their lives and four hydrogen bombs packed with plutonium fell into the waters off Palomares. Franco's official broadcasting service played the issue down, Minister Fraga went for a dip and fears of dangerous radiation were quelled. It was only later that it was revealed that the four bombs, which failed to detonate, had 300 times the destructive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

During his time as minister Fraga passed the first Press Law, which did away with pre-censorship, and created the network of 'Paradores'. By that time he was anxious to lead the way towards the end of the dictatorship, but the regime sent him to London as Spanish Ambassador. He maintained his contacts with Madrid, however, and in 1974 founded the firm Godsa, a platform he used to design what he believed to be the route map to political reform in Spain. "Then [during the dictatorship] we only had two choices: to go into exile or to try to improve things", he said later in an interview in order to explain his past.

With Franco on his death bed on November 19th 1975, Fraga returned to Madrid, went straight to the hospital and then set about his plans for reform. Carlos Arias Navarro succeeded Franco as head of government and Fraga was his Deputy and Minister in 1975 and 76. The King chose Adolfo Suárez to lead the Transition, but it was Fraga who made the first contact with the opposition, holding meetings with Enrique Múgica and Felipe González.

In 1976 he founded Reforma Democrática, a party that later became the Alianza Popular, formed by a group of Franco's ministers. This scared off the more centre-leaning politicians who joined Suárez's UCD. AP provided the route for Francoists to take part in democracy.

As right-wing leader Fraga took part in drawing up the new Constitution in 1978, but he never became Prime Minister. He gave up trying in 1987 and stood in the European elections. His design to unite all the centre-right parties and re-found the AP as the Partido Popular in February 1989 did lead the way to an eventual electoral triumph over the Socialists. That same year he left the party in the hands of José María Aznar who won the elections in 1996.

Some say that Fraga could defend both sides of an argument with the same passion. During the drawing up of the Constitution he had fiercely objected to the chapter regarding the autonomy of the Spanish regions. However his ideas had clearly changed by 1990 when he became president of the Xunta de Galicia, a post he held until 2005. He reintroduced the Gallego language of his childhood to all official acts and set about modernising his homeland, leaving a network of advanced motorways and infrastructure. He was 83 years old when he ended his fourth term of office.

The blackest moment of his reign at the Xunta was the Prestige crisis, when Fraga was heavily criticised for his management of the environmental disaster. In the next regional election he lost his absolute majority.

Fraga may have retired as a Professor of Constitutional Law at 65 but he never stepped down from politics. After leaving the Xunta he joined Spain's upper house, the Senado, and continued attending the PP-s executive meetings. It wasn't until last September that he gave up his seat as Senator due to poor health. His last message to Prime Minister and fellow 'Gallego' Mariano Rajoy was delivered at last weekend's PP conference in Malaga. "Go on with your centrist and re ]]> images/fraga.jpg 185 1/25/2012 http://www.ldestates.net/news/archives/January/2012 Just before Christmas, Andrew and Kelly Owen left their rented flat in Brighton, England, for the last time.

Having met family and friends the night before for an early festive celebration, the couple, both aged 33, headed for Gatwick airport: destination Malaga and a new life together.

"When Andrew was made redundant in July, we began thinking about moving to Spain seriously. It had always been a dream to relocate to the Costa del Sol after having spent every holiday in the last eight years at Andrew's parents' apartment in Estepona - an area of the coast we'd fallen in love with," says Kelly.

"As we were now both freelancer graphic designers, we felt we could, in effect, work anywhere, so we took the plunge," Kelly explains.

The couple's story is a familiar one. But in recent years, the weak pound, rising living costs, plummeting property prices, and crippling unemployment levels have put off many would-be expatriates from coming to Spain in search of that much-lauded idyllic new life in the sun.

However, despite the depressing economic outlook, it appears that there remains a great number of people, like the Owens, who are still keen to pursue the dream. Indeed, a recent survey carried out by The Post Office says that more than a third of Britons under 34 years old are considering leaving the UK. Similarly, research published in the Daily Mail says that 75 per cent of Britons have considered moving abroad, with Spain remaining a popular relocation choice.

These findings are supported by figures from Spain's National Institute of Statistics, which reports that in the first nine months of 2011, a total of 14,506 additional foreign nationals, the vast majority from the EU, arrived in Malaga province. This only reflects those who have registered.

John Kramer, an expat living in Andalucia, told the news provider Spain offers an "outdoor lifestyle, traditional family values and positive outlook on life". Those considering purchasing a property in Spain with the intention of moving to the nation may be encouraged by the findings of this study.

A Place in the Sun magazine recently revealed the country remains the top choice for Brits looking to buy real estate overseas. The publication quizzed visitors at two of its live exhibitions and found Spain was a more popular option than other favourites such as France, Portugal, Italy and the USA.

DOWN: For tax resident property buyers, the mortgage payment tax relief for the purchase of a primary residence is back. Borrowers can again deduct 15 percent of their mortgage payments up to an annual limit of just over EUR 9,000. This was abolished a year ago by the previous government for anyone earning more than EUR 24,107.

DOWN: And for buyers in the last couple of years the tax relief can be retroactively recovered to 2010 for any primary residence - worth up to EUR 18,000 and even more good news for many home owners.

UP: However, there will be a increase in general property tax - Impuesto de Bienes Inmuebles (IBI) - for the next two years. The yearly tax is normally around 1% of a property's value (now rising progressively by 4 to 10%) and will be applicable to all homes above average value.

The average property value will be distinct to each autonomous community (Andalucía, Cataluña etc.) and calculated at 50% of the valuation of all property in the area (the Valor Catastral).

NO CHANGE: In a reasonable effort at fairness, the IBI calculations will exclude any properties that have not been valued since 2001 or that were last valued when property prices were at their peak, between 2005 and 2007.

DOWN: A 50% cut in VAT for the purchase of new homes was announced earlier this week. For a new property costing EUR 200,000, it means a saving to the buyer of EUR 8,000.

While the consumer group FUCI forecast shoppers will spend on average €90 each during the sales, some people really splurged. Meanwhile, Marbella's La Cañada Shopping Centre was packed as the winter sales got underway.

A shuttle bus was laid on to take shoppers from the additional car park to the shopping centre, according to Christine Yeadon from Mijas Pueblo. They also reportedly told people to park in the Marbella car parks as theirs was full. "Some shop queues were as long as the shops themselves," said Christine. "When I left La Cañada at around 6.30pm the motorway lanes were backed up in the Puerto Banus direction."

Following America's unexpected victory in November, US property fell in popularity last month, dropping three places in the overseas portal's chart. That dip was all Spain needed to soar back to top spot, along with several other property stalwarts.

After buyers seemed to flock to America to avoid Europe's troubled markets, Spain, Portugal and France charged up the table, pushing America down to fourth.

In total, the top three destinations accounted for just over a third of all enquiries on the site in December. While US enquiries fell by 7.32 per cent, Spain's popularity dropped by only 0.18 per cent. This steady level of attention, driven by low prices and the country's reduction in VAT during 2011, reflects the continuing demand for Spanish property from lifestyle buyers.

Indeed, investors returned to old favourites France and Portugal too. France's enquiries increased by 1.05 per cent to hold third place, proving that holiday home demand can still buck the Eurozone's downward trend if the prices are right. Italy's enquiries increased in December as well, but its smaller monthly rise of 0.65 per cent was still not enough to compete with November's victor.

The announcement follows on from accusations that Instituto Noos, a non-profit making foundation run by Iñaki Urdangarin - the King's son-in-law, the Duke of Palma - siphoned off public money. But plans have been afoot for years to streamline the royal family from its present 15 to six, Palace sources insisted.

King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, Prince Felipe, his wife Princess Letizia and their daughters, the Infantas Leonor and Sofia, would constitute the royal family. They would be the equivalent of Britain's "working royals." The King's daughters - the divorced Duchess of Lugo, Elena and her two children, together with her sister Cristina, Urdangarin and their four children - would become the King's Family.

This follows a Christmas run-up which although busy, generally produced similar or lower sales than last year, according to staff at several shops at the centre. Shoes and suitcase shop Rayuela has been trading "worse than last year" according to shop assistant Lidia Naranjo who has worked there for seven years. "Things usually pick up more in the two weeks leading up to Three Kings, so we hope it will be the same this year," she said.

The owner of Sparkle, which sells watches and Swarovski products, Adriana Sanchez, reckons that sales are about the same as last year but are hoping for a good early January. The Winter sales, or rebajas, in Andalucia start on January 7 and continue until March 7.

It has been revealed the nation was the second most-enquired about destination among such investors, after the UK, between January and October this year. There was also a three per cent rise in the number of queries about buying a property in Spain, compared to the same period in 2010, the survey noted.

Meanwhile, five of the top ten most-enquired about regions are found in the country, with the Costa del Sol leading the way, followed by the Costa Blanca in fifth place, Tenerife in sixth and Mallorca and Lanzarote, which were ranked ninth and tenth respectively.

In an address to the Spanish parliament on Tuesday (December 20th), Mr Rajoy said the true value of the so-called toxic assets held by many of the country's financial institutions needs to be clarified.

The Guardian quoted the Spanish prime minister as saying: "We must clear up doubts about the value of certain assets, especially in real estate, which make access to the markets for the financial sector more difficult and also damage the credibility of our public debt."

Analyst with Eurasia Group Antonio Barroso told the Associated Press there is still division between the Popular Party, who have the majority in Parliament, and the Bank of Spain about the possibility of establishing a bank to deal with all the toxic assets.

The lack of activity is also affecting local authorities, which are still suffering from the brutal drop in planning-related income. However the larger municipalities had deposited much of their financial hopes in the new PGOUs (urban development plans) that would free up more land for building and generate more income through planning deals. Now, however, all these hopes are fading as none of the four main municipalities that have approved new planning guidelines shows any signs of recovery.

In Marbella and Antequera the situation has changed very little, despite having new development plans in place since 2010. Meanwhile Fuengirola and Malaga (whose PGOUs came into force in April and September respectively) have come up against an added handicap: developers are unable to deliver the substantial sums of money stipulated in the agreements signed back in the boom years.

Both Malaga and Fuengirola town halls blame the Junta de Andaluc?a for the delay in the approval of the new plans, which were designed in the context of the real estate boom and came into force in the middle of a crisis. But politics aside, the solution involves negotiating a new payment scheme with landowners that is more in line with today's reality.

In the case of the city of Malaga, five main planning agreements were due to bring in 172.4 million euros to the city's coffers, of which 126 should have been paid already. In reality the city hall has received 27.1 million and only two of the developers, those responsible for the Hipercor and Malaga Wagen projects, are up to date with their payments.

Planning councillor Diego Maldonado has said that negotiations to modify other agreed payment plans are going well, especially in the case of the project to build tower blocks on the former Citesa site in Martiricos. The authority is only considering reducing the agreed fees in the case of the former 'Térmica' factory, on the west side of the city, where the size of the land available for construction could be cut by the Coasts Authority on the grounds that it invades public maritime domain. The site owners had originally agreed to pay the City Hall 58 million euros to develop the area.

In Fuengirola the Town Hall is still waiting for the payment of 25.5 million euros corresponding to 28 planning agreements. After meeting with all the developers, the mayor, Esperanza Oña, explained: "not one of them is able to pay at the moment". The town hall has opted to allow the developers to pay in installments over a period of up to eight years, either by paying ten per cent a year and the rest at the end, or putting off an initial payment of 30 per cent until the end of the second year. The Town Hall requires developers to produce a bank guarantee worth more than the amount in the planning agreement.

From December 1st, only bills for the electricity needed for the stretch between Puerto Banús and Guadalmina are still being met by the corporation, the explanation being that this road runs through a town, San Pedro, and also that it would be dangerous to leave it unlit in view of the roadworks taking place.

The tunnel on the AP-7 where the toll road and the Puerto Banús road diverge also still has lights, as the company holding the toll road concession has agreed to put the bills in its name. With this, the Town Hall will save a total of 350,000 euros a year.

Up to October this year the sum spent by international visitors on holiday in Andalucía was more than 7.3 billion euros, an increase of 4.3 per cent. The report points out that this figure represents half of the growth in tourist spending in Spain as a whole, where international tourists spent almost 47 billion euros between January and October.

Andalucía is ahead of all of Spain's seaside holiday destinations and in general terms is behind only the region of Madrid for tourist spending. In the first ten months of the year each tourist spent an average of 1,016 euros on their holiday, while the average daily spend was 90 euros.

There are now only 140 more houses which need to be soundproofed to complete the acoustic insulation plan which was started several years ago.

AENA has paid for double glazed windows and doors, as well as new roofs to lessen the noise caused by aircraft flying over areas such as Guadalmar, San Julian and Zapata.

However, some residents complain that nothing has been done to their kitchens and bathrooms as these are not considered "rest areas".

With the festive season up us the crowds cheered as the lights went on and with the cold evening as well it really gave that Christmas sensation.

Some local businesses, however have complained about the €900,000 the lights will cost the town hall, which they say it is too high given the current economic climate.

The illuminations consist of 4,189,670 lights, most of which are LED's. The cost to the city hall is ?100,000 less than in 2009, and they argue that this year's electricity bill will be halved with most of the lights being LED's, while carbon dioxide emissions will also be significantly lower.

A leading organisation named the nation as one of the best places in the world to seek out distressed assets at present, noting that some lenders are offering 100 per cent finance on real estate transactions. The organisation pointed out that in some areas, house prices have plummeted by 60 per cent since their peak. "Invest now if you want to grab a bargain in coastal areas. Properties are unlikely to get cheaper," the firm asserted.

Employees sang, chanted and stomped their feet and raised their hands. When the doors finally opened they formed a long passage which the first customers ran down to cheers, some with their iPad's recording the moment. The first 1,000 customers got a free t-shirt and each one ran the gauntlet throughout the morning as the shop filled with customers. "It was the best experience of my life," said the Apple store's first customer, 31-year-old watch repairer Guillermo (William) Ruiz. He had been waiting outside La Cañada shopping centre since 7pm the night before. "I went early as it was very important to me that I was the first person," said William. About five minutes later the second person arrived, so I got there in the nick of time. Between then and about 8am there were about 20 of us camping out overnight, then the line began to fill quickly and by 10am there were thousands.

The Apple store takes up 1,700 square meters on the ground floor opposite the main entrance of the La Ca?ada shopping complex in Marbella.This is the first Apple Store in Andalucia and fourth in Spain. In the past year, three Apple Stores have opened in Madrid and Barcelona to long queues of people eager to get through the doors.

While most of the companies involved in the creation of this store were Spanish, one of them was Costa del Sol based British company, Oasis Energy Solutions.

In addition to offering Apple products, this store has a 'Genius Bar', which offers technical support and help for Mac, iPad, iPod, Apple TV and iPhones.

The agreement will also be signed by representatives of the joint venture company (UTE) created by the Qatari Sheikh to manage the project. The UTE includes Nasir Bin Abdullah & Sons, Puerto Deportivo and Marbella Town Hall.

Marbella Mayor Ángeles Muñoz will also attend the signing, which will take place at 18:00 this evening (Thursday) in the Delegation of Government of the city of Málaga.

The UTE will then have a period of six months in which to complete a final plan for the development. This will then require approval from the Junta de Andalucía.

Marbella City Council have optimistically stated that if all goes to plan construction could begin in the summer of 2012.

This huge project includes an initial investment of 84 million euros and an approximate construction time of two years. The public-private partnership will include a concession for a period of forty years.

The project plans to expand the port with the construction of a circular outer dock of 911m which will encircle the area where the current port stands and also create a new area of sheltered water. Plans also include the creation of 541 new berths, giving a total of 803 berths for smaller vessels. A berth for cruise ships is also in the plans. This would be a first for the area as the port does not currently provide berths large enough to accommodate cruise liners.

