LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTORS FOR TV PROGRAMME
We are currently making a programme looking at whether the era of cheap flights is over, with rising fuel costs and the credit crunch making it impossible for families to go on holiday on a budget. Also how is this affecting those with 2nd holiday homes in Spain? We are looking for contributors who are either 2nd home owners who have seen the prices of their flights shoot up with hidden charges and fuel surcharges or a family who want to go away this year but do not know how they are going to be able to afford it. Do you think you might be able to help us find people for our programme?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Wishes
Mary Nash
mary.nash@itv.com
Telephone: 0207 156 6011
BUYING IN SPAIN – HOW WAS IT FOR YOU, DARLING?
Can you remember what you were doing when you first thought of owning your own piece of Spain? Were you inspired by someone who had already done so? Perhaps on a rainy windswept day you opted for one of those properties abroad exhibitions which captivated and reassured you? For others it will have happened as they sat at home, leafed through brochures, sipped their wine and talked it through together.
It was a priceless moment when it suddenly occurred to you that you could cross the fantasy bridge and turn your dreams into reality?
It is a wonderful experience through which every emotion; fear to hopeful anticipation suffuses the senses like the after-glow from a heady wine. Some describe their purchase as the ultimate white knuckle ride. This is where apprehension descends into fear and morphs into exhilaration.
I remember asking a delightful couple how they felt when, after making the decision to buy, watched the paper-chase commence? Sarah laughed. “We were looking cool but underneath the desk we were holding each others hands till it hurt.”
THE ORGANISER OF THE ESCAPE COMMITTEE
After introducing myself as the Organiser of the Escape Committee I remind clients there are three big things that happen in our lives. Our career, our partner, and the home we will buy.
It is a big decision. 70% of fed up Britons have a home in Spain at the top of their wish list yet only 7% will actually achieve their dream. Reassuringly 91.3% of buyers will be happy they did so.
It does take courage and many of those who don’t buy simply lack confidence. Often one is keen but the other won’t budge; objections are raised. How often have I heard it said, ’We could have bought this fantastic property but I couldn’t convince her/him. You know what they are going for now?”
DON’T ASK
Eight years ago we were selling delightful semi-detached two-bed bungalows for just £56,000, yet many potential buyers held back. You want to know what they are going for now? Don’t ask.
There are two kinds of people. Those who say look before you leap. Others who say he who hesitates is lost. Caution is a good emotion. It stops us doing foolish things, hurting ourselves. Sadly it is a two-edged sword and as often deprives us of opportunity.
Everyone is different. I recall strolling with a developer’s agent when our conversation was interrupted by his mobile phone ringing. He took the call after which he pointed to a building phase. “See the top row?” I nodded. “The client on the phone; he has just bought the lot.”
BEATS BUYING LOTTERY TICKETS
At the other end of the scale many spend years browsing web sites, reading brochures or visiting exhibitions. They tie themselves in knots and indecision translates into failure. People will buy a lottery ticket and dream of how they will spend their millions though the chance of their winning is 1/100,000,000. Yet they will manana-manana over a Mediterranean home and lifestyle when the chance of success is 91%/100%.
Browsing on-line or through brochures is a ritual but very few buy a property they identified as ‘perfect‘ in the brochure. A friend at the heart of the industry for many years says, “Of hundreds of properties sold I recall only seven who bought a property picked from a brochure.”
Is it a joint decision? Only if buying meat. Otherwise it is the lady who gives the nod at which point he who wears the trousers turns to the company rep and declares boldly: ‘It’s a done deal.’
Dermot McLaughlin is managing director of southerncomfit.com
SPAIN’S SHAMEFUL SECRET by Mike Walsh
Quivering Quavers
Spaniards should stop reading right here for their shameful secret is out. Get ready to compose yourself. Their national soul music plucks heartstrings as it does guitar strings but alarmingly it inspires non-Spaniards to get their plectrums out and do even better. Well they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
The evening sun settles over Seville’s Plaza de Espana; life is idyllic but there’s something missing, which you cannot fathom. Suddenly you hear the melancholy melody of a guitar and the missing link is discovered. Your head swims with delight to Sueno en la Floresta (Dreams in the Magic Garden). As T.S Elliot observed: ‘Music heard so deeply / That it is not heard at all, but you are the music / While the music lasts.’
