Owners of exotic pets in Andalucia have until October this year to get rid of them, under a new law that will prohibit crocodiles or large reptiles, monkeys, spiders or poisonous insects, and lions - to name just a few of the banned animals, birds and reptiles - being kept as personal pets. The new law also contains clauses pertaining to the so-called dangerous breeds. The owners of pit bull terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers, the American Stafforshhire, rottweilers, Argentinean dogos, Brazilian filas, Tosa Inus, Akita Inus and Dobermans will have to carry their dogs' documentation when walking them in public places. The dogs will have to wear muzzles and be on leashes less than one metre in length. The dogs will not be allowed to enter any place where there are children. Malaga is the Andalucian province which has the most dangerous dogs registered. Source: towncrier.es

2/18/2008

A tiny abandoned village in Castilla y León, just off the N-122 northeast of Soria, has been up for sale on the Web, where the seller was offering the entire hamlet – 6,000 square metres of rustic land with three houses, a church and livestock enclosures - for the princely sum of 48,080 €. There is no water or electricity, but the owner said a high tension line is just a kilometre away, and plenty of water to allow a well to be dug. No-one has lived in Conejares for more than 70 years.

It prompted an avalanche of enquiries, and on-line discussions with ideas ranging from creating an agrarian cooperative to getting together a group of 50 people to invest in Conejares and repopulate the village.

The owner recently removed the advert from the web page which published the sale, and now another family say they always thought that two of the ruined buildings belonged to them. Source: 20minutos.es

2/13/2008

Malaga's College of Architects has warned that the Junta de Andalucia's Territorial Plan will limit the growth of small towns in Malaga province. The plan limits urban growth to 30% over the next eight years and a College spokesman said towns of less than 10,000 inhabitants would "never be able to grow". He said the plan would not stop the movement of people from the countryside to the city - which is one of the Junta's aims - but would in fact increase it. Source: towncrier.es

2/11/2008

A recent survey has shown that the popularity of the bullfight has dropped from 55% of the population in 1971 to 27% last October. It also showed that 17% of young people under 25 and just over 16% of those aged 25 to 34 are interested in bullfights, while 41% of those aged 64 or older are regulars at the corrida. Of those who said they were not interested at all, nearly 80% were women. While the figures show there are fewer aficionados, bullfighters are earning more money, mainly in the south of France which is becoming a kind of last refuge for them. However, the French government is considering following the example of Catalonia and the Basque Country, where minors under 14 and 16 respectively are not allowed to attend bullfights. Source: towncrier.es

2/6/2008

Traditionally, foreigners in Spain hurry to get to the beach and the sun. For those who like the inland quiteness, Galicia has lots to offer. 123propertyspain.com has the exclusive sales rights for some century old very interesting buildings.

1. Traditional water mill made of country stone with the characteristical elements of the services these mills were used for in rural life. It is a main building with an habitable surface for two floors of 80 m2, the large stones which used to grind the grain are still conserved. All this is in the middle of a plot of land of 10.000 m2, bordering along the river for 90 metres. At 3 km from the main town which has schools, shops, medical services etc.
http://www.123propertyspain.com/propertydetails.asp?id=8825

2. This property is an extraordinary opportunity above all for a rural tourism business, it borders with the famous foot path of St.James Way. It is a group of buildings constructed in country stone, formed by a building used as a home with a surface of 200 sq m in two floors with some barns. The distance from Santiago de Compostela Airport is 60 km and 30 km from Lugo, very important when thinking in capturing clients.
http://www.123propertyspain.com/propertydetails.asp?id=8824

1/18/2008

A vast Las Vegas-style casino and theme park complex is to be built in a Spanish desert after the regional government in Aragon approved the 18 billion euro project in november 2007.

The casino "city", to be built on 2000 hectares over the next decade in eastern Spain, will include 32 hotels, five theme parks and, in a Las Vegas touch, may even feature "wedding chapels" to encourage honeymoon tourism. Plans also include a stadium and a conference centre. This being Spain, a bullring is envisaged, too.

