The forecast is fine for sun & sea holidays

The Costa del Sol is looking forward to the 2011 holiday season with optimism and plans to extend and improve leisure facilities on the beaches. The optimism is based on figures for 2010 showing a 1.1% increase in visitor numbers compared with the previous year and other positive indicators, while promoters of such amenities as spas, creches, yoga and pilates sessions are just awaiting the green light which will come in April when competence over the beaches is transferred from the Costas authority to the Junta de Andalucia.
Airport growth above average To be precise the increase in passengers using Malaga Airport in January was 8.1 per cent, two percentage points higher than the average for Spanish airports. This was the second greatest increase out of all of Spain’s large airports, behind Barcelona which started 2011 with an increase of 20 per cent. According to figures for last month released by the airports authority Aena, in January 589,994 passengers used the terminal on 6,329 flights. The figures are a vast improvement on 2010 when passenger figures fell in January. Also last month the number of passengers on international flights landing at or taking off from Malaga Airport increased by 6.8 per cent. The majority came from or travelled to the UK, 187,322 passengers, while 46,257 travelled between Malaga and Germany, and 26,070 between Malaga and France.
Source: The Sur in English

Spain bids to woo back Brit Buyers

The Spanish government has promised new planning laws and an end to the confusion surrounding “illegal” homes in a bid to woo back the British property buyer. There are 800,000 unsold homes in Spain – half of them near the coast. Most are now at heavily discounted prices which should make them attractive to bargain hunters.
Housing Secretary Beatriz Corredor has revealed in an interview that the Spanish government is to steer a package of legal reforms through Parliament this month, and in coming weeks the government will also launch a series of road shows around Britain and other northern European countries to promote Spain's property market. She said the new laws would eliminate the confusion that has led in some cases to British home owners being told to knock down their properties because they were illegally built. She asked prospective buyers to “trust in the system that we have and the transparency we provide”, tempting them with prices significantly lower than two years ago – housing prices in Malaga have fallen on average by 24 per cent. Overall, since the country’s economic crisis began, prices have plummeted by up to 40 per cent and banks and construction firms are desperate to recoup their investment. In recent years, one third of all Spanish properties sold to foreigners have been bought by Britons, but many are now being put off by horror stories of planning permission being retrospectively revoked and other complications, so numbers have slumped. But the government is now trying to right all the wrongs committed in the past by local councils, builders, real estate agents and lawyers, who all reassured foreign buyers that any issuing bits of papers could be obtained “later” without any trouble. To correct this, a key element in the package of legal reforms is that for any property being sold the local council will be obliged to provide a document stating clearly its boundaries, the category of land on which it stands, its access to services including water and electricity, and details of its planning approval.
Source: TheNewsOnline