IBERIAN ROMANCE
This incomparable beautiful evocation of Iberian charm was composed by the Paraguayan, Agustin Barrios Mangore whom John Williams described as the greatest guitarist of all time. Others might say it is equalled by contemporary English composer Richard Harvey whose Antico for Guitar frequently tops the most requested Spanish dream music.
Little conjures up the vibrancy of the Spanish spirit than does Espana, composed by Frenchman Emanuel Chabrier after his return from a visit to Spain. The French love affair with their Spanish neighbour gave us Bolero. It caught the world’s imagination when skaters Torvill and Dean used it underscore their Olympian ice-drama in 1984.. This soft to frenzied musical drama with its heart-stopping finale was composed by George Bizet.
It was the same French composer who created Carmen, arguably the world’s most loved opera; a passionate musical reflecting the anguish of Andalucian romance, pathos and murder. His compatriot Jules Massenet’s Meditation captivates us all but almost as well known, his opera El Cid based on Spain’s revered military hero.
THOSE SUN BEDS AGAIN
Just as the German-Austrians commandeer our sun beds they are adept at grabbing the best tunes. Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro was set in Seville; his Don Giovanni was based on the exploits of Spain’s own Casanova, Don Juan. At any Spanish music extravaganza Johann Strauss Jnr gets them off their seats and into the foot-tapping aisles with his Spanischer Marsch.
Passionate love and revenge fuel the drama of opera. Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was inspired by a Spanish play when he created The Force of Destiny. Rossini, another Italian put northern competitors in their place with his Barber of Seville.
PLAYING SECOND FIDDLE?
The Russians won’t play second fiddle to anyone either. Who can leave the castanets in the drawer when the first chords of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol lift the casa rafters? Then there’s fellow Russian Peter Tchaikovsky with his mesmerising heel-tapping hand-clapping Spanish Dance in the ballet The Nutcracker. The father of Russian classical music Mikhael Glinka composed the embodiment of Spanish musical spirit with his Summer Night in Madrid.
Could it be that without any Spanish intervention there will always be Spanish music to enjoy? Everyone wants to be Spanish; it is the way it has always been, so it wasn’t a British invention after all.
Talking of which the Spaniards might respond by reminding us that the names of England’s greatest composers are hardly English sounding. Fritz Delius and George Handel (German), Gustav von Holst (Swedish), and of course the epitome of English jingoistic music, Edward Elgar..
Oh, if Ralph Vaughan Williams had only composed The Spanish Lark Ascending life would be complete. Touche. (Trust the French to get the last word in).
CANADA TARGETS BRITISH EMIGRANTS by Mike Walsh
Will Spain Lose Out?
The British presence in Spain is not without flaws but if good is weighed against bad then the British community‘s contribution is of Klondike proportions. Its impact on Mediterranean Spain is not unlike its earlier influence upon ‘The New World’; Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The prosperity that came with the pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit of previous generations of fed-up Brits was immense.
Spain isn’t a case of the British cuckoo settling into the Spanish nest. The land mass is four times that of England; the population 35% less. There is plenty of space to be taken advantage of without encroachment.
Because of British and northern European ‘colonisation‘ and tourism, inter-connected towns and expanding cities, each with essential infrastructure, now blossom from Gibraltar to Valencia, throughout the Costa Brava to Barcelona.
OTHERS PLAY CATCH-UP
It gives an idea of the wealth and opportunity created if one compares the southern coasts of Spain with the relatively undeveloped coastal regions of other Mediterranean countries. Many have been slow to see the advantages of people wealth.