Those who are keen to buy a property in the nation may want to take his advice about researching the area they plan to live in. "I think that anyone wanting to live in Spain would be wise to come for a few weeks first on an exploratory trip to make sure they know exactly what they are going to be dealing with once they arrive," Mr Curtis stated.

Author and journalist Anna Nicholas recently made a similar point and stressed the importance of visiting the region of Spain you plan to move to at different times of the year. She recommended making several trips to the country in various seasons before taking the plunge and buying a home there.

The latest sector to become incorporated in this phenomenon is that of pharmaceutics. Last week, the industry announced that there is to be a reduction in the price of medication; it has been obliged to do so by the Health authorities, because doctors now have to write prescriptions for the active ingredient instead of for the brand name of the product and pharmacists have to supply the cheapest brand of the medication unless the patient specifically requests another brand and is prepared to pay the extra cost. This practice has existed in Andalucía for some time, but its extension throughout the rest of the country has led the laboratories to hit back. The strategy is always the same: if a brand is expensive and fewer patients are using it, the manufacturer looks for ways of gaining the maximum benefit from a larger number of clients, even though the overall earnings may be lower.

But is this just a temporary measure because the purchasing power of families is lower nowadays? Jesús Burgos, of the Consumers Union of Malaga (UCE), says 'low cost' is here to stay. "New initiatives are coming into being which are forcing long-established shops to lower their prices", he explains, while also pointing out that consumers are recovering some powers which they had lost. José Luis Sánchez, of the Facua consumers association of Malaga, agrees: "Prices have been abusive for a long time and clients are seeing that if they compare prices and look around, they can find alternatives and this is something which will not happen when the economic situation improves".

Food & personal hygiene
Before the economic crisis, few families would stop buying their favourite brands in order to spend less on shopping, but necessity is obliging them to do so. The consumption of own-brand goods has increased considerably, as has that of distributor brands. And not just on food. Personal hygiene and household cleaning has followed the same path. In Malaga, 39 per cent of consumers look for cheaper options for the products they use regularly, according to a survey by analysts Price Waterhouse-Coopers. However, this applies more to some products than others. Fruit juices, for example, where 44 per cent say they look for cheaper brands, cheeses (41.8 per cent) and milk (40.3 per cent). Own brands are now responsible for 28.6 per cent of the market share of food products, while the most economic brands have risen to 17.5 per cent and bargain offers to 22 per cent. Those who fare worst, the leading brands, are launching loyalty campaigns to defend themselves and are lowering prices. Meanwhile, consumers have discovered that the savings do not mean a reduction in quality and are benefiting from a reduction of between 18 and 42 per cent in the amount they spend on food, 32.7 per cent on packaged products, 43.9 per cent on cleaning items and 10.8 per cent on personal hygiene goods. Consumers are now becoming 'smart shoppers'. "Consumers are more critical and selective now, as well as being better informed and knowing, for example, that behind many own label goods are trusted manufacturers", says Jesús burgos.

Transport
Until September, the low cost airlines which operate in Malaga gained 8.8 per cent more passengers than in the same period last year, according to data from the Institute of Tourism Studies (IET). These companies have transported 3.2 million passengers via the passenger terminal of the Costa del Sol's airport in the first nine months of this year, almost 80 per cent of the total number of passengers who arrive at this airport, when on a national level they account for only one half compared with traditional flights.

Internet
The Internet has contributed to the fall in prices, because it offers a global market in which consumers can find the best prices in pharmaceutical goods, clothing and travel. These companies are able to offer very competitive prices because their overheads are minimal. A new online commerce law gives consumers greater protection and more people are choosing to shop this way.

Spain has one of the world's largest markets for golf tourism and the agency described the sector as "resilient and reliable" and that potential investors in Spanish real estate to seriously consider the merits of owning an asset in a golf resort.

Among the most popular golfing destinations in the country are Andalucia - which includes the Costa del Sol - the Balearic Islands and Catalunya.

With over 50 courses, including famous destinations such as the Valderrama Golf Club, Andalucia is Spain's premier golfing region and attracts thousands of visitors every year.

The Cunard Cruise Line's 'Queen Elizabeth' took the place of the famous QE2 which made its final voyage in 2008, and contains many objects such as bells and sculptures from the original.

The liner is the newest Cunarder and joined the fleet in October 2010. She relives, in modern glamour, the high society events of the 1930s and 1940s. Grace ornate rooms whose rich décor recalls the heritage of the first Cunarder to bear her name. Images and features from her predecessors, Queen Elizabeth and QE2, sit comfortably alongside her modern charm.

The Baños del Carmen are a good example of an 'eternally pending' project in Malaga. It has already been delayed by more than a decade and it was only last year that the Ministry of the Environment finally approved the plans to recuperate this lovely spot on the coast of the provincial capital. The total cost will be 13 million euros and 400,000 euros have been included in this year's budget so that the project can be put to tender.

Outside Malaga city, essential projects include the construction of the pioneer rail test ring which is planned for the Vega de Antequera. This will be 57.9 kilometres in length, will cost over 400 million euros and trains will be able to reach up to 450 kilometres per hour. The new Government, together with other public administrations, will also have to set to work on the creation of a coastal railway line between Malaga and Estepona. The Ministry of Public Works and the Junta de Andaluc?a signed the protocol this week but its high cost - five billion euros - will make it very difficult to put into effect at the moment.

Access to Arroyo
The Government will also have to consider a number of measures which would greatly improve the daily life of people in Malaga province. One of the most important is the modification of the Arroyo de la Miel exit from the A-7, which is notorious for traffic congestion, along with the construction of the northern access to the airport from the new second ring road, the plans for which were also drawn up about four years ago, and an extension to the suburban railway to reach the Andalucía Technology Park. This would also mean that the local railway would be extended to Campanillas, which is where major residential expansion will take place in forthcoming years.

The Government will also have to take action on sewage plants if it is to comply with the EU demand for a 'zero waste' limit to be attained by 2015; this would also improve the quality of the beaches and help tourism. Nerja still does not have a sewage plant and is the only large municipality on the Malaga coast to lack such a facility, and Estepona's sewage plant needs to be enlarged. With regard to water supply, the project to build a 61.7 million desalination plant at Mijas is waiting to go ahead when the local council hands over the land.

Marbella
In Marbella, numerous projects are pending including the coastal railway which will be a great advantage to this, the only town in Spain with a population of over 100,000 which has no railway station. In the shorter term, the main concern is the road tunnel at San Pedro. This project is very advanced and is expected to be ready for the Ministry of Public Works to carry out the safety checks and arrange its inauguration by the end of this year. The Government will also have to decide whether or not to reactivate the project to eliminate the direct accesses onto the A-7, something which Marbella council has been demanding for years. The 54 million euro project was among those dropped last year to save money.

On economic matters, the new Government will also be faced with a request from Marbella council to help with the 300 million euro debt with Social Security and the tax authority, which arose from non-payment during the GIL era. The local authority is having to pay one million euros a month, just in interest, and this is severely affecting the municipal coffers.

Finally, Marbella's list includes two environmental projects. One is to stabilise the beaches: the survey to determine what measures should be adopted to stop the loss of sand is being carried out in Marbella but has been suspended for technical reasons in San Pedro. These reports are expected to cost 400,000 euros. The other major project is the recuperation of the sand dunes at Artola, Bahía de Marbella and Real Zaragoza.

New police stations and seafront promenades
As well as major infrastructure works, the central government will also have to deal with matters which may be smaller and less important but are still necessary, including the construction of new Guardia Civil and National Police stations.

In Mijas, a plot of land has been set aside for a Guardia Civil barracks but definitive plans have never been provided by the Government. In Alhaurín de la Torre, a 5,000 square metre piece of land was reserved for the same reason five years ag ]]> http://www.surinenglish.com Source: Sur in English images/vote-start.jpg 163 11/20/2011 http://www.ldestates.net/news/archives/November/2011 House prices in Marbella are not expected to drop any further, with one real estate organisation predicting that the market has now reached its lowest point.

Another organisation said that a rising number of overseas buyers based in the UK, Russia and the Middle East are targeting the Spanish destination. The organisation added that Marbella's warm year-round climate and its reputation as one of the top resorts in the country enhance its appeal among those seeking a spanish property.

It stressed that any potential investors in the Spanish real estate market need to choose the location of the house or flat they buy carefully, due to the current volatility in the sector. However, the firm concluded "there are few better places to look in Spain than Marbella".

This is according to the director of mortgage broker Conti, Clare Nessling, who wrote for Mortgage Strategy that financial institutions in the nation "still have a healthy appetite for lending". She noted that there are mortgage products on offer with a loan-to-value of up to 70 per cent, while some of the more robust real estate markets - such as the Canary and Balearic Islands - are even more accessible.

In addition, banks are keen to get rid of repossessed properties, with some lenders therefore offering attractive deals to buyers at this time. LD Estates, a leading agency in Marbella, now have mortgages available on some bank repossessions of up to 107%. According to Simon Patterson, director of LD Estates, people looking for a good home with a limited budget are increasingly being attracted to these bank properties.

Meanwhile, Malaga City has enjoyed a strong year with record bookings, and numerous headlines promoting its failed European Culture Capital bid, as well as the growing cruise ship tourism numbers arriving at the ever-expanding port. The city?s only 5-star hotel, the Vincci Selection Posada del Patio, confirmed it will remain open.

But on the coast CCOO warns winter closures will affect some 6,000 hotel employees, of which 1,900 will now only be employed full time for three or four months a year. "It is inadmissible that staff who had permanent contracts will now have temporary contracts and will not have their Social Security contributions paid during the months when they are not working", CCOO's Secretary General in Malaga, Lola Villalba, complained. She claims that in some cases the staff are threatened with dismissal if they don?t accept the conditions.

Villalba said that in Benalmadena alone, 90 per cent of hotels are closing for the winter, and those which will remain open are at up to 80 per cent capacity for this month.The union also said that despite record breaking figures seen this year in tourism on the Costa del Sol for overnight stays and average duration, this sector has seen the fewest new jobs, with only 205.

This was revealed by Ricardo Arranz, President of the Andalucian Developers and Residential Tourism Federation, who explained that the Russian and Arab markets are showing great interest in the area, and that the Chinese market is also picking up.

Important people such as Qatari ministers and ambassadors are visiting the area, and finding that they like it, which encourages them to buy here rather than in the UK or France, he said. Most of them have high spending power, with money to invest in local projects.

He said that banks are currently selling houses worth €600,000 with 50 per cent discount, most of them between Marbella, Estepona and Benahavis. He and also pointed out that "the only positive thing about legal scandals such as the 'Malaya' and 'Ballena Blanca' cases is that available houses are becoming scarce in Marbella and more need to be built, which will create employment".

Jimenez, who is also the socialist party's number one candidate in Malaga for the Chamber of Deputies, has said that the PSOE promises to create the route which would extend the existing section between Malaga and Fuengirola along the coast towards Algeciras, as she says it has "huge potential".

Despite this, businesses along the coast are worried that the train to Marbella and Estepona may not become reality, especially since the EU recently revealed that plans for the Mediterranean Railway Route which is to run through Spain from the border with France to Algeciras will not go along the Malaga coast but instead take the route inland.

The Ministry of Public Works announced that the project would require an investment of €19.4 billion between 2014 and 2020 and locals fear that this will mean there will be no funds for the coastal train.

The 12 kilometres of the motorway in Estepona has been dark for three weeks, although the town hall said the lights should have only have been turned off from Tuesday. The mayors of Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella and Estepona, sent a letter to electricity company Endesa announcing their wish to terminate the contract by which they were paying for lighting on the parts of the motorway which run through the towns.

The motorway belongs to the Ministry of Public Works and the mayors believe the ministry should pay to light it, something which has cost millions of euros from the municipal coffers for the past 20 years. They are also demanding that the €11m they estimate to have paid over the past 15 be paid back to them. Marbella also has to pay the bills on the AP-7 toll motorway, which cost €219,000 per year.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works has responded that "we are not forced to light any motorway, although we can carry out a study and illuminate danger spots such as the entrance and exit to tunnels." They also point out that it was the town halls that decided to light the sections of the motorway which is why the contracts were in their name. The ministry also denied having demanded that electricity supply to the motorway be cut off.

The opposition party in Estepona, led by former socialist mayor David Valadez, says the mayor, Jose Maria Garcia Urbano, has "acted irresponsibly" because his decision "can endanger road safety" and that he should have "attempted to reach an agreement with the ministry" before ceasing payments.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Manilva, Antonia Muñoz, said they will continue to pay until Christmas, but is worried about the section between Chullera and the Manilva River with five roundabouts and many slip roads which "would be dangerous without lighting". Torremolinos and Benalmadena are not affected by the problem because lighting for the section which runs through the towns is paid by the company which runs the toll motorway.

Then the bubble burst and the scenario now is very different.

Now the market prices on which the new values were based are no longer rising and it is more and more common for properties to be sold for less than the amount on the cadastral register. In an attempt take some tax pressure off the local people many councils have opted to reduce the rate used to calculate the IBI, offer tax breaks to registered residents or allow payment in several installments.

However this in many cases is not enough and several local authorities have urged the Ministry of Economy and Tax to reduce the cadastral values to adjust them to the reality of today's property market.

Benalmádena, Vélez and Mijas have already formally submitted their request to the Government and Malaga is considering doing the same. The process is more advanced in Estepona where the former council had to rectify (it even went as far as to appeal against a process that it itself had authorised) when inundated with protests after the cadastral values had been increased by an average of 300 per cent in 2008. Nevertheless this revision will not be applied until 2014 as legislation states that the new values cannot be applied for a period of five years.

At present the Ministry of Development has 38 projects on its desk, the majority proposed by temporary groups formed by a total of 78 companies.

The successful bidder will have the job of landscaping the land that runs alongside the new runway and its access strips, outside the security area. Gardens are also planned for the area adjoining the north access road, as well as in the open spaces left around the buildings and roads both in the old and new area of the airport. The project will also include modifications to the existing landscaped areas to make them blend in with the rest of the gardens. Water saving features such as an integrated irrigation system are also envisaged.

The second runway is due to come into service at the beginning of 2012 although no date has been set for the opening.

There are now 370,000 Brits living full-time officially in Spain, drawn by the California climate, cheap food and drink, fiesta lifestyle and above average life expectancy. 1,000s more are planning to join them after Britain came bottom in a survey to find the best place to live. The summer city riots have influenced hundreds more to quit the UK.

A Lloyds TSB survey found 67% of Brits living in Spain "had no plans to return to Britain" and 74% claimed quality of life was better. The survey found 87% of Brits felt safer in Spain "which is a better place to bring up kids".

Commenting on the latest official survey, a spokesman for the Spanish Government said: "We could end this year with 57 million tourists visiting our country." The figures so far show an increase of 8.5%.

Meanwhile, popular Thai island resort Phuket came second, while Miami was the most expensive destination where the cost was £140 (€160). Egypt?s Sharm el Sheikh showed a 10 per cent drop in prices compared to last year and the Turkish resort of Marmaris a 12 per cent fall.

The decrease in prices in Turkey for British travellers can be attributed to the relative strength of the pound, since the same survey was carried out in October 2010, the value of sterling has risen by 27 per cent against the Turkish lira. Falling visitor numbers to Egypt are thought to be the cause of falling prices, with foreign arrivals falling by almost a third this summer following civil unrest at the beginning of 2011.

Value for money can also be found in Kenya with the average cost of items falling seven per cent and the value of the pound rising 21 per cent against the Kenyan shilling compared to last year.

The second phase of the new Malaga ringroad will open to the public on October 27. It will take traffic from Torremolinos to Alhaurin el Grande and Churriana, and connects to the A-357 (Guadalhorce Motorway) making the trip from the coast inland towards Cartama much quicker.

Las Pedrizas toll motorway from Malaga to Antequera (AP-46) will open on October 28. The AP-46 will take drivers from Malaga City to Las Pedrizas, a trip which currently takes half an hour, in 15 minutes. Neither will be officially inaugurated due to the general elections on November 20.

