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Guide to Spanish Cities

Introduction

Spain remains the most popular destination for British buyers of overseas property, despite the scandals that have rocked the property industry on the Costas and the fact that the housebuilding industry in Spain has endured a torrid time on the stock markets in recent months. A natural consequence of this continued popularity is that buyers are constantly looking to find the next area for growth, and have started to turn their attention to Spain’s cities.

The region

While property in the major cities of Madrid and Barcelona are still popular, there are some exciting investment opportunities in the regional capitals around Spain, both for those looking for a holiday home to get away from the UK to better weather and a better lifestyle, and for those looking an investment opportunity that will offer returns that few other locations in Spain can in a mature market.

The market for city properties differs significantly from what you will find in the UK, and even from what you will find elsewhere in mainland Europe. On top of this it is a situation that is changing rapidly as the social structure of Spain’s cities and towns adapts to the changing demands of the population.

Much of the Spanish population are only second or third generation town and city dwellers, and traditionally, young people have lived near to or in the family home until marriage, unlike the trend in modern times in the UK for the young to leave home at the earliest opportunity.

Thus, there are less young people resident in city centres in Spain than might be expected compared with the UK. The city-dwelling population tends towards professionals and office workers, though as the youth begin to venture more into moving around to university and jobs at a younger age, there are beginning to be more and more properties and developments targeted at the younger market.

On top of this social change, many Spanish cities have seen radical redevelopment and regeneration in conjunction with events and inward investment as a spur to growth. The trend was started with the Olympics coming to Barcelona in 1992, followed by the arrival of a Guggenheim museum in the previously industrial city of Bilbao on the Atlantic coast. More recently, 2007 saw Valencia benefit from hosting the Americas Cup.

There has also been a marked benefit from government projects for regeneration in other Spanish cities. Murcia is seeing a boom in building and student accommodation through the conversion of its military airport facilities into full international commercial operations. Likewise, Alicante, Almeria and Malaga are also seeing more interest in their property markets as buyers seek opportunities near the international airports.

Climate

Spread across the Iberian peninsular, the climates of Spain's regional cities varies from the wet and temperate northern coasts of Galicia to the semi-arid heat of the southern cities.

More pages

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Getting there

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