Today, Italy, Romania, Cyprus and Bulgaria chase Spain’s treasure. The hard working emigrants and free-spending retirees of northern Europe are an asset. They bring with them an educated transfusion of skills, drive and opportunity.
The two communities complement each other; almost like husband and wife. Brits adore the Spanish lifestyle, culture and its climate.. The young value the opportunities. In return the welcoming Spanish are not unappreciative of the employment and wealth the mutual love affair has brought to their country.
WILL SPAIN LOSE OUT?
Now, in hot pursuit of people-power Canada is muscling in on Britain’s woeful lack of opportunity. Competing with Spain the more vibrant north Americans have introduced a fast-track immigration visa system to lure the cream of Britain’s workforce. A Canadian Province’s Minister of Employment is leading the great ‘hand-grab’.
A national tabloid recently described the Canadian emigrant-chasing initiative as, ‘The most audacious recruitment raids since Australia poached a million Britons - known as the Ten-Pound Poms after the single ticket price they paid - in the 1950s and 60s.’ We all know how they super-charged the Australian economy. The UK never did recover from the haemorrhage of hard-working talent.
UK ALARM BELLS CLANGING
Alarm bells are ringing throughout the UK. Local authorities, the NHS and other services essential to the country’s infrastructure are expressing concern at key workers being seduced by the Canadian soft-sell.
A British Medical Association spokesperson says, “Potentially Canada’s gain is the UK’s loss because we will lose highly trained and skilled doctors.‘
The haemorrhage could be unstoppable and infinitely a death blow to a nation already losing an estimated 200,000 tax payers a year.
Worse, because of its virtual open door policy Britain is further burdened by an artificially young immigrant population which will translate from dilemma to crisis proportions.
There are many others dependent on various forms of state aid which is made more acute because for immigrants their recent arrival means they have not contributed to the infrastructure. The scales of taxation and dependency are tipping alarmingly.
GO SOUTH, YOUNG MAN
The people-pirates of Canada are quick to make comparisons. They point out that their cost of living is far lower, their health and educational systems are far superior to Britain‘s. For the price of a box-flat in London a young professional can buy a spacious detached villa in its own grounds in Alberta - or in Spain.
Canada ticks a lot of boxes for those desperate to escape the UK weather, its extortionate taxes; the highest cost of living in the western world, and endemic lawlessness.
Spain too needs inward investment to lessen the impact of near recession. Many believe it should be competing with Canada and other countries to encourage high spending, house-buying, hard-working Brits as they seek a new life where their energies and expertise are in demand.
Canada is expecting an influx of 50,000 European immigrants to take advantage of its prosperity. It would not be in Spain’s interest to see young professionals cross the Atlantic in preference to the Bay of Biscay. Spain still joins up more dots than does Canada, but it does need to be pro-active and set its stall out as does Canada. Otherwise England (and Spain’s) loss will be Canada’s gain.
BUYER BEWARE by Mike Walsh
“75% OF BUYERS DUPED”
Necessity being the mother of invention vendors of slow moving housing stock are dreaming up ever more ingenious ways of getting buyers to ‘scratch the pad‘. Under-declaration is established Spanish practice and not necessarily illegal. It can however backfire if buyers are unaware of the risks or unwisely buy without consulting a bona fide property consultant.
For example a property valued at say €200,000 against comparable properties on the same urbanisation is sold at say €160,000. This may be due to a previous buyer pulling out after placing €40,000 on it. So the builder gets his 200K and you get your dream property for 160K. Where’s the catch?
If the buyer sells the property the Spanish Revenue Department will certainly disregard the actual buying price and place his claim on its true market value. The buyer in effect has picked up the builder’s tax bill. This could amount to thousands of euros.
Alicante-based tax specialist Yvonne Hollywood says; “Around 75% of people are unaware of the potential problem; their agent never explained.”
Informed advice is for buyers to engage the services of a properly qualified property consultant. Fiscal representatives won’t necessarily be aware of the risks or sufficiently knowledgeable of the taxation laws to properly advice their client.