The 520 metre stretch boasts a bicycle path, walking trails and resting areas, as well as children's playgrounds, sports courts and game areas, and exercise equipment and there is more to come. The second phase will extend a further 350 metres and should be completed next year and once finished will provide a superb leisure area with the Castle and the beach both right by.

Many residents and government officials would like to see more of this type of project. There are plenty of wasteland areas on the Costa del Sol which could be turned into children's play areas, public football pitches or many other leisure facilities.

Rodolfo Ares, head of the Interior department for the Basque region, called ETA's statement "inadequate". "Any declaration that talks about the suspension of terrorist attacks - even if it is only temporary - should be considered as good news," he said. But he called Eta's declaration "ambiguous" and "absolutely insufficient", because it did not "take into account what the vast majority of Basque society demands and requires from ETA, which is that it definitively abandon terrorist activity".

Agents recently published their sales figures for September, showing that Brits are responsible for 30 per cent of transactions, followed by Spanish and Russian buyers taking a 20 per cent share of the market each.

Germans comprise ten per cent, the company noted, while other nationalities to express an interest in Spanish real estate include the Swiss, Swedish, Dutch and Belgian.

In addition agents pointed out that sales figures rose in September by 15 per cent, while enquiries were up by 45.5 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier.

The new General Plan for Urban Development in the town gave promoters who had built illegally the opportunity to pay compensation in order to make some complexes legal so that the homeowners would not be affected by demolitions as they had bought the properties in good faith. This had to be done within a year, although the period could be extended to two years. However, in cases which were classified as minor, where too many houses were built on a plot, no period for them to be legalized was given, and promoters have not come forward voluntarily to do so. Therefore, the town hall has now given them two months to legalise the buildings by giving the town hall 10 per cent of the benefits they have obtained from the projects.

Once the two months is up, the town hall will chase the promoters who have not come forward to demand the compensation.

Twenty days after the official start of autumn and temperatures in the Costa del Sol touched 30 degrees at the weekend. Young people could be seen surfing off the shore near Cabopino while sun-seekers enjoyed the last of the Summer sun. But temperatures in the Costa del Sol are set to reach the mid 20s this weekend, according to Spain's Met office AEMET which is still extremely pleasant and sun cream is still advisable.

Every year, 3.43 million people visit Andalucia for rural and inland tourism, 16 per cent of the total number of tourists in the region. On average, they spend €70 per day, 10 per cent more than most.

This sector of tourism, Alonso said, helps to keep Andalucia amongst the top national destinations, as 70 per cent of visitors to the region are Spanish and tend to return on several occasions at different times of year, keeping the tourism sector in business all year round.

Germany has the oldest population, followed by Italy, France and the UK, but just because they are older, doesn't mean they are not healthy and free to travel, something which Andalucia, the Canary Islands, Valencia and the Balearic Islands have wanted to take advantage of, especially because this age group has higher spending power than many young tourists. They stay 7.7 days on average and spend some ?323 on average, apart from the hotel price.

All Andalucia's coastal areas, Almeria, Cadiz, Granada, Huelva and Malaga, are taking part in the project, although the most popular have been Benalmadena, with 29 per cent of the visitors, Marbella, Torremolinos and Punta Umbria in Huelva.

The third edition of the programme starts this month and finishes in April, a time when Andalucian hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities are keen to receive visitors from places such as Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Austria, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic. The Junta de Andalucia is promoting the programme in Eastern Europe, as well as strengthening the region?s popularity in more traditional markets.

El Mundo reported that foreign investment in property in Spain has fallen steadily since 2003, when it peaked at 7,072 million euros, down to 6,650 million euros in 2004, 5,495 million euros in 2005 and 4,716 million euros in 2006. However, this downward trend stopped in 2007, with 5,341 million euros from foreign property investors over the year, 13.3% more than in 2006.

Spain gained 5,331 million euros in foreign direct investment until the end of 2008, up 1% over the same period in 2007, but in 2009 the property crisis discouraged investments, which then fell back to 3,651 million euros. Due to the importance of foreign investment, the Ministry of Public Works embarked on a 'road show' on April 1, to encourage and direct foreign demand for housing on the coast, which accounts for more than 50% of the 'stock' of unsold housing. The next round of meetings with developers, financial institutions and investors will take place in London in mid October.

To formalise the arrnagements, Zapatero signed a decree dissolving the legislature and informing King Juan Carlos. It is almost guaranteed that the move will bring in a new government, led by the conservative opposition Popular Party. Zapatero is not seeking re-election after having having served two terms, spanning nearly eight years. He announced his retirement in July, as well as the date for early election in November.

Zapatero's deeply unpopular austerity measures have caused even his party's traditional support base turn away and opinion polls give the opposition a record lead. The Prime Minister did not have to call elections until March but stated the reason for bringing them forward was because he wants a new government to have a fresh slate for budgetary and other economic decisions, when the new year starts.

He said yesterday that from now to 20 November he does not expect to have to adopt any significant economic measures, but if it were necessary, he would. Although Spain's parliament is officially dissolved, emergency measure can be introduced by a permanent legislative committee. He also expressed confidence in Spain's future, "I know that sooner rather than later we will overcome the current difficulties," he told reporters. ]]> http://www.kyero.com Source: kyero.com images/Zapatero2.jpg 143 10/2/2011 http://www.ldestates.net/news/archives/October/2011 Both tourists and locals will be happy to hear that the days of taxis operating with no fixed fares in Marbella are numbered.

The Town Hall's new bylaw that regulates this form of transport, approved earlier this month, obliges taxis to have a meter installed that calculates the fare payable according to distance travelled and time taken. The measure is in line with a new Andalusian regulation and will be applied before the end of the year.

Unlike the city of Malaga, Marbella taxis will go one step further and use the meter to calculate fares for long distance trips as well as those within the municipality. "The Malaga taxis, for example, have fixed fares for journeys between the city and other towns. We will charge these longer trips according to the meter; that is, we will use the device for fares between Marbella and Malaga or Marbella and Madrid", explains the vice-president of Taxisol, Cristobal Toro.

Taxi representatives and the Town Hall are currently working together to fix the fare payable per kilometre. The idea, however is to use the fare table applied in the city of Malaga as a guide. There, the price per kilometre is 0.87 euros although in Marbella this could be increased slightly to 0.90.

A recent survey conducted revealed that air conditioning and access to a swimming pool - either private or shared - are among the other features buyers look for in properties overseas. Meanwhile, the study also highlighted the importance of being close to amenities, such as restaurants, bars and shops, with the location of a home in relation to these facilities top of the list among UK buyers. Owning real estate within easy reach of the airport was also popular, due to the reduced travel time this offers.

Real estate valuation firm Tasaciones Inmobiliarias (Tinsa), reports the average price of housing fell by 6.8% in August over the same month of 2010, resulting in a national accumulated drop of 23.5% since Spain's property peak in late 2007. In favourite Costas excessive supply has seen price reductions of around 30%, while some Spanish bank repossessions have been selling at up to half the book value, with those in the best locations selling out first.

The price drop rate is beginning to ease now, which many industry professionals claim could signal the bottom of the trend. They expect prices will soon start to increase due mainly to shortages of quality property in the most popular resorts coupled with the attractive rentals as the tourists flood back. In some Costas, hotels have been enjoying 100% hotel occupancy over the summer months.

Overseas buyers, facing massive winter fuel hikes and domestic slumps, have decided they need regular doses of Spanish sun and renowned hospitality and are currently buying up to 1,000 bargain properties a day in key areas like the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Ibiza. Nearly half the sales are from Spanish banks or cash-starved developers.

Spain beat an all-time record with 7.64 million international tourists in August. It is the highest monthly entrance of international tourists since Frontur statistics were first compiled in 1995. Also in August, there was a 16.7% increase of US tourists, a 12.3% increase of German tourists, and a 10.5% increase of Italian tourists.

The Spanish economy has not been seeing many positive economic headlines lately. However, a close eye should be placed on tourism as it is a driving force in an economy lacking internal demand

In the past year, three Apple Stores have opened in Spain to long queues of people eager to get through the doors. They are located in Madrid and Barcelona. The shop in La Cañada, due to open in November, will be 1,700m², the largest so far in Spain, located on the ground floor opposite the main entrance. Preparations are being carried out in secret and the windows and access to the store are covered with black screens. There has still not been an official confirmation from Apple España regarding the opening, although their website lists the Marbella shop along with the Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona stores with job offers.

Films in English were first launched at the La Trocha commercial centre's Al Andalus multiplex in Coín some two and a half years ago thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteers. The cinema stopped the screenings in September 2010 due to the costs involved and other factors. But lobbying by an expat group - and the support of cinema manager Viki Sandoval, who kept the pressure on her head office - has succeeded in bringing English-soundtrack movies back to La Trocha.

The current feature is Cowboys and Aliens, starring Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde, which showed on Thursday evening. Organisers say the relaunch of movies in English is a "use it or lose it" proposition; if the expat community supports the movies and attendance is good, "hopefully we will have regular movies inland once again," said Ricky Leach of the Coín Life website, who has helped spearhead the effort to bring back the English film nights.

The first of the charging stations are expected to arrive from Japan in October although the preliminary viability study for their distribution will not be ready until the end of the year, said Environment councillor, Ana Navarro. Sites have already been designated and SmartCity's will probably be located at the Martin Carpena Sports Complex, the Trade Fair and Conference Centre, the Materno Infantil hospital, Calle Miguel Bueno Lara, Ciudad Jardin, Avenida de las Americas, the School of Engineering at the Teatines campus or the Hospital Clinico Universiario. Likely choices for the council's stations include the former Tabacalera building, the Ayuntamiento, the Hospital Noble, the EMT transport headquarters, four of the city's municipal car parks and the Urban Planning Office.

"Six of Fuengirola's seven beaches have different sets of fitness equipment," Beach Councillor Isabel Moreno said. "Only the beach by the castle does not have any as there are 10 old fishing boats that are used for barbeques."

In his day it was Zapatero who approved a one hundred percent exemption from this tax, though it was not totally eliminated, which now allows the measure to be passed by a royal decree without the need for a new law. However, the rule to be adopted on Friday will undergo some modifications so that the middle class is no longer affected. Europa Press reported that the proceeds of this tax in 2007 (the last year it was declared) amounted to 2,121 million euros. More than half of that revenue was obtained from respondents with taxable incomes above a million and a half euros. Now, it is estimated that the annual revenue of this tax would be around 1,400 million euros. The same sources have indicated that Rubalcaba will maintain, however, a proposal in his election manifesto to approve a law establishing a new tax on large fortunes which will be a state tax and not a regional tax, as it is now.

While recognising that accessibility regulations could not always be followed to the letter in some circumstance, he said he did not understand why it should be so difficult to install a ramp when it had been possible to build new steps. Manuel Garcia, the province's Culture delegate, failed to view the problem in the same light as the Ayuntamiento. Accessibility directives had been punctiliously observed, he claimed, rejecting accusations of inattention to detail on the Junta's part. Furthermore, Garcia added, continuing the ramps would entail unacceptable modifications to the restoration. "The Romans did not have accessibility issues in mind when they built their theatres," he said.

Malaga City Hall has announced that it plans to send the Junta a project with proposal on how to make the Theatre accessible to the disabled.

This year the Festival is aiming to increase the participation by offering a subsidised package for accommodation and accreditations to the festival, attracting film makers from all over the world, to make movies, and show off their talent. The Filmmaker with cast and crew is challenged to make a three to four minute short film on a given subject matter, the task is to write a script, direct the actors, shoot the film, edit, sound and music, and deliver the film in 24 hours. All films will be screened and judged as part of Marbella International Film Festival, and the best film will receive the prestigious Marbella 24 hour film challenge 2011 Award. The runners up will receive a certificate of recognition and all participants will receive a certificate of participation.

Registration forms and further information available from info@marbellafilmfestival.com

Comment
Banker economics lesson one - If you struggle to sell something, raise the price!

Unfortunately this is not news to many of you. The banks have long been offering preferential lending terms to properties on their own books. It is however good to see an independent study verify that many banks are inflating the prices to compensate for the generous mortgage terms. If similar terms could be offered across the board, it would go some way to helping the Spanish property market out of the doldrums.

A statement issued by the Junta stresses that the situation of San Pedro with respect to Marbella is that of a "conurbation". In other words both centres of population have grown to eventually form one functional unit. In fact it maintains that in some areas, such as the Río Verde, the strip between the two areas is no more than 55 metres. The Andalusian authority believes that the creation of a new municipality "would have a negative territorial effect", compared with the "more efficient form of managing and grouping services", which, they maintain, the current integrated system ensures.

The argument put forward by the Junta de Andalucía is not new and neither has it surprised the pro-independence campaigners. They insist that the process has been marred from the offset by the "lack of willingness on the part of the politicians". These words come from someone who knows every step taken towards independence inside out. Manuel Lopez, president of the San Pedro Pro-Independence Committee, led a campaign, back in 1985, which he now announces, will continue on. "They have once again come up with the argument that we don't comply with the 7.5 kilometre strip of undeveloped land. They want to apply a law made in 1993 (the 7/1993 of Demarcacion Municipal de Andalucoa) retrospectively, when our application was submitted in 1991. What's more, that law is no longer in force; they abolished it themselves last year", he maintains.

The decision made on Monday by the regional government has failed to discourage those campaigning for independence. "If we have come this far, we are going to carry on. The court found in our favour in 2009", adds Lopez.

He said they were currently working at subsistence level to avoid frightening away tourists but this meant they did not earn enough money to invest in infrastructure with the resulting loss of quality.

What's more, the summer saw increased levels of holidays rentals giving owners a great return over the 3 months with September looking very promising again. This will only encourage potential buyers to renew their property search on the Costa del Sol.

Another consumer group, Al Andalús, estimates the average back-to-school cost for state-funded schools at 600 Euros - or 700 for those that require uniforms - figures it says have dropped to 2006 levels thanks to lower prices for many items. However, the price for some items has gone up this year, including supplementary workbooks, which are not covered by the Junta de Andalucía's programme providing free text books, and which have seen a hike of around 20 per cent, according to Union de Consumidores. Some other scholastic materials are up 15 per cent.

Sr Bendodo stated that at present the Junta had not allocated "one céntimo" for the construction of the new coastal railway extension. However the regional government's manifesto pledged the rail service would be extended to Manilva with stops in Mijas, Marbella and Estepona along the way.

Property in Spain with the highest prices are new builds, between 5 and 10 years old, are in good condition and are located in large and medium cities. Meanwhile the cheaper property bracket includes residential areas in small towns or suburbs of big cities which are more than 20 years old.

By province, in Almeria 95 tenants have taken advantage of the plan to buy, in Cadiz, 254; Cordoba, 134; Granada, 94; Huelva, 290; Jaen, 187; Malaga, 120, and in Seville, 216.

El Mundo reported that the Andalusian Government said that it has aimed this initiative at the group "particularly affected by the current economic difficulties," and whose annual income does not exceed 2.5 times the minimum wage (about 18,000 euros net). For this reason, the price of the properties, and the amount of the mortgage payments have been fixed taking into account the socioeconomic status of the applicants, explained the Board. The selection of these tenants, now owners, was made following a "comprehensive" study which took into account, amongst other things, the fact that interested parties had lived in the property for at least one year, were up-to-date with rental payments - to be deducted from the final sale price - and are the legal tenants of the property. In order to carry out this operation, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing signed agreements with Caja Granada, Unicaja, Cajasol and Banco Santander. Under these agreements, the families who have entered into a mortgage may also benefit from the support set by the State Housing Plan and the State Assisted Housing and Land Plan 2008-2012 for buyers of public housing, by way of loan subsidies.

Families who do not want to take a mortgage, since the amount to be paid to acquire their apartment is minimal, may apply for personal loans and, in addition to those facilities, applicants for these loans are exempt from paying any setting up fees or commissions.

