The Luxurious Costa del Sol

Guest post by Heather Reid.

Whilst the Costa del Sol may conjure up images of mass tourism, many visitors are surprised to find that this region also boasts a wealth of exclusive and luxurious destinations. Spoil yourself with a luxurious road trip along the 100-mile coastline of the Costa Del Sol and enjoy a landscape that includes spectacular mountain scenery, views of the Rock of Gibraltar, the coast of Northern Africa and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Whether you drive along the coast or head inland, amongst the natural beauty and traditional villages, you will find luxurious resorts, fine dining, golf courses and some serious fun.

Luxurious Puerto Banus

First of all, head to Puerto Banus, a luxurious resort built in 1970, just 6km from the town of Marbella, 64km south of Malaga.  Starting out as a luxury marina and shopping centre, today it is a major destination and a magnet for the super rich, with seemingly endless mega-yachts docked at the marina and streets chock-a-block with luxury cars.  Set against a dramatic mountain backdrop, you can’t help but be impressed by the glitz and glamour of this town.  Puerto Banus is always bustling and full of upmarket bars and restaurants, boutiques including D&G and Dior and a casino.  This is a prime party location, attracting a young, sophisticated and rich clientele whose main aim is to be seen.  There are some great restaurants, including the meat lovers’ delight, Tango or the celebrity hangout of the Red Pepper and some even better nightclubs such as the hugely popular and pricey Olivia Valere.

A few miles away from Puerto Banus is the exclusive town of Marbella.  A luxurious destination for rich European tourists, it successfully combines history and culture with flashy marinas, restaurants and beaches. Those who enjoy a bit of culture should try to get to a performance at the amphitheatre or enjoy an afternoon stroll through the historic old town, a charming place with cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings and outdoor cafes.  If however you prefer a day of pampering and partying, a visit to the exclusive Nikki Beach resort will be a highlight.  One of the most glamorous destinations in Marbella and a great way to enjoy the beach in style, try to make it for one of Nikki Beach’s ‘Amazing Sundays’ with DJ’s, live music, great cocktails and oodles of beautiful people.

If partying is not quite your thing, a short drive will bring you to Nueva Andalucia, also known as the ‘golf valley’.  With warm weather all year round, this region is perfect for golf and the exclusive Aloha Golf course should be at the top of your list.  Designed by Javier Arana, it is one of the best courses to play on in Spain.  Set within beautiful surroundings that have been lovingly landscaped, this is a well maintained golf course that most golfers will find an enjoyable challenge, whilst the terrace has amazing views and is a wonderful place to sit and enjoy a leisurely lunch.

And if it is natural beauty that you are looking for, you can’t go wrong with a trip to Benalmadena. The town is located around 20km from Malaga and boasts spectacular views across the coast from the top of the Calamorro Mountain. There is a cable car from the town that lifts you slowly up the side of the mountain, allowing you to enjoy breathtaking views as you rise 800 metres to the summit.  On a clear day you can see Gibraltar and the coast of Africa.

There are some truly luxurious options for accommodation on the Costa del Sol, including the hotel resorts of Gran Melia Don Pepe, just a few kilometres from Marbella or the Don Carlos Leisure Resort, right next door to Nikki Beach.  For something a little different there are a good selection of boutique hotels, including Hotel Claude, a charming 17^th century townhouse in Marbella that has been refitted to combine exclusive modern design with the original features and the fashionable Marbella Heights Boutique Hotel, located on a hill above Marbella with stunning sea views and glorious surroundings.

With well-maintained roads, fast highways connecting the cities and major towns and plenty of wonderful scenic routes to travel, exploring the Costa del Sol by car is great fun and with companies now offering extremely competitive prices for car rental in Malaga and locations across the Costa del Sol, driving a luxury car is much more affordable.  With cars designed for extreme comfort and fitted with all the latest entertainment systems and safety features, it is likely that you enjoy the drive as much as the destination.

Heather Reid is marketing manager for Bingo Car Rental, specialists in low cost and luxury car rental in locations across Spain and Europe.

Huge wildfire raging towards Marbella

Raging along the coast

I’ve been too busy to write anything over the last few days but I had to pop on quickly to tell you about the fire.

