Russian VersionAbout Spain
Spain is one of the most established holiday destinations in the world, a firm, fond favourite for northern Europeans with buckets and spades for decades. As a result of this, and its easy, affordable accessibility, Spain is now one of the most established holiday home destinations in the world as people seek comfort in familiarity.
The figures are indeed quite startling, up to a million Brits own property in Spain with the Irish, Scandinavian, German, Dutch and French nipping at their heels. Spain’s property market remains strong and healthy in places, overheated and some say overbuilt in others, but with such a large land area there are many more special corners of Spain to be discovered as the years go by.
Since Franco’s death in 1975, Spain has had to work hard as a country to recover from the effects of a dictatorship. It has had some phoenix-like moments, but like the rest of Europe, it has suffered some severe recessions as well. However, Spain must be congratulated as it has traveled the path to a successful democracy in less than 30 years and keeps on growing. The result is that the average Spaniard is now 75% richer than he was 30 years ago and per capita income stands at around 80% of the EU average. Spain’s GDP real growth rate is a respectable 3.6% (est. 2006) and has been increasing year-on-year.
Spain and tourism are like Siamese twins, inextricably joined at the hip and the industry contributes 12% of the country’s GDP. Spain is extraordinarily popular and appears regularly in the top three countries to visit in the world with 55.6 million visitors, usually in second place right behind France (76 million) and just before USA (49.4 million) (2005 figures). Figures since 2000 show that the number of visitors to Spain is still rising after nearly 40 years.
Spain has plenty to attract, warm summers, historic cities, colourful fiestas, modern infrastructure, dozens of international airports and Spain’s track record of beach cleanliness is also highly reassuring with 499 Blue Flag beaches (2007 figures), the most out of all the participating countries. 
The country is also synonymous with golf, with many world famous courses such as Valderrama in Sotogrande, the current home of the Volvo Masters and also host to the Ryder Cup in 1997. You can play golf in virtually any region of Spain, both peninsula and the islands, and the golf season in Spain never really ends thanks to perfect golfing conditions, helping to boost tourism numbers even further.
The property market in Spain is firmly established, reasonably easy to navigate and remains a top destination for investors, holiday home owners and permanent expat residents alike.
Whilst it has been well-documented that some Costas are overheated and in some cases, overpriced, as a vast nation Spain still offers some superb investment opportunities provided you research well and seek the advice of professionals. Murcia is such an opportunity, a relatively undiscovered region with enormous potential, particularly when investing in land.
Population:
44,395,286
Area (km²):
505,992
Capital:
Madrid
Language:
Castillian is the official language of Spain. Catalan, Basque and Galician are all official co-languages.
Religions:
95% Roman Catholic
Currency:
Euro (since 1999) EUR1 = £ 0.676
Dialing code:
+34
High season:
July - August