The new plant, like the existing one in Marbella, would produce 20 cubic hectometres of drinking water a year, enough to cover a quarter of the western Costa del Sol's demand. It?s not that progress hasn't been made: the contract for the construction work was granted in July 2008 and the final plans have been ready since the middle of 2010. Neither can the delay be put down to a lack of funds as 30 million euros for the construction were designated in this year's state budget.

The problem is that Mijas Town Hall has still not provided the state water company Acuamed with the land where the plant is to be built, between the Cerro del Águila sewage works and the boundary with Fuengirola. The situation is complex as the site in question is in an area immersed in planning chaos that remains unsolved despite a modification in the urban development plan (PGOU) and long negotiations with landowners.

Meanwhile Acuamed has stopped even suggesting start dates, stating only that "there is no news". At best, if the land problem was solved this year, the Costa's second desalination plant would not be in operation until the second half of 2013.

"So many British pensioners are living in pure poverty. The problem is exacerbated for those living in Spain, where they cannot 'top up' their income with Pension Credits," says Denise Chesson, who founded the association after reading the article, 'Plight of Pensioners' in this newspaper (SUR in English May 27th - June 2nd). "I'm in a fortunate position that I don?t need my pension to survive, but I might in the future," she explains.

Since a letter written by Denise containing her telephone number was published in SUR in English, she says has been inundated with calls from pensioners who are unable to manage on their state pension. She says: "For example, the other day I spoke with one British pensioner on the coast who has to take food handouts from the local church. And sadly, this situation is not uncommon.

"We've all heard rumours of people claiming benefits illegally by saying they're living in the UK, but the people who've been contacting me are honest, decent people. Therefore we've set-up a group which is dedicated to improving the financial lot of UK pensioners in Spain," confirms Denise.

BPA is now affiliated with the Pensions Campaign UK action group. Together they have over 2.8 million members and are campaigning for "eventual parity with the much higher pensions paid to other pensioners in other EU member states, i.e. 11.2 per cent of GDP. It is currently 6.5 per cent in the UK." This would translate into £300 to £350 per week for the UK pensioner.

Other areas, such as Benahavís and Estepona, where they have less finished housing stock remaining unsold because construction had ground to halt in the wake of developer scandals, they are also seeing some movement. The lower stock levels should mean that they can return to a normal market faster than other areas where sales are almost stationary.

Part of the sales recovery is very much in the hands of the banks who are needed to finance house purchases and offer good deals to potential buyers. Topping the lists of current buyers are the Spanish, Central Europeans and Russians and it is hoped that interest will continue to grow from the German buyers to replace the loss of the British market which remains flat.

High prices
In Marbella, most recent interest has been in property between 300 and 400,000 euros, but houses in the three to four million bracket have also been sold. The level between those two, the 500,000 euro to the one million mark, is proving the hardest to sell.

Research published earlier this week by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggested that the number of distressed properties entering the Spanish market is set to increase during the third quarter of the year. During the period from April to June, demand from investors for assets of this kind also rose, with this expected to continue over the coming months.

The Spanish government announced on Friday that the tax would be cut from 8% to 4% until the end of 2011 in what an official called an "exceptional and temporary measure". However, although some agents have welcomed the cut as a "nice gesture", nobody we spoke to believed the action will make a significant difference to the state of the Spanish property market. Most believe that the only way to restore confidence is to issue first occupation licences to those homes without them and to also reduce the prices on new build property in Spain.

The project affects six kilometres of the A-7 motorway as it passes through San Pedro. But San Pedro's Deputy Mayor, Miguel Troyano, has expressed his doubts over being completed within the next few months. OHL has promised that before the end of the summer, the surface work will be completed and efforts will be focused on the tunnel, which will be one kilometre long. The Ministry of Public Works, which is financing the project, gave it a budget of 65m Euros, which it plans to stick to, as well as the prevision of completing it before 2012.

Work began more than four years ago in order to stop the motorway from dividing the area in two, and do away with the need for traffic lights and pedestrian crossings to make traffic flow more fluidly. The Town Hall plans to complete the project with the creation of a 90,000 square metre park costing 6m Euros above the tunnel.

The Pope arrived at Barajas Airport where he was welcomed by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. During his stay, he is expected to deliver a number of addresses which may include criticism of the secularisation of Spanish society, although the exact content of these has not been made public. Before he leaves on Sunday evening, Pope Benedict will also meet academics and seminarians, and open a new centre for the disabled. After a final mass, he will announce the venue for the next World Youth Day in 2014.

However, the cost of the event has been criticised by many as it comes at a time when people are suffering from painful budget cuts. Organisers of World Youth Day put the price of the event at up to 60 million Euros, plus the cost of security. This includes the cost of building a 200-metre long stage where the Pope will deliver the final mass, the installation of hundreds of water fountains, 20 giant TV screens, and installing showers at the public schools which are being used to house pilgrims from outside Madrid.

With the ongoing financial crisis hitting Spain hard, the Government has taken a leap to boost the sales of new homes throughout the country. The real estate sector has been struggling in Spain since its peak in 2007 and the banks' exposure to loans have forced many to offer properties at huge discounts with 100% mortgages. Potential buyers were only asked to cover the taxes and costs which amounted to a total of around 12%. Now with the IVA (equilavent of VAT in the UK) slashed in half, this will come as a huge bonus to potential property purchasers.

Sales Manager at PropertyInSpain.Net, Ben Walker says: "With this reduction, [clients] purchasing a property of EUR 200,000 would only have to pay EUR 8,000 instead of EUR 16,000, freeing up extra cash to use on furniture or reformations. From now until the end of 2011 we should expect a surge in demand for new property with the main purchasers coming from the UK, Germany and Holland."

The Spanish Government has made this move to further protect the banks and 'cajas' who have come up against liquidity issues and an over-stocked portfolio of repossessed real estate which remained unsold from when constructors and developers went out of business.

The last 4 months of the year will be a crucial time and should encourage an influx of buyers looking for already heavily-reduced properties now with tax breaks.

It is of great importance to be diligent and careful when looking at any potential property purchase and asking all the right questions and taking your time can see a return on your investment. Most important is finding the right location for you so viewing the area carefully before you make any property viewings is essential. Once you have found the area you like, consider what is available there like transport links, hospitals, amenities and facilities. It is a true fact that many British and Europeans are considering a property in Spain especially as the prices are good and the choice is vast but be sure before you buy that you have found exactly what YOU are looking for and not what someone wants to sell you.

According to Cinco Dias, the "low cost" Irish airline said in a statement that they had recorded large increases in July air traffic in most major airports across Spain. According to the airline's calculations, Ryanair would have transported 55% of travellers arriving in Spain in July, as the increase in air traffic at Aena Airports was 1.4 million passengers in July, versus the 800,000 passengers carried by Ryanair. "Ryanair's low fares in Spain account for a higher growth than all the other airlines put together" said the company spokesman, Stephen McNamara.

The trains between Malaga and Fuengirola will run every 20 minutes on Sunday, August 14th and the following day, when the feria attracts the highest number of visitors from along the coast.

The train service between Malaga and Pizarra will also be more frequent during those two days. The AVE fast trains from Madrid to Malaga will have extra carriages at the beginning and end of the feria to cope with the expected increase in the number of visitors from the capital.

The Finnish Disabled Association also provides specialised personnel to look after users on weekdays from 11 am to 8 pm. This year more than 1,000 people enjoyed the beach from June 15th to July 15th, a number that rises as the season advances. The mayor, Esperanza Oña, said it had been "tremendously gratifying to see hundreds of disabled people arriving happily at the beach, knowing it was endowed with everything that would make their stay enjoyable".

The excellent climate and the 139 kilometres of coast in Malaga province are like a magnet which attract 6.3 million of the 8.8 million tourists who visited the province last year, according to figures issued by the Tourism Board. These visitors generated more than 3,300 million euros of income for the province, given that they stayed for an average of ten days and spent 52 euros per person per day. To illustrate the strength of this sector, it is only necessary to compare it with the second most popular attraction, visits to historic buildings and museums. These visitors spend in the region of 1,500 million euros a year.

Hotel business
The combination of sunshine and beaches brought 2.8 million visitors to hotels on the Costa del Sol last year, resulting in eleven million overnight stays out of the fifteen million in Malaga province as a whole.

The president of the Tourist Board, Elías Bendodo, explains that sun and sand holidays are the basis of the Malaga tourism industry and the central pillar of a brand which has gained an even greater importance in the international context this year. He intends to reinforce this with new products, including urban and cultural attractions in the capital city of the province.

Surveys carried out by the Tourism Board show clearly that the main attraction of this destination for tourists is its climate, followed by its beaches but these reports, based on questionnaires completed by visitors after their stay, reveal that the main activity taken by these tourists is a stroll through the streets of seaside towns or a walk along the seafront promenades.

The second most popular activity is spending time on the beach. The Costa del Sol accounts for 40 per cent of the Andalusian tourist industry and can boast the highest level of beach tourism. Analysis in the Andalusian Tourism Report for 2010 shows that 60 per cent of tourists on Andalucia's beaches lived in Spain and 40 per cent lived abroad. Among the Spanish travellers, over half came from Andalucia. However, the strong position of the Costa del Sol on the international stage has reversed these figures this summer. Arturo Bernal of the Tourism Board says that this year six out of every ten tourists who soak up the sun on the Malaga coast are foreigners and the remainder are Spanish.

Within the document there will be all the information relating to any outstanding charges or embargoes on the property plus the usual information such as the sellers details and the information on the property.

A nota simple on any property in Spain is very important not only to the owner but for any prospective buyers as well.

In the report it states that the market will have to undergo a process of "stabilisation" while waiting for the increase of housing construction and prices, and stressed that the industry players, as much financial institutions as well as real estate agents and citizens, have already made a first grade effort.

The housing market wants to recover, it only needs a positive nudge in the right direction and the government needs to make bigger efforts on deficit reduction and other initiatives such as real estate optimisation planning to help speed up this recovery.

Spanish real estate specialists LD Estates of Marbella believe this will benefit people that live in the east of England who own or are thinking of buying a property in Spain. Simon Patterson, partner at LD Estates, said "It will make their property more accessible and cut their journey times down considerably". The new routes include Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Ibiza, and Mallorca and with a recent survey showing that 4 out of the 5 most popular destinations for British travellers are in Spain, the opening of these routes makes excellent commercial sense.

Overall, the number of international buyers who registered title deeds in Spain in 2010 rose 10.6% on 2009 but this did little to make up for the decline of 45.4% seen between 2008 and 2009.

Don't celebrate yet!
Although the property registrars' percentage figures seem encouraging, the absolute numbers paint a different picture. In 2006, the British were completing more than 23,000 purchases a year and this was as high as 12,419 in 2008. In 2010 that number stood at just 4649. Contrast this with the next highest nationality of buyers, the Germans, and the figures show they have consistently bought between 1000 and 1500 properties, a tiny fraction of those bought by the British.

Even today with the British market in the doldrums, Brits are still buying almost three times more property than anyone else. Even with the economies of Norway and Germany relatively bouyant, the transaction levels from buyers in these countries are doing little to take up the slack.

Secretary of state for housing in Spain Beatriz Corredor commented: "This means that foreign citizens will now have access, in a way they can more easily understand, to all the information regarding the physical, legal and urban development status of a property." The government body also noted that the buyingahouse.registradores.org site will improve the transparency of the Spanish real estate sector outside the country.

In June the flow of tourists increased by 8.5% year-on-year to 5.7 million visitors. The United Kingdom was the main market source in the first half of the year (increasing 9.6% y-o-y) experiencing the greatest increase in absolute terms for June, adding 80,000 new tourists and bringing a total of 1.5 million tourists for that month.

Indeed the situation will be at its worst in San Pedro because of the continuing works to construct the toll motorway. Marbella has long demand the toll be lifted on the AP7 to avoid this bottleneck but has not had Estepona's support until now. The demands have been made via the ministry and the government's sub-delegate in Málaga province, Hilario Lopez Luna. The mayors of Mijas, Marbella and Estepona, all from the PP, are angry that the speed restriction was imposed overnight without any consultation.

Experts report that GDP in the province rose by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year, which is higher than expected and above the regional and national average. As a result, the forecasts by the Economic Analysts of Andaluc?a (AEA) have been raised for 2011. GDP in Malaga should rise by one per cent this year, which is double the figure which they were forecasting three months ago and three points higher than the predictions for Andalucía. Exports and tourism are responsible for the increase. The number of foreign visitors has risen because of recovery in other European countries and the troubles in Arab countries. Analysts are now forecasting an annual growth of 2.2 per cent in tourism, considerably higher than the 0.6 per cent they were expecting three months ago.

This is the opinion of Tom Highham, director of currencies.co.uk, who told the Telegraph that many people are losing out by failing to look for the best deals. "Despite the huge savings that can be made on large currency transactions by using a company such as ours, we're astonished that so many people don't shop around and just use their bank," he stated. According to the newspaper, just ten per cent of foreign currency sales occur via a specialist provider, even though they usually offer more competitive rates than high street banks. Finding a favourable exchange rate could make a big difference to investors looking for Spanish real estate.

Research published by the Overseas Guide Company in A Place in the Sun earlier this month indicated that more Brits are turning their attention to the country's property market, with the firm seeing requests for its Spain mini guide rise by 24 per cent between January and May, compared to the same period in 2010.

The runway stretches for 2,750 metres for landing aircraft and 3,090 metres including the extra take-off run. It's location is 14 degrees from the existing runway, which makes them "quasi-parallel". The dimensions of the new runway will mean that the larger jumbo jets will be able to take off and land at the airport.

The new runway, along with the T-3 terminal, is the most important project within the Plan Málaga, the almost one billion euro airport improvement scheme to modernise aviation infrastructure in Malaga. The opening of the second runway will mark the culmination of the ambitious scheme, vital to cope with the increase in passengers expected over the coming decades. The scheme also included the new train station and railway tunnel, improved road access and the extended car park.

The Skandia Millionaire Monitor Report noted that eight per cent of those surveyed are in the process of moving away from Britain. Better weather, more favourable taxation and the perception of a higher standard of living are the main reasons cited for such people to leave the UK. And buying a property in Spain appears to be a popular choice among respondents. Skandia representative Jo Rimmer commented: "Our survey seems to indicate that the UK's wealthiest really are saving for a rainy day and will seriously consider moving to sunnier climes if storm clouds gather in either economic or meteorological terms." Lower house prices in Spain may act as an added incentive for those thinking of making a property investment abroad.

Chief executive officer of the Travel Rental Network Brian Schwimmer stated that rental values in Spain are on the increase, which could bode well for investors with property in the country.

He explained that many holiday home owners cut their prices dramatically in 2009 and 2010 in a bid to attract more UK tourists; however, a rising number of travellers from all over the world are now heading to Spain.

As a result, "prices are normalising once again, so people expecting the same discounts they saw last year might be in for a surprise," Mr Schwimmer commented.

- Never leave everything until the day before you move. Consider what you don't need to take with you, what will need careful packing and that you are covered for potential breakages.

- Make a priority list and take your time. As it is a fresh start only take what you really need and use a couple of those boxes to store charity or car-boot items.

- Ensure you have enough boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap and marker pens to label things up. Boxes of all sizes will ensure you don't overload the larger ones

- Pack an 'essentials box' for the first night in your new home - the kettle and tea bags amongst them - and prepare an overnight bag for the family with household necessities.

- Start early and begin at the top of the house and work your way down, labelling boxes for each room as you go.

- Pack important documents together and keep them in a safe place.

- If you have children or pets, try and get a neighbour or friend to look after them whilst you are packing.

They also reported a 3.1% increase in cargo transport to 327,613 tons. In a statement, AENA said that "these are the best results in air transport since 2005 and demonstrates how airports contribute to the revitalisation of the tourism sector.