I looked out of my bedroom window last night and saw the sky glowing red. Although the fire started in La Cala, about 15 km from my house, I could clearly see the flames whipping around in the wind. The sky was filled with smoke, bright red smoke.

It spread quickly because there was quite a wind last night. thousands of people have been evacuated and one old man was killed. Rescuers are searching for his wife.

The main toll road was closed for a while as the flames licked the hard-shoulder. Over 30 aircraft have been dropping water on it all day but it’s still going. It’s going to take a few days to get it under control because it’s still windy and it’s been so dry this year, and we’ve had a very hot summer.

It’s not the first wildfire this year, and it wont be the last. It happens often on the Costa del Sol because of the long, dry summers and the large areas of woodland and open fields, full of dead, dry grass. It only takes on cigarette butt or one spark from a camp-fire and it goes up in seconds.

A huge area has been destroyed

You can see some of the devastation in the picture. I dread to think how much wildlife was killed just in the area pictured. I know someone who runs a kennel for rescue dogs and they were frantically calling people last night trying to get help moving the animals to a safe place.

Many of the evacuees spent the night in La Cañada, a shopping centre in Marbella. Some people were allowed back to there homes this morning but some are still waiting to hear when they will be able to return and inspect the damage.

It’s going to be a while until everything is back to normal, but for some people it never will. People have lost homes, cars, pets and personal belongings.

A few friends of mine were evacuated from Santa Clara, a nice development of townhouses close to Elviria, and others were told to be on standby.

It’s nasty and it’s not over yet.

They can’t always get what they want

It seems to me that whilst The Rolling Stones are getting satisfaction after 50 years of hard slog, Eurozone ministers are finding after a considerably less period of time “they can’t always get what they want” and the crisis rumbles on.

With the recently discussed bailout for Spain of around 100 billion euros and the immediately agreed 30 billion euros to help restore confidence in the Spanish banking system hopes were strong for the euro. However as we know nothing is free in life and Spain has had to reassure the EU that they can raise additional revenue so they increased VAT from 18% to 21% and of course further spending cuts are on the cards. With long term bond yields suffering in both Spain and Italy and the threat of Greece seeking new terms for their bailout confidence unfortunately in the zone is at the moment very low.

The UK cannot escape concern particularly with the LIBOR scandal still ongoing and the launch of the Funding for banks, it now remains to be seen if the banks will pass on this money to its clients and in doing so at what rate! One piece of good news for the UK however was the UK trade balance was lifted by exports and the trade deficit fell for the first time in 4 months.

The rest of the world also has many concerns, pace of growth in China and lets not forget the US where weaker global growth is starting to take its toll, watch out this week for results from many of the multi nationals, poor results could open up a can of worms.

Moneycorp - costadelsol@moneycorp.com or telephone +34 951 319 700

Spain and the Euro

Will the Euro survive?

Headlines such as “Catastrophe in Spain”,”the worst since Franco times”, and “pain in Spain” have been the main focus during the last couple of weeks and of course, it in turn generates fear and uncertainty so the euro and its currency has taken a bit of a battering. It is worth however reminding ourselves of what has been happening elsewhere.

In the UK, the inflation report for May did not make particularly good reading as the Bank of England’s main forecasts went against them. They had to revise downwards the economic growth number for 2012 from .8% to 1.2% and retail sales also hit a rough time in April as they fell to its lowest since 2010. On the plus front unemployment fell to 8.2% and inflation also fell so a bit of welcome news for all. We also know that the Bank of England decided inflation was still one of its main issues so at this moment decided against further money printing.

Looking at the eurozone we have seen lots of conflicting data and whilst some has been negative there is always a balance. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell for the 4th consecutive quarter due to weaker business activity and new orders, manufacturing also fell to unfortunately near a 3 year low. The eurozone did however manage to avoid a recession but data suggests that the next quarter will be much more difficult. Germany once again being the lynchpin for the zone as unemployment fell, bond yields all time low and retail sales figures rising for the second month, sounds like the good ole days!!