CREDIT CRUNCH RENT RELIEF by Mike Walsh
Rent the Credit Crunch to Someone Else
The credit crunch and near parity of the sterling-euro currencies is squeezing ex-pats in a worrying vice-like grip. Is there any relief on the horizon? Many think so and are already surfing a boom in holiday home lets.
Although not exactly a phenomena; holiday lettings in the UK have been popular for nearly a century, self-catering lettings abroad have increased by an impressive 22% over the past five years. Demand is set to accelerate as fashion hitches a ride on tighter budgets brought about by the credit crunch.
The DIY let is perceived as the holiday that ticks more boxes. Hotels, including those catering for package holidays, cannot compete with the holiday home challengers. Some hotels are fighting back by building self-catering chalets in their grounds.
Ross Elder, managing director of brand leader holidaylettings.co.uk says; “Staying in a private holiday home is a phenomena enhanced by greater availability following the boom in holiday home investment. However, the superiority of experience over a hotel or serviced apartment is undeniable.”
GOING NATIVE
The reasons behind the popularity of DIY holiday home lettings was revealed in a recent on-line poll. An impressive 65% value the extra space and freedom; individual bedrooms, private garden and communal pool, easier parking, and lack of chambermaid interruptions. A further 55% said it gave an opportunity to ’go native’; to get to know an area.
Holiday home lets offer a bigger choice of locations than are offered by hotels, which tend to be located in noisy environments. Holiday lets offer excellent value for money for those on tight budgets. Two or three cost sharing couples can take a break in a villa that would normally be beyond their means. Budget airline travel and low cost car rentals have further boosted the holiday genre’s popularity.
55,000 VISITS DAILY
The weakness of the ex-pat community is its division. The average owner lacks the marketing skills and budget for setting their stall out. Many take advantage of professional on-line letting agencies so benefit from their marketing for a nominal annual fee.
Holidaylettings.co.uk attract an impressive 55,000 visits each day. With 25,000 properties on offer it isn’t rocket science to work out the potential. To help meet growing demand the company offer 15 months exposure for the price of 12 for those who key in promotional code 45325.
COULD YOU BENEFIT FROM THE BOOM?
You need to register your intentions with your local authority but this is a minor inconvenience when set against returns. Your property is your most valuable asset. It makes economic sense to use it.
If your present home is larger than your needs could you downsize to a more modest rented property whilst letting your larger home?
Many larger villas are perfectly suited for providing complementary accommodation. A competent builder can easily create an independently accessible annexe or floor to your home? Partitions make better use of available space and create a little privacy too. Perhaps while the credit crunch lasts you could share with friends and rent your property?
UK HOLIDAYMAKERS LOVE IT
Holiday home lettings in Calpe demand as much as £1,000 for a high season week with typically a 6-bed apartment demanding £645. The same in Gran Alicant is not far behind, with two-bed apartments in Orihuela Costa renting out at £300 a week.
Poetic licence is often used when the number of beds are advertised. A double bed can be no more than a bed divan in a living room so a two-bed apartment becomes a 6-bed let.
It is easy to see how cost effective such an arrangement can be for cash-strapped holidaymakers. A 2-bed apartment with a bed divan is just perfect for two couples and their same gender children for instance. Imagine, a beautiful apartment for just £150 a week each plus flights.
The Costa del Sol attracts rentals as much as one-third to 50% higher than do the other regions. Can you benefit from the credit crunch? The secret is, getting clients. Use an agency.
MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS by Mike Walsh
Brit’s the Unhappiest in Europe
Fed up Brits fleeing their own country are well ahead in the numbers of emigrants departing other western European countries, according to consumer body Uswitch. Director Ann Robinson says: ’Soaring food prices and inflation - not to mention high property costs are placing the biggest squeeze on disposable incomes for well over a decade.’ She adds: ‘The British are getting a raw deal from the Government for the fruits of their labour.’
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman agrees: “There is now a real danger that as the economic downturn takes hold in the UK, we will once again become the sick man of Europe.”
