Guide to Spanish Costas

Introduction

As buying property in Spain has become more and more popular over the past decade, customers and developers inevitably began looking to other parts of the Spanish coastline to populate. Luckily, there is plenty of it to go around, and the continued boom in Spanish property has seen what might be described as some of the more minor Costas come into the spotlight. From the French border on the Mediterranean, right to the frontier with Portugal, some 500 miles of coast are available for property buyers.

The region

Away from the main and most famous of the Costas there are a number of other regions where British buyers can find their dream of living in the sun without having to pay the premium costs of the more popular regions. There is also the opportunity to be more integrated into the local community life, as there will be less of an expat community. Instead, you are more likely to find Spanish holiday home owners and those who live in the towns and villages permanently.

Among these other Costas, you will find a range of different areas – some new, emerging regions to discover, which have been largely untouched by the tourist trade from the UK, alongside some other regions that were previously favourites of the original package holiday trade, but have since been deserted in favour of more fashionable destinations.

For example, there is a loyal following for the Costa Brava in the north of Spain. The ‘wild’ coast, as the name translates, was the first package holiday destination on the mass market, and introduced many families to the concept of taking a regular holiday overseas. Resorts like Lloret de Mar, Tossa del Mar and Blanes were selected by Franco’s government as ripe for development for the tourism industry and northern Europeans came in their droves. The region remains popular with a section of British overseas property buyers, and with the signing in 1998 of a charter to pursue environmental issues in conjunction with urban development, the region is protected as it continues to grow.

The Costa del Azahar, or the Orange Blossom Coast, is further south along the Mediterranean Coast, and runs down as far as Cabo de Gata at the top end of the Costa Blanca, and has Valencia as the regional capital. The city has been revitalized by the introduction of low-cost flights to the airport and the arrival in 2007 of the Americas Cup sailing event.

Beyond the Costa Blanca, you will find the Costa Calida, the ‘warm’ coast blessed with a micro-climate as well as Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon, the Mar Menor. Alongside the tourist towns of Mazarron and Cartagena, the spit of land separating the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean Sea, La Manga, is one of the most important golfing destinations in the country.

The hottest part of Spain is the area around the south-eastern city of Almeria, where the Costa of the same name is proving to be one of the newest and most popular of the ‘minor’ Costas. As soon as more flights began to arrive at the international airport just a few miles outside the city, the first of a plethora of new developments began to spring up along the coast, taking advantage of the climate and the spectacular scenery in the region.

Climate

Many of Spain’s Costas have their own micro-climates, thus explaining their popularity as holiday destinations. The Costas often benefit from warm and dry climates throughout the year, escaping the worst excesses of a European winter. Contrary to some beliefs, Spain does have some areas of cold and wet weather at certain times of the year, though the Costas have grown up around the warmer, drier parts of the coastline.

Getting there

Spain is incredibly well-served by low-cost, scheduled and charter airlines, making it easy to find tickets and flights at the times and prices you want. Flights to the major cities are regular and convenient, while those to areas that were previously package holiday destinations still operate throughout the year.

Property

Buying in one of the less-popular Costas can offer a wider and more diverse range of property for sale, and can give the buyer a pleasant surprise when it comes to negotiating on price. There are also a number of other advantages to buying in the quieter Costas.

For example, if you have fallen in love with the former package holiday resorts, there should be the opportunity to buy close to the centre or in a frontline beach property, therefore making it easier to buy the type of property that you would otherwise struggle to find and afford in one of the more popular.

Equally, in the newer destinations where the market for a particular Costa is just beginning to get established, there is the chance to take advantage of the price levels afforded to early adopters. The great thing is, these prices can equate to the prices that might be paid in other emerging markets, but you are buying within one of the most developed and organised real estate markets for British overseas property buyers.

As a guide, a resale one-bedroom penthouse apartment just 50 metres from the beach in Lloret de Mar on the Costa Brava could cost as little as £70,000, while a new-build two-bedroom apartment just ten minutes from the beaches of the Costa Almeria can be found for around £110,000.

Local life

Another advantage of buying in one of the smaller Costas is that it combines the joys of living in a coastal area like those who have bought in one of the English enclaves further along the coast with authentic Spanish life.

Whether you are buying in an established community or in one of the new areas of the less-developed Costas, it pays to remember that the more you put into local community life in Spain, the more you will get out of it.

Conclusion

If you are interested in buying a property in Spain, and do not as yet have any set ideas of where you would like to settle, looking at these other Costas could be the perfect solution. Many of the new ‘emerging’ property destinations are marketed as being like the Costa del Sol ten years ago — sometimes you don’t need to go to a different country to find that.