There are two main areas of concern right now and that is, what will happen at the forthcoming Greek election and what impact that will have on the euro. Will they stay or will they go (must be a song in here somewhere) and of course Spain and the ever deepening saga over its banking strength. The latter highlighted very much by Spain’s 4th largest bank Bankia which need a capital injection to keep it going and whilst the Spanish government stands very much behind it and wants to help, how it is going to find around 19 billion euros is still the main question. Bond yields in Spain have also been perilously high and the rate now seems to be settling around 6.5% a huge price to pay for raising money. Rumours are also out there that Spain will need a bailout of around 100million euros to keep it alive, sounds a lot on money and of course it is but remember it wasn’t that long ago that the British taxpayer had to foot the bill for the Royal Bank of Scotland and that alone cost around 45.5 billion or c60 billion euros. Lets see if Spain will accept the suggestion from the ECB that it should accept a loan package.

Going forward the key issue will be trying to restore confidence in the eurozone and its currency so that investors feel they do not need to switch to dollars. It seems also that the EU has learnt a little from history in accepting all comers into the euro as it has recently advised 8 countries under review that none meet the required standards for entry.

Impact upon exchange rates has been considerable as the euro has lost ground against both sterling and the dollar or put another way, your pound is now worth more euros.

If you want to know more contact Moneycorp by emailing costadelsol@moneycorp.com or telephone them on +34 951 319 700

Reduction in property tax in Marbella

A welcome tax reduction for Marbella 

The Marbella town hall has approved a subsidy for the IBI tax for property owners registered with the town hall as part of efforts to revitalise the ailing property market.

The subsidy in property tax will be between 1.5% and 10% of the tax due based on the assessed value of the property.

For example, a family registered in the town hall with a property that has an assessed value below 100,000€ will receive a 10% reduction in the property tax.

Marbella Mayor, Angeles Muñoz, said that this means “they [property owners] will hardly notice the increase in the IBI tax.”

Owners with properties valued between 100.000€ and 200.000€ will receive a 5% discount, while those with properties valued between 200.000€ and 300.000€ will be given a discount of 3%.

Owners whose properties are valued over 300.000€ will be given a 1.5% discount in their IBI.

Assessed property values will be revised every ten years.

“In our opinion, the plan taken is fairer than reducing the tax of every owner equally. This would mean that families with more resources would obtain bigger reductions. It is necessary to benefit families with fewer resources” Muñoz said.

The town hall have also approved a 60% reduction (the maximum allowed by Spanish Law) on the Plusvalía tax. Plusvalía is the tax you pay on any profit made when selling a property. If you buy a property for 100,000€ and sell it for 150,000€ then plusvalía will be due on 50,000€.

By making these changes the mayor hopes the property market “will be revived”.

Muñoz added that Marbella is leading the recovery of the real-estate market in the Malaga province.

New plans for Costa del Sol rail line

Proposed route of rail line

A new plan to run extend the Mediterranean corridor along the Costa del Sol have been submitted to the government.

Home owners along the proposed route are awaiting news of the plans hoping their homes will not be in the way.

The planned line will run parallel with the A-7 motorway, cutting across farmland between Manilva and Algeciras, with another section of track from Marbella and west of Fuengirola.

The plan, backed by authorities in Malaga, is for the line from Almeria to Algeciras, via Malaga, and was proposed by lobby group Ferrmed who justified euro cost by emphasising the high positive economic impact the line would have on the area.

The cost of the western stretch, from Malaga, would cost around 7.5 billion euros and would include nine tunnels and 10 viaducts.

The route, which would include a stop in Motril and in Marbella would also include a freight line. Currently, Marbella is the only town in Spain, with a population over 100,000, without a train station.

The plan will need approval from the European Commission before it can proceed.

Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, highlighted the importance of the rail link for commercial development between Europe and Asia insisting that it “made more sense to run the freight line along the coast than inland which has steep inclines preventing the passage of big trains.”

Living On The Coast Exhibition

Click to view larger

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live here on the Costa del Sol? Is it really all sun, sea, sand and sangria?

Now you can find out by visiting the “Living On the Coast” lifestyle show, taking place in Marbella from Friday 27^th to Sunday 29^th April, at the Palacios de Congresos (Marbella Conference Centre).