This is the suggestion of experts speaking to the Manchester Evening News (MEN), who say UK buyers are returning to the Spanish market to find properties that meet their exact requirements. However, they seem to be taking a much more cautious approach compared with the boom years prior to the credit crunch.

The trend has emerged at the same time as the release of a report from the Overseas Guide Company (OGC) revealing an increase in requests for information on the Spanish market.

The Potential for Chinese Tourism
The emergence of Chinese tourists travelling beyond its neighbouring countries will take a few years, but he predicted that in a period of 10 to 15 years, China will become the greatest source of tourists in the world. Therefore, he insisted that Spain must begin to position itself as a destination for this market for when it occurs. El Mundo reported that this may be related to statements made by Miguel Sebastián, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, in the same forum when he said that Spain hopes to have one million Chinese tourists by 2020. Forecasts for 2011 are estimating 300,000 visitors, which represents 200,000 more Chinese tourists than last year.

Last year China overtook Spain as the third international tourist destination in the world receiving 55.7 million international tourists, over the 52.7 million received in Spain, according to the 2011 World Tourism Organization report. France came in first place (76.8 million) followed by the United States (59.7 million).

Murcian officials are convinced that the Paramount-branded Theme Park green light was given largely on the basis of the brand new Murcia International Airport located within 20 minutes of the site at Corvera. The new airport is scheduled to be completed late this year and open to passengers in spring 2012 following final government approval. Paramount personnel have conducted site visits to witness its swift progress.

In general the fact that the British market shows clear signs of recovery has influenced the optimism felt by the industry. In fact the number of British tourists in Andalucía increased by 4.4 per cent between January and May 2011, while German visitors were up 1.5 per cent and the French by 6.3 per cent.

In a survey carried out by the Tourism Department, 65 per cent of hoteliers in Andalucía said they expected reservations to be higher this summer than in 2010. This percentage went up to 80 per cent for hoteliers in the province of Malaga. According to the airports authority, Aena, flights into the region are due to increase by 1.8 per cent this summer.

Beaches all ready for the summer
The Environment Ministry has completed its work to repair damage caused to the Costa del Sol's beaches by the winter and spring storms. In total some 100,000 cubic metres of sand have been used to build up beaches in 13 municipalities and 5,506 cubic metres of debris have been cleared.

Government representative, Hilario Lopez Luna, explained on Tuesday that 1.5 million euros had been spent on the project and that 95 per cent of the movement of sand had been from one beach to another, rather than using poorer quality sand from river beds. Improvements have also been made to information signs on beaches and access.

Presenting the plan interior minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and tourism minster Miguel Sebastián stressed the importance of security to Spain's tourism industry, a sector that represents 11 per cent of the of the country's GDP. Security is the second most important factor to tourists in deciding a holiday destination, behind only the physical attractiveness of the place itself, they said.

In recent years Spain has become "one of the safest countries in the European Union," with a crime rate "more than 20 points below the European average," said the ministers. The summer plan is aimed at further boosting tourists' sense of security during their visit. In addition to the increased police presence, the plan includes informational campaigns in 10 languages, and efforts to expedite the process of attending crime victims and assisting foreigners whose documentation is lost or stolen.

The plan will be rolled out in Andalucía, Asturias, the Canary and Balearic islands, Cantabria, Valencia, Galicia, Madrid and Murcia, as well as in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Police presence will also be boosted in historic town centres designated world heritage sites, such as in Ávila, Cáceres, Cuenca, Mérida, Salamanca, Segovia, Santiago de Compostela and Toledo.

The new ruling will require financial institutions to increase transparency and encourage buyers to compare mortgage products offered by a number of providers if they are taking out a loan secured by their home. "Many expats have buy-to-let properties on a personal basis which are currently regarded as commercial mortgages but will [be] affected as they are personal borrowing secured against a property," she explained.

Liberal Democrat MP Diana Wallis recently claimed a better system is required in order to guarantee protection for those purchasing property or land in another European country.

Europa Press reported that the price per litre of diesel, used by 80% of Spanish vehicles, stood this week at 1.243 euros, a decrease of 2.28% over the previous week. Meanwhile, the price per litre of petrol this week reached 1.305 euros, representing a fall of 1.36% over the past seven days.

This drop in fuel prices is recorded just as the Special Summer Traffic Scheme starts in Spain (July 1 to August 31), when about 83 million trips are expected to be made over the period (800,000 more than expected in 2010) . Moreover, this decline coincides with the lowering of prices and a fall in pressure over prices of oil, which last week led the Government to agree not to extend the speed limit of 110 km per hour on motorways. The result of that agreement means that from today, July 1, the speed limit on these types of roads returns to 120 km per hour.

The cost of living expenses, which will include utility bills along with taxes and food shopping, may be taken into account by those looking for a Spanish property. However, although fuel prices have risen, the country outperforms other EU nations in other respects.

The service will help cut down on accidents and offer good advice to holiday makers including safe bathing and sun burn and will always be on hand in case of emergencies. Thirty six jobs have been created in the service from over 200 applicants for the position.

There have been calls for homeowners to be able to cancel their debts by handing over the property to the lender. Under current Spanish law, if a dwelling is repossessed and sold for less than the value of the mortgage, the bank can claim back the difference from other assets and even future earnings.

The season, which officially started at 19.16 on Tuesday, will be hotter than usual and the first heat wave is due to arrive in the west and south on Sunday or early next week when thermometers may reach 40°C. AEMET spokesman Ángel Rivera augured above average temperatures for July and August especially in the east and south and in the Balearic and Canary islands. The normal average summer temperature is 19°C - 22.4°C in the north and 26°C in Andalucía. "Summer 2011 will be in line with the last few hot summers and this tendency will also affect the rest of continental Europe," he said.

Despite calls by road accident victims associations and environmentalists urging the government not to revert back to the 120kph speed limit, the government has decided to increase the speed limit from 110kph back to 120kph.

The debate over whether or not to restore the 120kph limit was fierce but interior minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, said that the price of a barrel of crude oil had dropped from 115 dollars a barrel to 108 and that over the period of the speed reduction the country had saved 450 million euros and that changing the speed limit signs had only cost 230,000 euros.

He added that now that most people had become used to travelling at a lower speed and saving money they will not lose the habit and the savings will continue.

Although Sr Rubalcaba said that the price of a barrel of crude oil has dropped to 108 dollars this has not been passed on to motorists who are still facing high pump prices with petrol at an all time high of just over 1.3 euros per litre and diesel at 1.272 euros a litre.

Breaking these statistics down further, the town of Marbella in Andalucia scored very well, voted the third trendiest and most fashionable city in Spain as well as having the best beaches in the country.

Marbella is definitely the place to be and although luxury villas and apartments are seeing a great deal more enquiries indicating that there is definitely a new type of international buyer in town, more affordable Marbella property is selling equally as fast as buyers look to grab a great deal in a perfect lifestyle location before it's too late.

"About 700-800 million euros is expected to be transacted (this year) but with some investment opportunities totalling 100 million euros alone, a larger total could be achieved," Savills said in a statement on Monday.

Deal volumes could rise to about 1 billion euros by the sale of two malls - Invest Cos' Marineda City in La Coruna and Acciona's Splau in Barcelona - that are on the market separately for a total of about 500 million euros, Savills said.

Among the tourist generating markets in May, visitors from the United Kingdom were highlighted, with an increase of 15.4% to 1.4 million. In this year up to May, the number of British tourists increased by 11% overall.

In the same vein, she praised Brussels' decision to back down in its request to raise Spain's tax as a counterweight to a reduction in social contributions, and stressed that the European Commission has been "sensitive" to the Government's arguments. At this point, Salgado also rejected the possibility of reducing social security contributions, stating that "we should wait a bit before taking steps in that direction," at least to see how the pension reforms progress.

On the other hand, asked about the proposal of the bank run by Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez to set expenditure ceilings in the Autonomous Communities, the Minister of Economy stated that "the regions themselves must decide" if they set an expenditure ceiling, given their "financial independence."

Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced a plan last year to privatize Madrid's Barajas and Barcelona's El Prat airports and sell a stake in AENA Aeropuertos, the world's largest airport group by passenger traffic. He also planned to sell off part of the publicly owned National Lottery.

The Galician National Block (BNG), had asked legislators to amend the law to allow mortgage holders to walk away from their debt by handing over the keys to their properties.

The proposals would also have allowed partial debt write offs and permitted homeowners to delay mortgage payments beyond stipulated deadlines.

Under Spanish law, like in the UK, if a property is sold for less than the outstanding mortgage on the asset, the bank can claim the difference from the borrower. Lenders can make a claim against all of a borrower's present and future assets and earnings. The BNG argued that the new system would help to alleviate social problems. "We are talking about a social problem of the highest order," said Francisco Xesus Jorquera, a BNG lawmaker, before yesterday's vote in Madrid. "It's a debate that must take place as there is social outcry for the mortgage law to be reformed."

"The margin of error is minimal and will depend on the degree of homogeneity of the neighbourhood where the house is located. For example, in Barrio del Pilar, Madrid, if we are asked to value a house whose characteristics do not seem to match the average in the area, we offer the customer the option to have one of our appraisers visit the property and carry out the valuation, also at a low cost of about 25 euros," explained Raul Garcia, director of Business Development and Marketing for Tinsa.

The company, one of the market leaders, has just started marketing the new tool, an online home valuation service costing only eight euros. (The site currently gives a security warning but looks to be harmless). Finding out how much a home is valued at using this application is very simple. Just enter the website and complete a short questionnaire. The price of this service is low cost, eight euros, and is payable by credit card. The key data taken into account when determining this kind of valuation is the location of the property, the type of housing (individual or an apartment block), the age of the property, size or floor space, number of bedrooms and if there are communal areas such as gardens and/or swimming pool. The element which differentiates stima from other similar applications is that the calculation is performed taking into account previous valuations made by Tinsa.

Tinsa has a database of more than four million records, which continues to grow year after year, and which "allows them to arrive at a realistic result taking into account the downward swings that are occurring in market", explained Garcia. Within minutes you receive an email with a document attached in PDF form which contains all the information on the property and its final valuation. This study will not replace the traditional appraisal that is often required by banks in order to grant a mortgage loan, but provides a first estimate of the monetary value of the house for sale.

The modification from "Aeropuerto de Málaga" to "Aeropuerto de Málaga-Costa del Sol" was made official last week when it was published in the Official State Bulletin. The idea came up more than a year ago when the Costa del Sol Hoteliers Association, Aehcos, saw the name change to Malaga-Costa del Sol as a way of strengthening the Malaga-Costa del Sol brand on the tourism market and associating the internationally renowned holiday destination with modern infrastructure. Support from the industry and the authorities was unanimous. This week the Aehcos president, José Carlos Escribano, praised the decision. "It's great news and we are very proud. With this change the sector wins and our destination gains extra value, especially as this has happened at the start of the great avalanche", he stated.

The Costa del Sol Tourist Board explained that their acting chairman, Salvador Pendon, had headed the meetings with the airports authority to discuss the change. "This is important, the Costa del Sol brand appearing in the name of the airport is an achievement for the sector" said a spokesperson. The next step in the campaign is to apply for the airport code to be changed from AGP to SOL. These codes are designated by the International Air Transport Association, IATA. The proposal is feasible in the sense that no other airport in the world has SOL as its code.

Local councils have been ploughing more and more money into the beaches and this has seen a vast improvement over the last few years, culminating in the Blue Flag awards.

Blue Flag is a well recognised international standard which regularly checks the quality of beaches right across Europe and those that meet all the criteria are awarded the coveted Blue Flag.

With the short flight times from almost anywhere in Europe along with the reductions in holiday costs, visitors will continue to flock to Spain to enjoy the weather and sample the high quality beaches all along its coastal waters.

It's not just the beaches that are seeing a vast improvement around Spain. Millions of euros are being spent adding high quality motorways and high speed train lines throughout Spain as well as airport improvements and expansion like the one we have seen at Malaga airport. There are also firm plans to vastly improve a marina in Marbella where huge investment has been secured that will make it one of the most sought after and state of the art marinas in Europe.

In Murcia, Paramount Pictures are going to open up a superb theme park which has already caused a stir in the property market there leading to renewed interest in the area. All in all it seems like things are finally moving forward which is good news for all types of businesses in Spain after having experienced the worst recession on record.

Traditionally the onset of the summer season has always been good news for unemployment figures in Malaga province, but it has never been quite as positive as the figures issued for May. Contracts issued for summer work have reduced the number of unemployed by 5,607 and this is not only the biggest drop since 1996 but also the largest in the country, apart from the Balearic Islands where unemployment fell by 6,854.

Unions and business owners say the good prospects for the tourism sector are the reason unemployment has dropped in the province by 3.03 per cent to a total of 179,626. This sharp drop followed another in April, when the number of unemployed fell by 6,025.

This was one of the ideas put forward at the Marbella Luxury Weekend, by a panel of 10 experts in tourism, including local tourism councillor, Jose Luis Hernandez. The panellists, all linked to the luxury sector, such as Maria de la Hera from Bulgari, Spain, discussed what is needed to keep the more exclusive visitors coming to Marbella, an area which is seeing financial recovery and has the goods to attract even the most demanding tastes.

They also underlined the importance of maintaining a clean and safe city, and promoting it via new methods such as the internet, used by the new profile of visitors to Marbella, normally in their earlier thirties, as well as adapting to each type of client, race and nationality.

The latest housing market report by Connells Survey and Valuation shows a 22% increase in the amount of mortgage valuations taking place for residential property, with a particular jump in the amount of first time buyers looking into getting a mortgage. Far from the recent media claims that home ownership in the UK is virtually a dead concept for the next generation, the report shows that first time buyers make up 34% of all market activity, and that there were 26% more valuations conducted for this category of buyer than the same period a year ago.

The report attributes this increase to the gradual easing of lending conditions on the UK mortgage market, as banks cut their fixed rate deals and offer better LTV ratios in a bid to attract more entry-level buyers. State-owned lender Northern Rock began offering 90% finance deals again in March, while major banks such as Barclays and Nationwide have cut interest on their two year fixed-rate mortgages down to 2.98% and 3.49% respectively. The Co-operative Bank's two year fixed-rate deal is even cheaper, with its intermediary lender Platform offering 2.69% interest with an LTV of 70%.

By region, Madrid saw the biggest increase, with 8,096 companies, 20.97% of Spain's total, followed by Catalonia, representing 18.72% and Andalusia, with a 16.20% increase. On capital employed, the figures for 2010 were higher due to the formation of the State Lotteries Commission with a registered capital of 12.5 million euros. At the same time, in terms of investment, energy was the hardest hit sector with a decline of 94.19%.

They flew on the BA City Flyer flight from London City Airport to Malaga now served with three flights a week on an all-year-round basis, paying no-frills airline prices - from £75 including all taxes and charges - and receiving free in-flight drinks and snacks. Two free cabin bags contrasted with the baggage problems and charges synonymous with no-frills operators.

But, for time-strapped City types, the main benefit is the extra time house-hunting in Spain instead of the wasted hours getting to and through London's other airports. Desk to plane time from the City is 45 minutes and 25 minutes from Canary Wharf offices.

La Bajadilla marina is due a 400 million euro makeover thanks to a consortium led by Qatari Sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al-Thani, current owner of Malaga Football Club. Plans for an additional 500 berths arranged on a spectacular circular pier, 200-metre quay for cruise liners, a waterfront five-star hotel as well as a raft of bars, restaurants and shops will catapult La Bajadilla into the spotlight.

Hadleigh Bolt, director of boltpropertygroup.com, said: "This new marina is a great initiative and I believe it's a correct decision to create a fresh new landmark for Marbella rather than to simply remodel near-neighbour Puerto Banus. "With the old industrial estate set to be demolished and the AVE high speed rail link destined to stretch to Marbella in the not too distant future, Port Al Thani will undoubtedly change the face of Marbella."