"This is going to be a new version of Las Vegas in Europe" said a spokesman for Aristocrat Technologies, an Australian gaming company involved in the project. "It’s going to bring lots of jobs. Disneyland Paris will be tiny in comparison."

The beige desert landscape may be reminiscent of Las Vegas but Zaragoza is only a two-hour flight from Stansted airport, near London, and the resort could attract millions of Britons, particularly after plans for a gambling expansion in Britain were placed in doubt by a review that Gordon Brown has ordered into plans for a Manchester "super-casino".

1/15/2008

The Andalusian Regional Government "Junta de Andalucía" will approve the new decree for building permissions near golf courses end of february, after a 2 year delay.

With future golf courses, it will be allowed to develop urbanisations with as main requirement: omit overconstruction.

The most important novelty is that it will be allowed to construct near new golf courses while earlier it was communicated that that would not be the case.

Member op Parliament Gaspar Zarrías stated: "Our aim is that Andalusia will have the best golf courses in Europe."

1/12/2008

Over the past five years Spain has been building homes at a rate of around 800,000 per year. That's more than the combined total for Britain, France and Germany! That is an astonishing figure.

The Spanish building industry is now predicting that over the next five years this figure will fall by nearly 50% to around 450,000 units per year. The knock on effect, as we are already seeing, is the loss of jobs in the building and real estate sector.

We have already seen some of the major estate agents and developers making huge changes in order to reduce internal costs and become more efficient. This has lead to some major concerns for off plan buyers wondering if their development will ever be finished hoping the developer doesn't go bust. We have seen this happening already.

We think 2008 will follow a similar trend to last year with buyers exercising a lot more caution during the buying process. They will be carrying out a lot more research and be less likely to be pressurised into buying anything. (Source: www.eyeonspain.com)

1/9/2008

The Spanish Ministry of Environment will buy fincas on the coastal areas on the Balearic Islands for a total amount of 12 millions of euros. The aim is to prevent further construction and to protect the land as nature reserve. This way the government is looking to it that the area stays attractive to tourists and so promotes quality tourism in the area. The tourist sector is the main source of income on the islands. Thwe ministry bought already El Mercadal en Menorca, finca Ses Feixes on Ibiza and some other not named property.

1/7/2008

From 1995 to 2005 the spanish property prices were rising with 193% (source: BNP Paribas). The last few years this is cooling down. In 2003 it was still 15,8% and in 2004 the prices were rising with 12,5% and it slowed further down. The last ciphers from the Ministry of Housing in september 2007 indicate a price rise of 5,3% over the whole year.

The reason for this slowdown is the enthousiasm of the spanish developers who built too much the past years. The developers are now lowering their prices to compete with the resale market. This makes that Spain will be a buyer’s market in 2008. It is widely expected prices will start to rise again after 2008.

12/21/2007

The province of Albacete is one of the lesser known regions in Spain. Few foreigners get to this beatiful area full of olive trees and countryside peace. This in no way means it is a remote area. The Costa Blanca and Valencia are only a little more than an hour away.

From 35.000 euros a villagehouse or a little farm can be found. For those who want to live the real spain but have a lower budget, this is an excellent opportunity.

Thanks to a new partner of our real estate portal, we now offer a selection of properties in this area. If you don't find immediately what you are looking for, contact us and our partner will actively look for your desired property.

http://www.123propertyspain.com/search.asp?pid=albacete

12/19/2007

Following a verdict from the European Court, Spain had to change its Capital Gains Law. Since 1st january 2007 the percentage for non-residents was changed from 35% to 18% to get the same percentage as the residents.

Another new law, the "Tax Fraud Prevention Law" makes that sellers and buyers now need a Fiscal Identification Number for property transactions.

11/30/2007

123propertyspain.com is an initiative of several independent Spanish real estate agents presenting their properties in a simple, concise manner.

After a long selection of trustworthy partners there are already more than 4.000 properties for sale published, covering all popular Spanish Costas.

All agencies have years of experience and are specialised in their specific area of the market.

11/17/2007