The event has been created by the organisers of the highly successful Over 50′s show, which is also held on the Costa del Sol each year.

To ensure the event appeals to the widest possible audience the event will host activities ranging from gardening and pastimes, to wine tasting and cooking demonstrations.

Visitors will be able to get financial advice, property advice for buyers and sellers and advice on health and wellbeing on the coast. The exhibition is also designed to encourage business to business opportunities.

There will also be live musical entertainment from Tres Divos.

Living on the Coast will feature an attractive mix of displays, presentations and demonstrations all geared to maximise interest in the Costa del Sol.

You can find out more information from the organisers here: Living On The Coast

Costa del Sol still popular with Expats

More arrivals than departures

During 2011 reports say more EU citizens moved to the Costa del Sol than left it.

Despite many reports that there had been a mass exodus of expats from the region official figures prove this is not the case.

Many people did leave the region last year; 1,820 EU citizens and 5,250 South Americans left the country in 2011.

However, 8,445 EU citizens relocated to the Málaga province, as well as 2,495 from South America and 2,873 from Africa – a total of 13,813 new expats deciding to make their home on the Costa del Sol.

According to the Instituto Nacional Estadisticas (INE) of the total departures from the region only 2,414 were Spanish.

So while almost 13,000 people left the region, over 13,000 arrived ensuring the number of expats in the region remained reasonable stable, and rubbishing reports of mass departures.

Easter boost for the Costa del Sol?

Semana Santa procession

With Easter fast approaching, it is no surprise that the rain has arrived too.

Every year we look forward to Semana Santa; the carnival atmosphere; Spanish cuisine and rain. Why does it always rain at Easter?

Businesses in the region look forward to the festival for another reason though – tourists. As schools across Europe close for the holidays many hundreds of thousands of tourists will arrive in Malaga with money to spend. Even if they don’t have large wads of disposable income they will still need to fill their bellies and quench their thirst so some businesses are guaranteed to see an increase in takings.

Hoteliers in the region are hoping the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain as hotel bookings have so far been 9% lower than last year, according to the Málaga province’s hoteliers’ association, AEHCOS.

The four start Hotel Fuerte in Marbella reports 78% occupancy for the first half of easter week, with 87% for Thursday and Friday and the owners think further bookings will depend on the weather.

The rain affected bookings in 2011 when the second week of Easter being a wash-out. Many hotels saw occupancy fall during the second week.

The current forecast is for rain for the first half of the week with a possibility of more rain in the second half (it’s raining now).

Some hotels are not so worried though. Holiday World in Benalmadena say they have received a similar number of bookings to last year and are almost fully booked for the long weekend.

Tourists play a huge part in the Semana Santa festivals as they inject much needed cash into the economy. The Spanish will spend an average of 240 – 400€ over the five-day holiday and the hope is that the tourists will too!

I read a nice article about Semana Santa written by artist Nicolas de Lacy Brown, a regular visitor to Marbella. You can read it here: Semana Santa – Easter Spanish Style

Next stop – no stop in Malaga!

After announcing that the high speed rail link would pass through Malaga, EU officials have now scuppered the plans by refusing to pay for the extra link.

The plans for the new high-speed rail line were originally to bypass Malaga and head inland. However, Mariano Rajoy’s Partido Popular revised the plans to include an airport stop at Málaga and then continue along the coastline for almost the entire journey to the north-east. Most visitors to Málaga airport are amazed that they can only go as far as Fuengirola by train and the plans would have greatly improved public transport in Andalucía, one of the countries main tourist destinations. It could also have included Marbella – the only town in Spain with a population over 100,000 without a train station.

Officials from the EU have accepted the plans to take the line via Antequera, but rejected the link up with Málaga airport, which will now be excluded from the plans which must be underway by 2030.

Having seen both the original and the revised plans, EU transport ministers opted for the original plan deciding to take both the passenger and freight lines past Marbella.

“Both a freight and passenger line are vital for the Costa del Sol,” said Margarita del Cid, president of the Mancomunidad de Municipios of the western Costa del Sol. She added that extending the rail-line west was important for commuters as well as tourists.

Spain does not plan on leaving it there and further discussion and negotiation is planned. So, next stop… more confusion!