The four-year association has been established with the aim of promoting a culture of peace through sport, internet and social networks. "Imagining peace" is the slogan and from next season the Malaga players will wear the UNESCO name across their chests. After an introduction in four languages: Spanish, French, English and Arabic, five local sportsmen and women shared their experiences of the value of sport as an element in the education of children and adults.

Berni Rodríguez, the captain of Malaga's Unicaja basketball team, spoke first, followed by the recently retired skier María José Rienda, Malaga goalkeeper, Wilfredo Caballero, and the coach of the women's football team Atlético Malagueño, Isa Guerrero. The surprise fifth speaker was striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had signed his contract with Malaga CF just a couple of hours previously. "Today is my first day in Malaga and I feel very proud", he told his audience.

BA's decision forms part of a wider improvement for holiday travellers with a 39 per cent increase in leisure flights from the capital's airport for the summer season. The three-time weekly flights to Malaga will start from June 8th this year, highlighting the continued popularity of this region in Spain and its year round appeal.

Research by currencies.co.uk has found that some 82 per cent of Brits interested in buying abroad in the next 12 months are looking to these countries in the hope that prices have hit rock bottom and they can pick up a bargain. Analyst Stephen Hughes says: "We've seen a big increase in inquiries for most of the PIIGS nations, the only exception being Greece. "Of these countries, Spain has been the most popular by quite a way, and while interest is still behind that in France, the evidence suggests that interest in Spain is growing much faster."

Ivana Trump and a group of celebrities will be dining and partying with the Marbella jet-set, as well as shopping in Marbella town centre, and lunching with Rudolph Schonburg and his wife, Princess Maria Luisa of Prussia (cousin to Queen Sofia of Spain), before attending the 'Children for Peace' Gala at the Villa Padierna, sponsored by the owner of La Cañada Shopping Centre, Tomas Olivo, on June 4

The regional and national governments have expressed barely-concealed ire towards Germany, which wrongly claimed Spanish produce was the source of an epidemic which has taken at least 16 lives. Last Thursday, health authorities in Hamburg blamed cucumbers from Andalucía sold at the city's market as the possible source of the outbreak.

As well as the fatalities, the bacterium has been responsible for hospitalising several hundred people in the country, as well a number who had travelled from Germany to other countries, including Spain, in recent days. The German authorities named two suppliers in Malaga and Almeria as the source of the suspect cucumbers.

According to Currencies Direct, people purchasing overseas property can "lock in a rate now and then choose to do a transaction later on within the next two years or so". This will allow them to access a foreign exchange rate that might not be available on the open market in a couple of years. This is a good idea because the market is changing and fluctuating all the time and will help you get the best rate.

In the first four months of the year Spain received 13.8 million tourists, an increase of 8.5% over the same period in 2010 and the highest in the last eleven years. Sebastian announced these results at a press conference, while signing with the ICO for the third issue of "Future Plan" funds. He emphasised that this latest issue of 300 million euros makes a total of 2,200 million euros which has been made available to the tourism sector since 2009.

In addition, forecasts for the summer are very good, with growth above 10% in stocks in the major source markets of Spain-United Kingdom, Germany and France. Sebastian then stated that airline data also forecasts a strong season with the number of flights expected to grow by 6.1%, and the number of seats for the period from April to October expected to grow by 7.1%, compared with the same period last year.

Results of the company's April confidence tracker survey reveal that 80% of people surveyed ranked property as their number one investment of choice. This is the highest figure since August 2010 and the second highest figure since the survey began in August 2009.

With the recent bursting of the Silver bubble during which its value fell by a third, and substantial declines in many other commodities including Copper, Nickel and Tin, investors are looking for a steadier and safer place in which to put their money. Four out of five people surveyed believe this to be property.

In second place with a respectable 14% of the vote was Gold, an investment that is currently resisting the fate of other commodities with sales of Gold coins on track for their best month in a year. Shares and currency each received 3% of the vote whilst savings unsurprisingly received nothing as interest rates remain historically low.

Looking at other aspects of the survey 73% are expecting an increase in interest rates at some point during the next 12 months. However, with lenders continuing to reduce rates on many fixed mortgage products, renewed confidence has led 91% to be of the opinion that this will be by no more than 1% and subsequently led 83% of respondents to believe that right now is currently a good time to buy a property in the UK, whilst 63% believe the same of overseas property.

With a cost of €84 million this will be the first harbour development in Andalucia that is funded with public and private money. The company, specifically formed to bid for the tender, includes Marbella Council as well as Puerto Deportivo Marbella S.A.

As well as enlarging the marina over the next four years, the UTE will run the installation for 40 years. Not only will the revamped marina provide more berths for private boats and yachts, but it makes possible Marbella's long-cherished ambitions of providing anchorage for cruise ships. A 200-metre pier in the outer part of the marina, connecting directly with the inner harbour, will allow liners to dock and put passengers ashore to spend time - and money - in Marbella.

The luxury trade has not been overlooked and an exclusive pier inside the marina is to be set aside for 26 boats. With a further 541 berths for private craft, La Bajadilla's capacity will increase from the present 262 to 803. The marina will also provide more moorings for pleasure and excursion craft, with room available for fishing boats and nautical industries.

The project includes underground parking for 450 vehicles in addition to 683 parking spaces above ground. His ability to finance the project worked in Abdullah Al-Thani's favour from the outset, and the sheikh entered the race for the La Bajadilla contract backed by capital - more than €25 million - from his parent company. Al-Thani also provided bank certificates confirming that he had immediate call on a further 20 million euros in cash.

The visiting team has been received by the Junta de Andalucia Council for Tourism, Commerce and Sport. The reports on Andalucia will appear next month on the weekly programme Meputevye Zametki which has 15 million viewers in Russia, Israel and the USA. The will focus on Malaga, Cordoba and Sevilla, and will coincide with the campaign being carried out by Turespaña in Russia to promote the destination in what is becoming and emerging market.

In the first quarter of this year, more than 8,800 Russian tourists visited hotels in Andalucia, staying an average of 1.12 days, a 12.5 per cent increase on the same period in 2010.

The main reasons for not travelling further afield are believed to be a result of cost and convenience, with travellers choosing to purchase cheaper accommodation and low cost flights in easy to reach countries.

Spain remains the most popular holiday destination with 29.05 per cent of bookings, according to the survey. Greece is in second place at 9.94 per cent, Turkey at eight per cent and the US at 5.99 per cent. Recent figures released by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade reveal that nine million international tourists visited Spain between January and March this year.

The average size of new apartments in Spain is now rising for the first time since 2004. The few developers with the budget and guts to be constructing properties in 2011 are today building apartments that average 103.2 m² compared to 96.8m² in 2008.

Detached homes are getting bigger too, up to 187.8m² in 2010, the biggest size since records began.

The lesson? In rising markets, developers focus on maximising the value of every square metre of land often at the expense of building properties that people actually want. In the boom times, there can be a contradiction between the interests of the agent and those of buyers. Smaller properties are easier to find and because of the lower entry price, are easier to sell to overseas buyers. The irony is these are exactly the kind of properties that nobody will want when the bubble bursts. As an investment, smaller properties work when the location has scarcity power (water-front, close to transport links in cities etc) Without it, smaller properties carry a significant commoditization risk as developers seek to cash in on rising land values. You won't see that in many sales brochures.

Many have reported a recent rise in profits and some are even 25 per cent up on last year and when rents for prime slots in areas such as the Paseo Marítimo are around 4,000 Euros a month, this can only be good news. One such business that is going from strength to strength is expat owned Los Tres Pepes on Marbella's La Fontanilla beach. Jackie Osborne, 48, who runs the chiringuito with her husband Peter, said: "We haven't been affected too much by the crisis. This is our sixth year here and so far we have been up each year on the previous year. The only thing that affects us is the weather, no sun and not many people come to the beach. Also the Spanish will always enjoy their holidays no matter how bad the money situation is. The Spanish live to eat and the British eat to live. So having an 80 per cent Spanish customer base has helped with the crisis. Another thing that has helped this year is the North African crisis as more Brits are coming to Spain."

On Marbella's Paseo Marítimo, The Banana Tree bar and restaurant is "thriving". Tommy Heaney, 62, who has owned the bar for the last 17 years, said: "This is the third recession I have been through since we came out here but we are still here. "We've got good food at reasonable prices, entertainment and good hard working staff who have a smile on their face for everybody. Ruth, 44, a former Porsche saleswoman, said that the key to beating the recession was repeat business and recommendations.

Meanwhile, the tourism market in the country has also showed no signs of slowing down, buy to let investors will be encouraged to hear. Between January and March this year, Spain received nine million international tourists - an increase of 2.9 per cent over the same three month period last year, data from The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade revealed.

The centre-right Popular Party (PP) won a resounding victory across the board in the regional and municipal elections, securing a ten per cent lead over their rivals, in a result seen as a precursor for general elections scheduled early next year.

Spain's Socialists lost control of traditional strongholds including the cities of Barcelona and Seville while the PP took Castilla-La Mancha, which had been governed by the socialists since the first democratic elections in 1979, four years after the death of dictator Gen Francisco Franco.

Pressure mounted for Prime Minister Zapatero to resign and call an early general election. But the socialist leader, who swept to power in 2004 and who has said he will not seek a third term, vowed to carry on reforms until the vote next March.

Conceding defeat, the prime minister blamed discontent on three years of economic crisis which has left Spain with a stagnant economy and 21 per cent unemployment, more than twice the EU average.

"We have suffered a broad setback compared to four years ago," he told a news conference after the first results came through, Sunday night.

"(The economic crisis) destroyed thousands of jobs. It is a crisis that had profound effects on citizens' morale. I know that many Spaniards suffer great hardship and fear for their futures.

"Today, without doubt, they expressed their discontent," he said.

The left leaning daily El Pais described the defeat as "a tsunami drowning the socialists".

The run-up to elections had seen mass protesting by a mainly youth crowd who took over city squares across the nation. On Sunday they pledged to continue their demonstrations for at least another week.

In the Basque country, the new party Bildu became the second political force in the region winning 25 per cent of the vote, five percentage points behind the Basque National Party.

The party had fought to field candidates winning an overturn of a ban by the Supreme Court which argued that they were the successor to Batasuna, the outlawed political wing of Basque terrorist group ETA.

They gained control of San Sebastian, the second largest city in the region, ousting the socialists.

Overall participation was up two points from the last elections four years ago with more than 66 per cent of the 34 million eligible voters casting ballots. The Socialists captured just 27.79 per cent of the total compared to 37.53 per cent for the PP.

The leads generated may vary in quality but at least they have shown some intention to buy. Social media marketing is much less targeted. In the main, you are relying on influencers to tell their friends and associates about your product, many of whom will have no interest in your offer. However, with such a large audience it would be foolish to ignore social media all together and as you'll see from the examples below, some agents are making it work.

You're not very interesting

The main problem is, for the majority of us, our projects and properties are not interesting enough to be passed on online (via the 'like' button on Facebook or through a retweet on Twitter). A lot of time can be wasted by not having clear objectives and posting information that has little chance of grabbing attention.

Successful Facebook marketing

Agents and developers who are making Facebook pay often start out with the objective of building an audience within their niche. For example, professional property investors or readers from a particular town or village where you sell property. Beach and Bay Realty in Australia have 599 followers for their hyper local Facebook page called I Love Cronulla. Much of the content is aggregated from local news and photo sites and one person in the office is in charge of selecting and editing the content which is augmented from time to time with original blog posts and interviews. Another good example is Lalzit Bay, an upmarket resort in Albania. The company has only recently begun promoting on Facebook but has quickly developed a small following of non-resident Albanians keen for updates or mentions of Albania in the world press.

The strategies of both companies are not resource intensive or costly. Their primary objective is to build awareness and brand though the number of the 'likes' or 'followers' in their niche. Leads are not instant but once they have people's attention, they can promote subtle commerical ventures such as open days, inspection trips and events. The pay off from social media takes longer and is more difficult to measure than other online marketing activitities but if you want to build a long term reputation and can find a system that minimises cost, there should be a strong return on investment.

Burson-Marsteller (BM), headquartered in the United States and with offices in 67 countries worldwide, was employed by Spain's secretary of state for housing, Beatriz Corredor, to assist with the launch of Spain's international property roadshow that kicked off in London last week. Since then it has emerged that BM, on behalf of Facebook, approached well-known blogger, Christopher Soghoian, urging him to investigate Google's privacy policy in exchange for getting the piece published on influential sites such as The Huffington Post and The Washington Post.

BM has terminated its contract with Facebook but continues to work on behalf of the Spanish government, as its ministers attempt to pitch the sale of the country's 700,000 unsold holiday homes to European and Russian investors in a bid to kickstart a flailing economy.

BA CityFLyer, a subsidiary of British Airways, is going to run a new route from London City Airport to Malaga in the Costa del Sol. The move comes after the airline recorded a high level of demand from the airport and as such, it has also increased the frequency of its flights to Palma on the island of Mallorca. Owner of LD Estates Andy Wynn commented: "This is another motivational step forward for Costa del Sol's property market and will definately increase the traffic coming from London and the south-east of England."

The building is being shut down for the safety of those living and working there, according to an official Unicaja statement. The financial institution claims that the premises, which were constructed in the 1960s, are in need of urgent reforms, after which a study will be undertaken to establish the future use of the building, located in a privileged position overlooking the beach.

However, those at the rally say they have not been informed of the reasons behind the action. "The letter we received gave us no explanations about the reforms Unicaja will supposedly be carrying out, nor where the residents will be relocated to. The nearest Unicaja nursing home to here is in Ronda!" says Sonia Martínez, whose mother is one of the residents. "It's a disgrace that these 72 people of many different nationalities will lose their homes, and 45 more will lose their jobs." ]]> images/nursehome.jpg 51 5/15/2011 http://www.ldestates.net/news/archives/May/2011 Travellers can protect themselves from unexpectedly high mobile phone bills, the communications regulator has said. Ofcom said that providers offer travel bundles and can restrict use overseas. It is inviting UK consumers who have been hit with unexpectedly high mobile and broadband bills when travelling overseas to report cases. Ofcom's research has suggested only 6% of consumers have received such a bill, although MPs and consumer groups have repeatedly expressed concerns.

However the initiative falls short of providing photographic ID which would enable expats to leave their passports at home. The National Police spokeswoman said the Spanish authorities are not allowed to issue ID cards to EU nationals. "We would be breaking the directive governing the free movement of EU residents within Europe," she said. "According to this directive EU residents do not have to apply for a residence license and therefore the former residence card had to be replaced with the certificate. She added: "ID cards or passports issued by EU countries are fully acknowledged in all member states." The smaller certificate is currently being piloted in the region of Castilla y Leon. It will be introduced progressively in all other regions.

The briefing marks the first day of the Spanish Property Roadshow, which will tour Europe and Russia in a bid to offload the homes at discounted prices and kick-start Spain's struggling economy. According to the article, which was published in the Telegraph, Mr Blanco dismissed concerns surrounding the health of the country's financial position, noting that GDP had increased by the end of last year.

Mr Zapatero, along with Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia attended a service on the outskirts of the stricken town in the Murcia region of southeastern Spain.

Thousands more joined the families of four of the victims who died when hit by falling masonry during the earthquake which measured 5.2 on the Richter scale.

The families of the other five dead chose instead to hold private funerals.

The funeral service was led by the Bishop of Cartagena and was televised live to the nation. The earthquake had caused too much damage to the town's churches so instead the service took place in the Recinto Ferial, an old hanger used for agricultural fairs.

The Spanish premier toured the worst affected zones of the town before the funeral to survey the damage. He said "The earthquake was hard and strong. But this country is stronger. Its desire for solidarity and reconstruction are stronger."

The magnitude-5.2 tremor toppled several buildings after striking at a depth of just 10km (six miles), 120km south-west of Alicante. Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble after Spain's worst earthquake for 50 years.