Adding to Britain’s woes is a perception of crime that is confining people to their homes at night; damaging the social economy. Newspaper headlines pile on the agony every day: ‘A knife attack every four minutes’, ‘A 66% rise in heating bills’, ‘House prices dropping at £100 a day.’ England’s Doomsday Book is seemingly being re-written.
Spain headed the League table for quality of life despite its citizens having the lowest net income. Seemingly this is offset by lower taxation and prices, generous holiday entitlements; a more relaxed lifestyle in the sunniest country in Europe.
Of the 10 countries surveyed Britain came second only to Ireland in the ‘Sad League’ and was runner up to Poland, still shrugging off decades of stagnation.
THE STAR’S THE GUITAR by Mike Walsh
Musically nothing evokes the Spanish experience as does Richard Harvey’s melody Concerto Antico; especially when it is played by John Williams, the internationally acclaimed guitarist. The sincerest form of flattery being imitation, this guitar concerto is adorned in a rich filigree of Spanish lace. It is a paradox of life that this beautiful Mediterranean music was composed by a Londoner for the Australian master guitarist, John Williams.
This in itself was a challenge. The greatest classical Spanish guitarist of all time, Andres Segovia had said of Williams: “A Prince of the Guitar has arrived in the musical world. God has laid a finger on his brow, and it will not be long before his name becomes a byword in England and abroad, thus contributing to the spiritual domain of his race.”
A MELODY SO DAUNTING
It was for such a guitarist that Richard Harvey set out to compose a melody so daunting that even Williams would find it impossible to play, yet at the same time challenge him to attempt it. In fact the concerto is a kaleidoscope of old dance and song forms that mirror different parts of Europe; but surely Mediterranean in essence.
Harvey later wrote of Williams: “His imperious response to this challenge, particularly in the fifth movement, makes me thrill with delight each time I hear it.”
Neither Harvey nor Williams are strangers to challenge for the Londoner’s gift for creating great music is already familiar even if his name isn’t immediately recognisable.
Born in 1953 Harvey was as musically talented as any of the great classical composers. When after graduating from the Royal College of Music he formed the folk group Gryphon, he was already talented as a player of traditional orchestral instruments.
THE EPITOMY OF THE ONE MAN BAND
The group was soon haunting three continents, winning hearts and minds as the London-born prodigy displayed his skills through a repertoire of thirty different musical instruments and five albums. He has an impressive collection of nearly 600 musical instruments - and plays most of them.
Harvey may be remembered for his musical scoring of dozens of iconic movies and television dramas: the Harry Potter films; The Lion King, Kingdom of Heaven. Death of a President, ‘Les Deux Mondes’, The Da Vinci Code and many more. But will he be best remembered for a simple Mediterranean melody so beautifully evocative it stretched the already impressive limitations of master guitarist John Williams?
THE NEW KINGS OF WALTZ
It was Williams‘ father, Len, who in 1952, on returning to London from Australia set up the world renowned Spanish Guitar Centre. By the 1960s, when the rocking and rolling world was warming to The Beatles, John was a shining star in his own constellation.
This was a period as musically exciting and innovative as that experienced under the Hapsburgs two centuries earlier.
Among the new ’waltz kings’ figured cellist Jacqueline du Pre‘, Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Ashkenazi, Isaac Perlman; soon to be involved with Michael Tippet’s ’King Priam’ and Pierre Boulez’s ambitious recordings.
Amidst these prodigies, whose names and compositions will surely span centuries, Harvey and Williams Concerto Antico may best evoke the timelessness and beauty of Mediterranean and Spanish musical culture.
