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Spain

After four years of lessons and considerable help from his neighbours, Forster felt that his Spanish was good enough to open his own shop, which serves Brits and Spaniards in equal measure. Based on the equation that you need to multiply your required income by 25, £1 million will give you £40,000. British Consulate Bruce McIntyre says it is estimated that there are over one million British expatriates living in Spain. But on Dec 16 a policeman came to the door with a demolition order.“Even as late as Tuesday we were reassured by our legal team that the demolition will not go ahead as it was against the Spanish constitution,” Mrs Prior said. Despite the fact that the demolitions may still go ahead, many locals are viewing the suspension as a reprieve. Every year over two million British tourists come to Málaga and 350,000 Britons are believed to live along Spain’s Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca alone.“This is an exciting development for the expanding British Community in Spain.” McIntyre said. Far removed from the British enclaves on the coast, many of these latest settlers are becoming involved with their adopted villages to an extent their predecessors never dreamt of. For the first time, Spanish politicians are starting to court the British vote in local elections. Four other districts in the city showed a drop in excess of one percent, those being Ciutat Vella, Eixample, Sant Martí and Horta Guinardó. In the last 10 years over 75,000 British pensioners moved here. It is not hard to see why, 40 years on, Spain remains an attractive destination for Britons looking to relocate; the combination of a sunny climate, low cost of living, accessibility and a stable economy drives its appeal. It was introduced in the winter of 1997-8 at a rate of £20 for a single person. It will be a great help for those who are making the transition to Spain from the UK,” said Age Concern board member Sue Mari.The project is a joint co-operation between the British Consulate and Age Concern. Local corruption and the flaunting of planning laws have allowed swathes of the Spanish coastline to be developed during the last decade.Last November Spain’s socialist government vowed to pull down all illegally built property on 480 miles of Mediterranean coastline. Many British homeowners in the area cannot understand the decision, claiming flights between the two airports were always full. Michael Cashman, the Labour MEP who has been defending the fundamental rights of victims of land abuses in several regions of Spain said, “I’m delighted this important resolution has been adopted - with the support of MEPs from all major political parties. Of these foreign residents, nearly 17% (761,000 ) are British nationals the majority of whom are based in the traditional coastal resorts of the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca. Only a million square metres of that will be land, and the remainder will be canals and channels. Property will include apartments and villas, with the smallest apartments measuring 40 square metres – enough for holiday use and costing from 300,000 Euros. Ryanair led the way carrying 5.4 million passengers followed by easyJet with 4.2 million. Solar energy and desalination facilities will keep the island supplied with power and water. Spain’s 1988 Ley de Costas, which governs building around the coastline, expressly forbids the extension of land into the sea, which La Luna de Valencia will do. Tales of people who’ve already made the move and TV programmes making it look easy encourage others to follow suit. That figure is rising by 15 to 20 per cent a year. The dream of a new life in the sun can be very alluring. The figures also show that seven out of every ten people who move to Spain fall in love with the country so much that they decide to stay.“There are obvious reasons why Spain is so popular,” says Ian Smith, head of European operations for Halifax. The MEPs also called on Spain and its regional governments, particularly the government of the Valencia region, to recognise the individual’s legitimate right to legally acquired property. The most exclusive area of the city, Sarrià- Sant Gervasi, reported the lowest fall at a figure of 0.2%. The pretty Andalusian village where he has settled is a 40-minute drive from the coast – or will have been had I been able to find the winding road to it on my map. The ratio is now higher than France, Germany or Britain. The results placed the average price per square meter of property in Barcelona at 4,285 euros (£2901) compared to 4,888 euros (£3309) as shown in the same report for the first quarter of this year. The UK Foreign Office works under the assumption that more than 1 million Britons are living most or all of the year in Spain – a huge number in a country of 45 million people. Their new four-bedroom villa was completed in Jan 2003.According to the local planning office, the proposed route of the AVE high-speed rail link was made public in Dec 2001, four months before the Kaletas were given permission to build. There will also be parallel compensation negotiations with landowners and property developers. Unfortunately, as a report by Overseas Property Professional (OPP) explained, “bad financial planning means that many of these retirees find themselves in dire straits. We can end up with nothing.”Spain: Almeria Dream Home Demolished12 January, 2008 | Spain | 2 commentsA British couple living in Spain have become the first expatriates to see their home demolished reported The Telegraph. We will continue to fight until the issue is resolved - through the courts if necessary. While prices fell in all areas covered by the survey, the Les Corts district showed the most dramatic drop of 3.2%. While Spain may be cheaper than the UK in many ways, it is still one of the “more expensive” countries to retire to. With this initiative they hope to be able to meet the demands of the growing number of British tourists and residents in Spain.