The quake, which shook on Wednesday evening came about two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor. Regional officials on Thursday put the official death toll at eight, revising it down from 10. It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens with some in a critical condition.

Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces after the quake struck at 18:47 (16:47 GMT) in the town in the Murcia region. Spanish TV captured dramatic images of a church bell tower crashing to the ground, landing just metres from a cameraman.

As night fell, many of Lorca's 90,000 residents were either unable or still too afraid to return to their homes. The Red Cross had set up a temporary shelter with 800 beds on the edge of town, but many people preferred to sleep outside to be near their homes or for fear of aftershocks, spokeswoman Carla Vera said.

As reported from the Malaga firefighters main office, the fire started for reasons still unknown at about 23.40 in the Malaga-Sol station, located at Calle Eduardo Marquina, in the district of Cadiz Road, one of the most inhabited in the city.

The fire, which was put out at around 4 am, caused no injuries but the facilities have been badly affected, therefore, the telephone service has been suspended since then. Telefonica have reported that an emergency team of the company, formed with around 150 people, have been in the substation since the incident trying to solve the problem and it is scheduled that from 23.00 hours on Saturday, 50% of the service will be restored and that from this Sunday, 50% will be working.

As indicated, some 50,000 lines are without basic phone line and about 4,000 users have no ADSL internet service, but have clarified that the figure may be much higher, due to the severity of damage, they have not been able to confirm the number of people without service. The fire has also affected a number of mobile phone stations.

The city emergency services themselves, including firefighters, 112, 061 and Police, have had trouble communicating by telephone. Telefonica have said that to ensure the functioning of emergency services, they have enabled an output system of alternative communication that guarantees the emergency use of these services.

Up and down the land, in major cities and smaller towns, throughout the year, Spain is firmly on the international map with its jazz festivals that provide a stage for world famous artistes. So for jazz fans there are plenty of opportunities to see some of the greats in action.

Some festivals need to be tied in to a holiday to take in another part of the country and provide a great basis on which to build a trip to Barcelona or San Sebastian. Others are just a drive or train trip away from here on the Costa del Sol. And if you are a jazz fan then you have plenty of time to organise a trip to Seville to catch up with some headline acts at the 14th Jazz Festival to be held in the city. This year's festival features Kyle Eastwood - famous as the son of Hollywood legend Clint but a star in his own right. He will be topping the bill when he visits Seville as part of a hugely busy European wide tour, and will return to the country in July for the Vitoria Jazz Festival.

Already a popular tourist destination, the Costa del Sol has experienced a sharp upturn in the number of investors looking to take advantage of its favourable climate and ready-built infrastructure. A leading specialist said that it has seen the number of enquiries made by foreign buyers on the Costa del Sol so far this year rise 43 per cent. According to a report published by the Ministry of Development, 6,457 transactions were made in the province of Malaga at the end of 2010, of which 905 transactions were made from buyers outside of Spain.

Meanwhile, it seems that Spain remains a popular retirement destination for Brits, with nearly a fifth of all their buyers choosing the European nation as the place to live out their retirement.

One in seven couples nearing retirement age has decided that the best way to secure their future is through a second home, Overseas Property professional reports. The ONS reports that a significant proportion of the quarter of a million or so individuals have their second home located abroad. It could encourage potential buyers to consider purchasing property in Spain. There are a number of opportunities to pick up a bargain at present, with a number of bank repossessed homes now finding their way back onto the market. This is the first time that the ONS has worked out how many households between the age of 50 and 64 have more than one property. And those considering buying abroad were warned last week about the pitfalls of not using a specialist currency broker.

This represents an increase of 2.9% over the same period last year. This increase is nearly ten times higher than the 0.3% registered in the first quarter of 2010. Particularly noticeable, were the increases in tourists from the Netherlands (22.3%), Belgium (20%), Switzerland (14.8%), Scandinavia (11.7%) and Italy (10.9%). However, the UK remained Spain's number one market, with 1.8 million tourists (albeit a decrease of 4.8% from 2010), followed by Germany with 1.47 million (3.7% less), and France with 1.2 million (2.7% more than last year). In March, international tourist arrivals rose 0.6% to 3.5 million passengers, the Ministry said, recalling that last year's Easter Week (Semana Santa) began in this month.

The operators of the Andalusian Women's Institute in Malaga attended 7,183 calls in 2010, the director, Carmen Rosa Torres, confirmed at Tuesday's press conference. "Of those, more than 1,500 were from non-Spanish nationals. After Spanish, Arabic is the language most often spoken by our callers, followed by English and Romanian," she added. Isabel Méndez, who oversees the telephone service says these calls are a three-way, confidential conversation between the victim of domestic abuse, the operator, and the translator. The president of Soroptimist International on the Costa del Sol, Jette Overgaard, believes domestic violence amongst foreign residents is worryingly high. "Living in Spain and not speaking Spanish and not knowing the various bureaucratic systems, such as when to pay a bill, can be very stressful; and sometimes, we have seen that this extra pressure can manifest itself into abuse, which is totally unacceptable," she says. "Although the economic situation has worsened the problem as people become more pressurised, domestic violence is a social phenomenon which cuts across nationality, class and income." The 24 hour, free, multilingual, domestic abuse helpline number is 900 200 999.

London-based developer Citygrove has finance for hotels in Barcelona and Valencia and is in talks for a third in Seville. Travelodge, which already has three hotels in Spain, plans 50 more over the next 10 years to take advantage of hotel guests trading downwards since the credit crunch.

Paul Harvey, Travelodge's managing director, international and development, said: "Our existing three hotels have been trading well. When a country has economic concerns it is the time consumers choose a low-cost model." Standard Life Investments has stumped up the cash to build a £28.2m 250-bed Travelodge in the central district of Barcelona. Standard Life will own the 10-storey building and Travelodge will be the operator.

In Valencia Travelodge's proposed 116-bed hotel near the airport is being financed by Spanish bank BBVA. Citygrove is in talks with potential funders for a third, 200-bed Travelodge in Seville. It is currently seeking a planning licence that will allow Citygrove to develop the hotel. Mr Harvey said that future locations will include Madrid, Malaga, Bilbao and Granada. There will also be further hotels in Barcelona. He said: "Budget is now understood by the Spanish. They travel on Easyjet and understand the concept. At present there are very few budget hotels in Spain, the hotel sector is predominantly expensive mid-market hotels that are underinvested. We have also been helped by the fact that the Spanish's use of the internet has grown so online booking is up."

The two contests have a combined cash prize purse of 3,200€.

His trip, in the company of housing minister Beatriz Corredor, is part of a European-wide tour to offer 'guarantees' over property sales. Sr Blanco said: "We want the property market to return to normal; we don't want to go back to the excesses of the past, but to get over the current depression in this sector."

As a result, for safety reasons technicians from the Andalusian Water Agency have been forced to open the sluice gates, allowing some of the water stored for human consumption to flow into sea. At 6 p.m last Thursday, the gates were opened and were not closed again until 10 p.m the following day. During this period, more than one cubic hectometre of water was released.

2010 was also a particularly wet year, compounding the current situation. In just seven months, an average year's worth of rain had been collected in the reservoir, which supplies municipalities including Benalmádena, Fuengirola, Mijas, Benahavís, Marbella, Casares and Manilva.

Among them will be James Hewitt who will be hosting a Royal Wedding party at his Marbella restaurant and bar, Polo House. The former cavalry officer, who had a five-year affair with the late Princess Diana, decided to host the party after customers suggested he celebrate the special occasion at his upmarket eatery. The 53-year-old told SUR in English: "We are going to have the party here to help celebrate the Royal Wedding which is something the customers have requested. I thought it would be very sad if we didn't celebrate it. We are looking forward to it and it should be a good night. "We are going to put up a lot of bunting and banners and help create a party atmosphere. There will also be a wedding cake at the end of the night. "I think I will be joining everyone in wishing William and Kate a happy future."

The Canary Island and the Costa del Sol are the most popular destinations with bargain hunters heading to Egypt and Tunisia and families jetting off to Florida. Foreign city breaks are also proving to be popular with the top five choices being Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome and New York.

The airports are preparing for the busiest period of the year so far, with 600,000 scheduled to leave from Heathrow, 250,000 from Gatwick, 160,000 from Stansted and 105,000 from Luton. Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh airports are poised to see 150,000 passengers pass through their terminals, with 125,000 leaving from Manchester and 65,000 from Birmingham.

In the latest survey, 57% of Spanish-based readers reported that sales were better than this time last year, with 29% saying sales were about the same and only 14% reporting sales were worse. José Prado, President of Malaga's Association of Constructors and Developers takes the optimism one stage further with a prediction of a return to stellar house price growth in a recent interview in the Spanish press. "There are very few new homes coming onto the market, which will bring down the total number for sale and drive up prices 20pc to 30pc in 2 years," he said. The English language media also seems to have postponed its Spanish property bashing with a number of positive articles appearing in the last few weeks.

Ángel Yagüe, coordinator of the Andalusian Institute for Financial Studies, believes that the key to this upturn in the foreign market lies in the reductions. Knocked-down asking prices, he explains, are "especially attractive to people from countries that are on their way out of the recession and believe that now is a good time to buy". He goes on to say that at the moment foreign buyers are the only ones able to bring some relief to the struggling construction industry in this area. "Domestic demand has been significantly weakened by the high unemployment rate, the depressed economy and credit restrictions". Meanwhile Juan Antonio Pérez, director of the Real Estate department at the Institute of Business Practice, warns that while the fact that foreigners are still choosing the Costa del Sol is good news, the problem lies with credit. "Many come across a stumbling block when they ask the bank for a mortgage", he points out. The average foreign buyer attracted to Marbella is a professional person with medium- high or high standard of living from Germany or the UK. Property purchases made by this group of buyers in Marbella represent 30 per cent of the total of 905 sales to foreigners in the province in 2010. José Prado, the president of the Association of Builders and Developers, stresses that the town's new PGOU development plan, which has allowed for the legalisation of thousands of irregular properties, has helped demand to resurface.

Despite speculation since last autumn that its debts were unsustainable and there was no other option for the floundering nation but to seek EU rescue, Spain has stood strong whilst both Ireland and Portugal fell victim to debt crises, and now looks to be out of the woods. French finance minister Christine LaGarde, one of the key European authorities at the centre of EU crisis negotiations, told the Wall Street Journal that "Spain isn't a problem", while German Finance Minister said that as far as the debt crisis in Spain was concerned, "the risk of contagion has lessened."

Unlike Portugal and Ireland, which saw severe public opposition to national spending cuts and faced difficulty getting them through parliament, Spain has successfully implemented a drastic debt reduction program and has already cut its budget deficit to 9% from 11% in 2009, although unemployment remains high. As a result, borrowing costs for the country remain at a stable level, and investors appear to be renewing their confidence in Spain and returning to the market.

"Investors increasingly have come to differentiate between [Ireland and Portugal] and Spain", economist Antonio Garcia Pascual, of Barclays Capital, told the Wall Street Journal. Credit ratings agency Fitch also reported last month that it considers an Ireland-style complete collapse of the banking and property sector to be "an extreme scenario which is not likely to materialize."

With property sales having reported a positive growth of 5.9% last year for the first time since the market downturn, and new developments having all but ceased, allowing home supply to be soaked up in relation to demand, it looks as though the Spanish economy and real estate industry is beginning its slow road to recovery. Providing it can remain in investors' good books in the coming months, the future is looking increasingly bright.

Sharing the price of a home, and the deposit as well as bills and maintenance costs can make real financial sense but the importance of a transparent relationship between all parties to ensure a smooth purchase and ownership process is essential.

He became Prime Minister in 2004 in the wake of the Madrid train bombings. Spain's economy was booming then. It has since suffered a deep recession, and unemployment is at 20%.

Ending speculation Mr Zapatero said he would stand down as party leader when a successor had been chosen. That process - through a series of 'primaries' - will begin after local elections on 22 May. The Socialists are currently 15% behind the right of centre Popular Party in the polls and are expected to suffer heavy losses.

Mr Zapatero said he was making his position clear now, a year ahead of parliamentary elections, in order to end the uncertainty and speculation over his future. That was distracting the government from its main tasks, he said: lifting Spain out of recession and creating jobs.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford, in Madrid, says Mr Zapatero's party will be hoping his announcement gives them a boost at the local elections. But it also leaves a good deal of uncertainty, our correspondent says - the kind of "distraction" the PM said he was trying to avoid.

In contrast, off-plan sales remain a core part of the sales portfolio for the majority of international agents.

74% state they are still actively selling non-completed developments, with the majority reporting sales unchanged year on year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two most popular categories were resale (sold by 88% of agents) and completed new build developments (85%).

In both these categories, agents reported higher sales volumes in the first two months of 2011, than in the same period last year

The truth is Spain does not have a history of defaults. It did become a "serial defaulter" in the 16th century, after failing to invade England. But there are no plans for another invasion, so I do not see the danger for a default. Neither did Spain default in peacetime in the 20th century, as the US did in 1933, or seek a bailout, as the UK did in 1976.

More important, Spain has recently demonstrated a great deal of fiscal responsibility. From 2000 to 2008 it often ran budget surpluses. The moderate public debt went down from 66% to 47% of GDP in this period. Other countries that were also growing saw their debt increase during the same period, for instance the United States (54% to 71%) and the UK (from 45% to 57%), or they maintained debt at very high levels, as Greece did (from 115% to 105%).

This record was blemished in 2009, when the deficit climbed to 11%. Two factors played into this: first, the contagion from the bailout epidemic that swept the world that same year; and, second, it was a post-election year. But austerity measures were taken in 2010 and they appear to have brought back fiscal stability.

Most of the austerity measures just reversed tax cuts or spending hikes that had only been in effect for a year or two. For instance, civil servants' salaries were cut by 5% but they had gone up by 3% the previous year, so the fall in purchasing power during the crisis was small. Another example: capital gains tax went up by 2%, and income tax for the top pay bracket by 1%-4%. But wealth tax was abolished in 2008, and inheritance tax has all but disappeared. Therefore total taxation on capital and income is roughly where it used to be. This is one reason why the social backlash has been muted. The Spanish government has even undertaken some long-term reforms, such as postponing the retirement age from 65 to 67 and improving flexibility in the labour market. Compare this with the austerity measures in the UK, or with the inability of the American political system to lower the deficit this year. The doomsayers have spread a huge amount of misinformation. I have read reports in the press that Spain cannot export, that it cannot compete, cannot employ its workers, run its fiscal policy, pay its pensions ? I do not have the space to counter all these claims, but any comparison of actual data about deficit and debt, exports, growth, average retirement age, and cost of rescue packages with other countries, will reveal the true picture. In fact Spain's output is quite high: even in 2009 GDP per capita in Spain was essentially the same as Italy's, very close to France's, and only about 10% lower than Germany or the UK.

Certainly there are problems, as in almost every other country. The banking system has to be reformed; but the amount needed to recapitalise the system will be quite small as a percentage of GDP, much smaller than in many other countries. There is no need for the government to pick up the tab, and there is no indication that it will. As is well known, the unemployment rate of 20% is very high relative to Europe in normal times, but this is in part because other countries are better at hiding joblessness, either by retiring workers from the labour force or by using part-time work. However, the high unemployment is an unavoidable temporary shock, since a large part of the workforce has to be reallocated away from construction. Once growth begins, employment usually grows quickly. So please do not be deluded: there are no fundamental reasons to fear a Spanish sovereign debt crisis.

But how will the events in Tunis, which is a little over 1,300 kilometres from Malaga, or those in Libya's capital Tripoli, 1,650 kilometres from the provincial capital, affect the Costa del Sol?

"Spain is monitoring the situation extremely carefully as its southern neighbour is, of course, the North African country of Morocco", says Dr. Khaled Malik, a UK-based lecturer in Middle East politics to SUR in English.