BRIT-BITS by Mike Walsh
SHED LOADS OF MONEY LOST
Because of the credit crunch budgeting Brits are fuelling a 22% increase in holiday home lettings. Crafty ex-pats modify their home to provide a second entrance apartment or move in with friends, splitting the income from the vacant property. It is estimated that owners worldwide are missing out on £4.2 billion rental income annually because they keep their homes to themselves
SELF DEFENCE IS NO OFFENCE
The smug expression ‘Costa del Crime is less often heard as UK crime spirals. Advice to youngsters: adopt the U.S. Army ‘buddy system’. Out with friends, stick with a buddy and look after each other. For defence from muggers the streetwise carry a credit card, which is effective as a razor, or a bunch of keys as a knuckle duster.
PLECK PICKERS EXTRAORDINARY
Two of the most popular exponents of Spanish guitar classics are John Williams and Richard Harvey. John is Australian of whom the great Andres Segovia said: “God has laid a finger on his brow, and it will not be long before his name becomes a byword in England and abroad, thus contributing to the spiritual domain of his race“.
Richard Harvey’s difficult to play Concerto Antico, a beautiful melody was created in a cheeky challenge to John Williams, whom he said couldn’t play it. He did. Richard is British.
IT AIN’T ‘ALF COLD, MUM
Brrrrritain has endured a cold wet July with temperatures often lower than in Iceland and Oslo. Some areas experienced a month’s rainfall in just 24-hours; the prestigious Royal Lancashire Show was cancelled for the second time in two years.
OVERHEARD
Overheard in Benidorm: “How’s the missus?” His friend’s response: ‘Fine. She’s still breathing!’
FREE BRITAIN
Desperate times are behind a 500% increase in forecourt drive-offs, shoplifting and theft from cars. Tesco and Sainsbury supermarkets now fit security tags to chickens. A yellow tab sets alarms ringing if shoppers don’t pay. Food prices are up by 17.8%.
EVERYONE AN AGENT
Taylor Woodrow, house builders since 1921 and in Spain since 1958 have launched a sales blitz. The company offers a 25% discount on Spanish homes with €2,400 sweeteners to anyone whose recommendation results in a sale.
CLEVER FOREIGN POLICY HUH?
Gordon Brown lectures Russia and threatens Iran with trade embargoes if they don’t do as they are told. Nice timing! On Monday, Russia and Iran, second only to Russia in gas production, signed a gas buying deal which puts Russia’s hand on Europe’s throat. Rather like the terminally ill patient telling nurse he will pull his drip-feed out if she isn’t better behaved. Remember when Libya was a British / U.S. dependency? Russia’s just bought their oil output - which supplies Europe. Can Britain’s power starved population survive Gordon’s blundering foreign policy?
SPANISH PRACTICES?
Ironically this expression comes from Brits but in one week’s personal diary: a lady friend has plumbing work done. He doesn’t test the system and her home is ruined by leaks. A TV isn’t working so an engineer with liveried van calls twice. He talks like a rocket scientist but fails to get a picture. A local mum takes a look at it, swaps leads and it now works perfectly. Locally two painters have spent a month painting the outside of a house: as young seamen we painted ships in a day. You couldn’t make this lot up.
BANK ROBBED
HSBC Bank manager Anthony Walsh set up false accounts and milked his bank of £205,000. He won’t be doing bird; he got just 300 hours community service (work to you and me). The beak called him ‘basically an honest man‘. John and Anne Darwin faked his death in a canoeing ‘accident’, then took the insurance company for £250,000. They lived the good life, much of it in Central America. They got 6 years which means 3-years; most of which will be in a cushy open prison with all amenities. Who says crime doesn’t pay?
IRRIGATION PROBLEM SOLVED
The 1,500 or so small cultivators in the Los-Llanos-Juntillas area just outside Coín will soon have their irrigation problems solved when work is finished on the two small dams being built there. One dam, with a depth of some four metres and a diameter of more than 50 metres, will be finished by the end of the year. The objective is to eventually replace the acequias (irrigation channels) in an area of 644 hectares with a network of water pipes connected to controlled trickle irrigation devices, which will save a considerable amount of water. Construction of the first dam began last year and the cost of six million euros, just over half of which was contributed by the Agriculture Ministry, with the rest coming from the cultivators themselves.