Aid not needed in Spain. A vote of confidence?

April 13, 2011 – 12:25 pm

“I don’t believe that the Spanish government needs any type of financial aid,” Strauss-Kahn said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The comments will be seen as a vote of confidence that austerity measures imposed by Madrid could be working. The IMF is a key body monitoring Europe’s debt-laden economies.

“We have not received any request for help from the Spanish government,” Mr Strauss-Kahn said.

“I believe that the policies that the Spanish government has implemented, as much on the fiscal side as in the reform of pensions, the labour market or in banking, are the correct policies,” he continued.

Source: BBC

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Inspirational, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Mediterranean diet habits getting lost in Tenerife and Canary isles

March 8, 2011 – 1:06 pm

Lack of exercise and the Mediterranean diet is causing obesity in Tenerife and the Canary Islands

The benefits of the Mediterranean Diet are well known, but it seems that the habits of generations are being lost in Andalucía, where now one in three children is overweight or obese. It is, along with the Canaries, the Spanish region to suffer this public health problem the most, and the situation is not much better for adults either where 15% of andaluces are above their ideal weight, and where a growth in the numbers of 2% a year is being seen, according to the Integral Plan against Child Obesity from the Junta de Andalucía.

Their latest studies show one of the main causes, children are not going out to play or take part in sports as before, with some of them not taking even 1,000 steps a day. There is an economic element too, with children from poorer families more likely to suffer obesity.

70% of people in Andalucía don’t do any exercise after work, and many that do only do so on doctors’ orders, when the damage has already been done. As one specialist put it, ‘You see people running in the parks, but they are always the same people’. A gentle walk for an hour a day is calculated to result in a weight loss of 7.3 kilos at the end of the year.

A recent study quoted by El País compared the diet of a child in El Palo, the fishing quarter of Málaga, with that of a child in Liverpool, and there was little difference. No longer it seems are the children in Andalucía being fed the beans, vegetables, fruit and olive oil of before. Instead they are becoming increasingly at risk from type II diabetes.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

A good time to buy in Tenerife and Spain?

July 11, 2010 – 12:00 pm
A good time to buy property again in Tenerife, Spain and the Canary Isles.

A good time to buy property again in Tenerife, Spain and the Canary Isles.

Is now a good time to buy property in Spain and Tenerife? The current Minister of Housing says yes, the former Minister says no.

Beatriz Corredor, the current Minister for Housing, recently said in an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais that now is an “optimum” time to buy a home in Spain. “We have a huge selection, low interest rates…..The fiscal and financial situation means that now is an optimum time (to buy).”

True, she was talking about primary residencies, not holiday homes. Even so, I’m sure she would argue that now is a great time to buy any kind of property in Spain. She was responding to the following question from El Pais:

“Your predecessor María Antonia Trujillo told El Pais on Wednesday that she wouldn’t buy a flat now, that prices should fall from the peak between 30% and 50%….What do you make of her comments?” Her predecessor  doesn’t think this is a good time to buy. “I’ve been looking to buy for three years. I would not buy now,” she told El Pais, also saying she hopes prices correct (by up to 50%) “as soon as possible”. Trujillo, who was Housing Minister from 2004-2007, is free to speak her mind, unlike the current Minister, whose job it is to talk up the market.

So, who is right? Corredor, the current Minister, or Trujillo, her predecessor? Is now a good time to buy a home in Spain? There is no doubt that now is the best time in years for cash buyers. Prices in coastal areas have fallen by up to 50% (or more), there is more choice than ever, and cash buyers can find good value for money (and a lot of over-priced rubbish too).  The economic situation is still dire, and prices might fall even further, especially for Spain’s glut of undesirable property. We  don’t think prices for prime and A-grade Spanish property are going to fall much further, so Corredor is probably right if you look just at these segments. Trujilllo may be right when it comes to the rest of the market.

The worst time to buy was during the boom, when prices went through the roof, quality crashed through the floor as the economy strained to build too many houses, and every cowboy ever born jumped into the business looking for easy money, financing wasn’t a problem then.

Are cash buyers looking for prime and A-grade property in a better position now? Certainly, so if you are planning that purchase in Tenerife, Spain or the other Canary Isles, now may well be THE time!

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Spain’s property recovery begins

April 3, 2010 – 10:01 am
Spain's property on the rise again?

Spain's property on the rise again?

The Spanish property market’s recovery has begun! That’s how some leading daily papers like El Pais are interpreting the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) showing the market grew ever so slightly in January. The market appears to have found a floor, which is an improvement on the 2 years plus of monthly declines we had before.

The figures for January from the INE show that, excluding social housing, there were exactly 34,000 sales in January, up 1.4% over 12 months. A year-on-year increase of 1.4% is no big deal, but it’s a much needed respite when it is the first time in 3 years that the market has actually grown. And it’s difficult to dismiss it as a one off, because it is clear that the market has now found a floor around 30,000 transactions/month.

But, of course, we have to keep in mind that the market in January was 56% smaller than it was in January 2007, when it stood at 77,400 sales/ month. So a year on year improvement is good news, but peak-to-trough the Spanish property market is still just a shadow of its former self. If you dig into the figures you find that most of the improvement is now coming from resales, not new builds. New build sales kept the market from total annihilation last year.

A lot of the improvement came from big cities like Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid, whereas sales continued falling in popular coastal regions like Malaga (Costa del Sol) and the Canaries, particularly Tenerife bucked this trend. So, when it comes to holiday homes, the market in many areas is still shrinking.

By Angela | Posted in Economy, General, Health, Holiday, Inspirational, Miscellaneous Articles, Property, Tenerife, Things to Do, Uncategorized, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)