"Morocco is vulnerable at the moment as this revolutionary mood has overwhelmed the whole region. Its ruler King Mohammed VI will be observing closely what's going on in nearby nations. Even if Morocco does escape large-scale protests, which seems likely at the moment, the ruler will have realised that stagnation is no longer a viable option and additional progressive policies will need to be introduced," he explains. "The world is an increasingly small place with global regions now more inter-linked than ever before, but Spain, due to its geographical position, and fragile economic situation, has a greater exposure to these events".

Fuel and finance
One of the most obvious ways the uprisings have impacted on how things are done in Spain is the reduction of the motorway speed limit and the cut in ticket prices for trains to encourage greater use of public transport.

Earlier this month drivers slowed down under a new speed limit to reduce energy use. Spain's maximum highway speed is now 110 kilometres per hour from 120 kph previously. The measure, which is thought to reduce national consumption by 15 per cent, is an emergency response to soaring crude prices, following fighting in Libya, a major oil-producing country. The Spanish Government said it was a "crucial step" as the country depends on imports for 75 per cent of its energy, compared to the European Union average of 60 per cent; specifically, Spain obtains 13 per cent of its oil and two percent of its gas from Libya.

Property
One sector which has noted positive signs following the wave of unrest is real estate. "Those from the UK and other northern European countries looking for a second home in the Mediterranean sunshine may have once considered North Africa for the lower prices and because it's seen as 'more exotic'. Indeed, a few years ago, Morocco was an emerging destination in residential tourism and many bought, or were considering buying, off-plan properties there", says property writer, Charles McAuliffe-Scott. "People, now more than ever, are realising that despite the economic crisis, Spain is a much safer bet for their investment as it's politically stable. In my view, even if the uprisings stopped now, it will take a good 10 years until people seriously think about buying in emerging property markets such as Morocco or Egypt".

Tourism
The Costa del Sol's tourist industry is receiving a boost as sunseekers shun popular resorts in Egypt and Tunisia because of the widespread protests. "The Coast has struggled in recent years to compete with destinations on Egypt's Red Sea and Tunisia's Mediterranean coast, which are cheaper and have similar flying distances from major markets like the UK and Germany", says travel writer, Lisa Simon. "But since the unrest broke out, tourists have been changing their plans and the Costa del Sol and the Canaries have been two of the main beneficiaries".

The most important question is not always the most obvious. The feedback from the Property Investor show suggests that if you are considering exhibiting at a property exhibition, the most important question to ask is not audience size, it is the ratio of visitors to companies selling substitute products.

One of the speakers at these seminars was the British Consul in Malaga, Steve Jones, who confirmed to SUR in English that interest in Spain had exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. The Consul himself is optimistic for the future of British property ownership in southern Spain, saying that while there have been plenty of negative reports, the Consulate is still dealing with the same number of changes in residence as it was last year, or even five years ago. "People are still moving to Spain", he said, "and people are also still moving back to the UK. It is the nature of emigration, people come and go, but we haven't noticed any real drop despite reports to the contrary".

Positive interest
For the first time in many years of manning similar stands at international property shows, The SUR in English representatives heard only favourable comments about Spain. Particularly striking was that not one visitor to the stand mentioned negative press reports about Spain, or expressed concerns about the legality of properties for sale.

Other exhibitors confirmed that they had noticed this characteristic of potential buyers. Richard Alexander, of Richard Alexander Financial Planning, exhibiting at A Place in the Sun Live for the first time, said he was very happy with the response, while Campbell Ferguson of Survey Spain, commented that agents he had been talking to all seemed to be in agreement that the market is "bouncing back Spain's way" and that buyers "have decided that prices are not going to drop any further".

Although top-line numbers were down, a number of exhibitors reported excellent sales and lead volumes. A leading international company who took eight stands and brought 27 staff to the event, said it was their best show to date. "We were dead pleased. We had four confirmed sales on the day, seven inspection trips and we have circa 700 leads to follow up on". Another agent was equally optimistic on his company's sales prospects after exhibiting. "It was an excellent show, we had great results from it, a good number of very strong leads" they said.

The most exciting moment of the event was arguably the arrival of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba who pulled up in a black Ferrari to meet Belgian exhibitor Kalia Living who were promoting a luxury development in Costa Rica.

These two measures will be maintained while tensions in North Africa continue, and the government also plans to increase the percentage of biodiesel in petrol and diesel from 5.8 per cent to 7 per cent. Deputy prime minister Alfredo P?rez Rubalcaba announced this first package of energy-saving initiatives last week, and further measures are expected to be agreed between the Ministry of Industry and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces in the next few days. These will include reducing street lighting and the energy costs of public buildings, plus individual savings planned by each council or regional government.

The package of proposals is to be approved by the Cabinet on March 4th, but some have been announced in advance because traffic signs, radar equipment and road information panels will need to be changed. The driving licence points system will not be modified because the new measure is being introduced to save energy, not to improve road safety. As the change to the speed limit is intended to be temporary, the road signs will be changed as cheaply as possible and the costs of the modifications will not weaken the general saving, which is expected to be between five and ten per cent. The reduction in the speed limit could save drivers up to 15 per cent in petrol and 11 per cent in diesel, although the savings will depend on the numbers and types of journeys undertaken.

Research shows that the region of Andalucia enjoys the best 'brand image' in Spain and as a general tourist brand, Andalucia was rated a fantastic 7.9 out of 10 by journalists, followed by Madrid and Barcelona, with 7.3 and 7.1 respectively. Such fabulous reviews can only help the tourism trade on the Costa del Sol and help property sales as well.

"Journalists value Spain's purely Spanish spirit, strength and passion, as well as the enormous improvement in infrastructures and the quality of services in the past years" Maria Asenjo from OPC explains. And with high profile visitors like Michelle Obama, it is perhaps hardly surprising Marbella was voted the third trendiest and most fashionable cities in Spain.

In other meetings held in Warsaw, Poland, the Costa del Sol Tourism Board encouraged tour operators to organize charter flights to Malaga during the winter. In March, Ryanair will start two weekly flights from Krakow (Poland) and another two from Wroclaw.

Tour operators TUI and Thomas Cook will increase the number of tourists visiting the Costa del Sol in 2011, from Vienna (Austria) and Bratislava (Slovakia), thanks to new and existing flights. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance group, has announced flights from Malaga to Vietnam from April, all of which will have connection flights in Istanbul.

It will be from this coming summer that trains will start to run every 20 minutes instead of every half hour. This would allow the 35 departures in each direction every day to be increased by almost 30 per cent, although the exact number of trains and the new earliest and latest departure times are still being studied.

It is expected that the last station to be inaugurated, at Terminal 3 of the airport, will benefit greatly from the increased frequency as this could make rail the principal form of transport between the city and the airport.

While the infrastructure is already in place, Renfe will spend the next few months planning the new improved service. The number of Civia trains used on the line will need to be increased and new drivers and other personnel taken on and trained. The total journey time between Malaga and Fuengirola is currently 48 minutes. Sources claim this is likely to be reduced but only slightly.

The timetable modifications due this summer will constitute a landmark in the history of rail travel on the Costa del Sol. In fact it will be the first time that the train frequency has been increased since the C1 line opened in 1975; that is, the greatest improvement the service has seen in 36 years.

Long project

The new frequency is the result of improvements made by Renfe and Adif (the rail infrastructure administrator) over the last five years. In 2005 there was still just a single electrified track along the entire route which limited the service's capacity and frequency. Works to construct a second track where possible started to get off the ground.

Now trains already use the two tracks between Malaga's María Zambrano station and the airport, while more than half of the rest of the Costa del Sol line has been doubled. Of the total of 31 kilometres between Malaga and Fuengirola it has been possible to add an extra track along a maximum of 20 kilometres.

Work is still under way on the stretch between the airport and the golf course although this will not affect the introduction of the new frequency. However it has been physically impossible to add an extra track along several smaller stretches between Torremolinos and Fuengirola due to urban development.

According to the statistics body, holidaymakers have continued to flock to the country despite recent economic troubles and a collapse in the nation's property market.

The organisation reports that a total of 268 million nights were spent in hotels in Spain by tourists last year, an increase of 6.4 per cent from 2009 figures.

Following Spain at the top of the rankings was Italy, then Germany, France and the UK. These five countries made up a huge 70 per cent of total hotel stays in the eurozone.

In broader terms there was an increase of 2.8 per cent in hotel stays across the European Union as a whole, which should be regarded as a positive step for the tourism industry.

The past two years have been typified by steady declines as the financial crisis saw many international travellers tightening their belts.

For many of us, it would have been lucrative to take 18 months off around the middle of 2008. The "sell up and sit on a beach strategy" would have paid dividends had we had the benefit of perfect foresight.

Fortunately, an economist at Barclays Capital has come up with a theory to help out the next time property markets take a plunge. According to his data, the most reliable indicator of an impending real estate crisis is the construction of exceptionally tall buildings.

From the time the first skyscraper went up in New York in 1870 (Equitable Life) to the completion of the Empire State Building in 1931 and the construction of the World Trade Centre in 1972, great height has always co-incided with big trouble.

More recently the theory holds with Petronas Towers in Kaula Lumpa (1998), One Canada Square in Canary Wharf (1991) and the Buri Khalifa (2008) in Dubai.

The theory isn't perfect and a correlation does not imply a cause but the co-incidences are uncanny. In most markets we are years away from excesses of another property boom but if history teaches us anything it?s that people have short memories when it comes to property.

The next time someone begins building a huge white elephant project in your market, the wisest course of action may be to put up a for sale sign and reach for the sun lounger.

The decree forces savings banks, or 'cajas', to seek private capital, either by direct investment or stock market listings, in order to boost capital reserves diminished by indiscrimate lending to property developers during a property boom and bust.

"We have approved this decree today in order to reinforce the solvency and sustainability of our financial sector so that it can continue lending even at difficult times," Economy Minister Elena Salgado told reporters at a press conference.

Spain remains under intense market scrutiny on concerns about the health of its banks and its high debt but the socialist government's moves to overhaul its banking system have led to a slight drop in its borrowing costs recently.

The government has given savings banks until September to clarify their plans to get private capital on board, either by direct investment or stock market listings but pushed out the deadline for listing to March.

Cajas had complained the original September deadline did not allow enough time to organise stock market flotations.

The new requirements set in law did not differ greatly from proposals made by the government in recent weeks, despite wrangling from cajas to soften the terms.

The government demanded an 8 percent minimum core capital ratio - a measure of a bank's ability to withstand financial shock - for listed banks. That jumps to 10 percent for unlisted banks that fail to attract private funds for more than 20 percent of their equity.

Aid from the state-backed fund, set up to help savings banks merge, would count towards core capital, Salgado said.

The government will nationalise those savings banks that fail to achieve the stringent core capital levels, which match tough Basel III rules laid out by global regulators.

Not only are portals reporting record traffic, some of the leads are actually converting into sales. That's real money to you and me!

For the last few weeks, during the course of normal business, we have been coming across agents who have begun selling property again.

Michael Patterson , director of USA Property Direct says he is more optimistic than at any time since the downturn:
"We've had unprecedented levels of interest and sales this year. We're selling 20 to 25 units a month which is up from around 5 to 7 last year".

It is a similar story in some parts of Spain.

"Last year we sold two houses all year, in 2011 we have sold two already", says Tina Quilter, director of Spanish Management, an agency selling on the Costa del Sol. "There seems to be a feeling of 'let?s do something now', people are fed up with the bad news and seem to want to get on with it," she says.

Even in Egypt, a number of agents are reporting strong sales despite the recent political turmoil.
Peter Mitry, director of Egypt Real says he has had a record-breaking February:

"We have sold at least an apartment a day since the crisis began. We sell property for ?11,000 to ?12,000 over the phone so it is a low risk decision for people to make. Higher-priced property sales where people have to travel to purchase have been affected but our low-price telephone strategy has generated a 400% increase in revenues compared to last year".

Are these isolated incidents or is it part of wider industry trend? The traffic figures from one international property portal suggests it maybe the latter.

"Traffic figures across the network of portals managed by Lead Galaxy hit over 500,000 users in January" reports director, Dan Johnson. "Traffic to the TheMoveChannel.com [the highest traffic site in the network] is at the highest level since 2007," says Johnson.

The reasons behind the change in buyer sentiment are difficult to gauge but price is undoubtably a key driver.

The majority of investors still see property as a relatively safe long-term investment and a good hedge against inflation. With confidence in the domestic property markets like the UK waning, it maybe that people are finally feeling confident enough to commit to low-entry ticket, high yielding investments abroad.

Let's hope it continues.

"Sticking my neck out a bit, I forecast that 2010 will mark the bottom of this cycle for Spain's residential construction industry. New home construction will start growing again in 2011, albeit weakly and from an exceptionally low base" he says.

"I also expect to start seeing a shortage of new homes that people want at the same time as a glut of new homes nobody wants, because many of the homes built during the boom were poorly conceived (that's what happens during an insane boom). That means opportunities for smart developers who know what they are doing".

With opaque property pricing, a disfunctional mortgage market and media coverage of property developers leaving buyers high and dry still fresh in the mind, 2011 is unlikely to bring huge changes of fortune for most in our industry.

However, land prices always fall quicker and faster than property values and construction tends to recover before residential demand. Mark Stucklin is probably right, 2011 could be the year we see green shoots start to emerge in Spanish construction.

Polaris World, which narrowly avoided insolvency last year, plans to add 400 units to its vast property portfolio while One Lake Argos promises 500 "ultra-modern detached homes" in a near-by nature reserve.

The announcements come hot on the heals of new government figures (Formento) that show planning approvals are down 18% compared to the same period last year and are 90% lower than in 2006.

Part of the reason for the optimism of the Polaris World and One Lake Argos is arguably the construction of Europe's largest theme park in Murcia by Paramount Pictures which is estimated will create 20,000 jobs and around three million tourists a year.

However, Chris Mercer director of local agent/developer Camposol Golf, believes the developers may have jumped the gun.

"This huge tourist attraction hasn't even broken ground, the masterplan yet to be revealed, and realistically is several years from making a real impact.. [Currently] there is little demand for off-plan property and in fact we haven't sold one in around two years. My concern is that the Paramount Theme Park has, in part, prompted the decision to launch these new builds and we may be just a little premature".

According to Carlos Paton, a lawyer in Spain, there are a number of complex measures which non-residents must go through when looking to offload their property.

Writing for Lawdit, Mr Paton explained that foreign buyers in the country can expect to receive 97 per cent of the sale price, with the remaining three per cent contributing toward the "Plus Valia capital gains".

"After the completion, the seller independently being resident or non-resident will have to declare before the revenue commission, the revenues obtained from the sale of their dwelling," the legal expert added.

Non-residents will then be required to submit an application within 30 days of the completion date to the Administration Tributaria, declaring the capital gains tax.

Figures released by Primelocation International show that Spain is now the most searched for country for foreign property. Over the past year, enquiries for property in the European country jumped by 43 per cent and Les Calvert, director of Property-Abroad.com, believes that this is a result of the growing number of repossessed homes now available on the market. "In Spain you have got an abundance of repossessed properties that the banks are now forced to get rid of. Interest in Spain will continue to dominate the searches and will push the likes of America out of the road." he confirmed.

The three-month Euribor, which is the main indicator of market expectations, has risen 20% since September; whilst these increases seem to have stabilised the general view is that both 3 month and other corresponding Euribors will continue to edge up.

Until there is a more settled economic outlook for Europe and the cost of buying funds reduces, due to growing confidence in each other, the Interbank rates are likely to continue to reflect an upward curve.

For buyers in Spain who require a Spanish mortgage this could be a good time to take a medium term fixed rate with 3 to 5 years seeming to be the best bets. Most banks have increased their fixed rates for the month of December and some now look decidedly unattractive; there however remains some good deals on offer, subject to perhaps compromising on loan to values and the requirement to take other compulsory products.