WHERE SPAIN’S NEW RESIDENTS STAY

Urbanisations

Spain is a land of urbanisations, which is a continental name for housing estates. They may line the beach, be in the country, attached to towns, villages or resorts, they may be on flat land, on hills or around sporting facilities such as golf courses. They can be high-density estates of identical white properties, or small individual developments of big detached houses spread over a hillside. More likely, they will be various combinations in between.

A property on an urbanisation is easy to buy and maintain having all the necessary facilities, ready-made social contacts and greater security than a detached home in a more remote location. Disadvantages can be the inflexible and restrictive community rules, difficult neighbours, a lack of privacy and a lack of control over the future of a development.

Life on an urbanisation can, however, be popular whatever the type of house. Sitting by the swimming pool meeting new friends, passing the time of day with a glass of wine in hand is an agreeable way of life. Little Spanish is spoken. Sharing experiences bonds the community together. Informal groupings take place. Golfing partners come together. Coffee mornings just happen. Family problems are shared. The siesta is forgotten as people assemble in the local bar to escape the searing heat of the afternoon sun. Life is easy. However it is very important for mind and body to stay active or a slow soporific mental decline may occur.

Some urbanisations are closed communities where people meet up at night and know each other’s business. Others are less intrusive. Some are entirely of one nationality while others are more mixed. In some, most of the residents are elderly. Some urbanisations are a group of holiday homes scarcely having any permanent residents and becoming virtual ghost towns in winter. Standards of behaviour need to be set. An urbanisation is a community by itself, where the level is set by the standard of the lowest.

The prevalence of urbanisations is due to the popularity of living in planned communities that provide shared facilities such as swimming pools, on-site parking, maintenance, electronic entry and exit gates, cable television and year-round landscaping. Such communities, mostly of apartments, offer the newcomer from northern Europe a much easier lifestyle than buying and maintaining a private house and garden. Estate agents project their advertising to attract buyers, many of whom prefer these advantages plus the additional factor of being able to communicate easily with others of a similar background and shared language. Although urbanisations exist for Spaniards there is a tendency for each national group to congregate.

Community property

A community property is one that involves homes with a shared element. An example would be apartments or a grouping of individual homes. Urbanisations have a shared element in the swimming pool or gardens. Apartments have a shared element in the lift. Detached properties may have a shared access road.

The cost of maintaining these elements is shared between the owners. The most expensive shared element is normally a swimming pool, followed by gardens and satellite TV. Spanish town hall services are limited, with elements such as street cleaning part of the community costs.

A comunidad de propietarios can be run by an independent company on behalf of the owners or, in a well organised community, by the owners themselves. Germans have a talent for this, the Spanish an eye for detail, the Scandinavians laid back. The British and Irish seem happy to leave it to others. Annual meetings are certainly long and sometimes argumentative as many nationalities, resident and non-resident, seek to have a voice. There is a Spanish law that surrounds communities. It has a strange title – the Law of Horizontal Property.

By the sea

This is a pleasant experience with cool afternoon breezes taking the sting out of the searing summer heat. But nearly all Mediterranean towns are tourist areas. In July and August with temperatures around 30°C, people pour in on package holidays. Spaniards too have their summer holiday then, as they rush to the coast in their thousands from the torrid heat of the big cities. For two frustrating months beaches are packed, roads jammed, car parks full and tempers frayed.

Mention should be made of Spain’s ‘Law of the Coasts’ which empowers local authorities to restrict the number, height and density of buildings within 100 metres of the high water mark and to establish a zone of influence as far inward as one kilometre. Despite this, properties continue to be built close to beaches. They do, however, command a hefty premium, the price only kept low by high density designs.

In the country

Living in the country has many attractions and is more like living in the real Spain. Large plots of land give peace, with privacy assured.

Neighbours, although far apart, are normally friendly. Some of these properties have no electricity, no water, no sewage disposal, no gas and no telephone. All can be compensated for by other means. Electricity can be supplied by a generator, or by solar panels. Water can be delivered by tanker or from a well. A septic tank takes care of sewage. Gas can be supplied in bottles. Communications can be by mobile or radio telephone and internet.

Many country properties are large and set in beautiful locations –often at the end of a pot-holed dirt track. When it rains the dirt track turns into mud and a 4x4 is necessary just to reach the house.

Inland

Living inland is a balance. It gives access to both coast and mountains; a view of the Med and the smell of the country. The best of both worlds, as many people are starting to realise. Inland properties normally cost less than coastal properties, but things are changing with inland property values now increasing at a faster rate as people discover the real secret of Spanish living.

What do people really buy?

People moving to Spain for the first time often purchase a new property near the coast from an international property company of some repute, giving a sense of security in a country where the customs and laws are unfamiliar to the purchaser. There may well be an 18-month wait for the property, which can be built to standard or individual design and is usually located on an urbanisation. This type of purchase is simple, with no debt issues to worry about. The property company is on hand to deal with any outstanding problems.

In many parts of the country a resale property is a common purchase. Slightly older properties in mature areas where new buildings are not so prevalent are an attractive proposition away from the concrete, the coastal hustle and bustle. People have in mind life in a rural town or on an individual plot thus avoiding the disadvantages of an urbanisation. They seek to blend into Spain.

Discerning buyers look for something unique, something different. They are in the minority. They know the country well. They understand its culture, customs and procedures. They may have lived in Spain for a few years or may be buying a second house inland. Buying a plot of land, a ruin for renovation or perhaps building your own, are all possibilities.

SELECTING THE CORRECT LOCATION

Although it is easy to choose a region of Spain that is attractive, deciding on a particular town, village, development or hillside involves a whole series of much more individual choices. The key to a successful property purchase is definitely its location. It is by far the most important decision to be made. Location will also be a major factor in the price paid for a property. A villa by a golf course will cost far more than an apartment inland.

Age comes into it too! A spectacular mountain track that provides the only access to a restored farmhouse may seem an attraction when in full health, but is not so good 20 years later in poor health. Access to public transport and medical services will become more important too and the closeness of other ex-pats, who were avoided in earlier years, may become more comforting.

Some basic questions have to be asked.

• How far away from the summer crowd do you really want to be? Tourist towns can become massively crowded. If you do not want this, look away from the beach and go inland. Most people find a 30-minute drive to a reasonably sized town convenient.
• You may wish your property to be close to local shops, bars and restaurants, public transport, a good beach, golf and other sports facilities, arts and entertainment.
• Is the choice city, rural life or perhaps Green Spain?
• Do you seek a remote location? This can be a problem. Where are the nearest bus, coach and train services? How good are the roads? How easy is it to connect to the motorway network?
• How many local facilities stay open in the winter? This is particularly important if you are considering moving to a tourist area where there is a great difference between high and low season.
• Is being close to beach and holiday entertainment important? If that’s what you want, then look no further than the Mediterranean Costas and the two groups of islands, the Balearics and the Canaries.
• How much sun do you need? For reliable mainland sunshine stay south of Valencia or in the Canaries.
• How close to neighbours do you want to be? So many Spanish properties are in apartment blocks or on a high-density urbanisation. In some holiday home urbanisations, no neighbours exist at all for long periods.
• How close do you really want to be to compatriots? There are British communities that allow their inhabitants to isolate themselves from every aspect of Spanish life. On the other hand there are towns and villages just inland with smaller, more mixed, foreign communities.
• Do you have any special outside interests or hobbies and are they catered for in this location? What is the social life like in the area and will it suit you?