June 2012 - All looking good !

We are just back from 10 days in Condado and what a difference from our visit only a few weeks earlier, every time we visit,  we want to return home less and less - the elements of a community are establishing and with that even greater numbers of residents - wish I was there right now !

Eating and Drinking
Always an important part of any holiday for me....in the bad old Polaris days the only option was microwave crunchy "frozen" pasta in the clover, but we now have a multitude of Venues to enjoy !!

Great to see so many signs of retail Life in Al Kasar !

Clover Bar - Now a pleasant place to go where service is excellent and the staff are pleased to see you and serve you, congratulations all the guys there for maintaining such excellent humour and service levels even though they were buried under customers when the excellent 70's rock band was on. My wife and I sat quietly in the corner and drank our way though the cocktail menu, spending our last 5 euros on Tequila slammers.. suffice to say it was not an early day on the beach the morning after. It was also great to meet up with our neighbours Lynne and John, who we had never met,  we also introduced them to the house cocktails - honey rum,  lemon juice and Cinnamon - tastes better than it sounds !

Bulgarian Bistro - Continues to prosper and receive good reviews are and expanding with greater numbers of outside tables for the onset of summer.

Ice Cream Bar - A great new addition to Al Kasar and very popular,  I am sure it will have a great summer with many sticky fingers, mouths and grateful parents.

La Cata - Restaurant - This was opening just as we were leaving so other than saying how great it looked,  no comments on the food or service. I understand that they have a separate deli counter and are also serving chickens off the rotisserie so this will be another popular location.

A few final tweaks before opening night !

  
Bokao - Tapas Bar / Music Venue  - We wandered over the evening after they had opened and the place was eerily quiet, while the clover across the way was jumping, a very different vibe, but wonderful coffee and charming staff,  they were still stocking up the bar and couldn't find me any brandy but brought out a number of local alternatives that they generously poured for us.

Saturday Market - As the Saturday afternoon drew on and our departure back to the cold UK loomed ever closer, the space outside Al Kasar remained worryingly empty.  I wasn't sure what to expect but suddenly an army of traders appeared and the car park was buried by all sorts of merchandise. I wish we had been staying to stock up on soft fruit and Spanish ham and - it was a great opportunity for those of us who always harbour grand plans to go out and explore locally but just end up enjoying the peace, quiet and sunshine and of course all the new amenities !!
 

Inaugural 2012 Condado Market

This place in the sun just get's better and better !!!

Gold rush on Property in Murcia ?

A stressful weekend for the Spanish prime minister Mr Rajoy..... after all not only did he manage to secure IMF funding of 100 Billion EU to inject some breathing space into the Spanish banking system but he also had to watch the national football team sink to a disappointing draw with the Italians !

After so much gloom and despondency its good to read how the region of Murcia is leading the way in dragging the Spanish economy back onto a slightly more stable footing.

The Murcia region has long been mooted as the fastest recovering area in Spain, with the upcoming international airport and Paramount theme park boosting its potential for property investors. But interest in the region’s real estate has already started to grow, according to TheMoveChannel.com, with inquiries between March and May this year surging by 78 per cent compared to the three months from December to February. 

The increase in interest follows official reports that property sales across Spain have risen too. Real estate transactions grew by 21.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the last quarter of 2011, the Spanish College of Property Registrars revealed this week.  This boost in sales has been attributed to the country’s “intense lowering” of house prices, as holiday homes become even more affordable for international buyers. 

One only has to wander around the empty squares of  Narajanjos to see just how many property bargains there are to be had for those that have the cash and equity to invest. Despite the paper losses that many of the early adopters have suffered at Condado,  I still believe the majority of owners are delighted with the purchase and do not regret signing up all those years ago, after viewing the dusty field that is now Condado..

I always think of the quote by Mark Twain....

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do, than by the ones you did do" 

The First Stone is laid at Paramount

 

Alhama de Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Thursday, May 31, 2012. 

S.A. (PREMURSA) achieved another milestone in the development of the Paramount theme park and LifeStyle  Center in Alhama de Murcia this morning, during a formal ceremony presided over by Ramón Luis Valcárcel, President of the Autonomous Community of Murcia; Joaquín Bascuñana, Delegate of the Government for the Region of Murcia; Alfonso Fernando Cerón, Mayor of the Town Hall of Alhama de Murcia; Michael Bartok, Executive Vice President of Paramount Licensing Inc.; and Jesús Samper, President and CEO of PREMURSA.

Anyone lend me some Euros to build the rest of it??

 

After purchasing the project land on March 7th, 2012, the groundbreaking ceremony took place today and, according to Jesús Samper, “the project will become an international tourist destination estimated to welcome more than 3 million visitors per year.” Michael Bartok declared Paramount’s goal in Spain is the “establishment of a state-of-the-art theme park intended  to attract and entertain both locals and tourists alike.” That goal, according to Mr. Bartok, is bolstered by the region of Murcia “because of its outstanding location and climate as well as its variety of cultural and leisure attractions.”

Interesting that this ceremony took place only a few days after Mr Samper confirmed that he still doesn't have an investors in place for the project, with the current meltdown of the Spanish economy I wonder how easy a task this will be !!

Murcia Today Report on the opening ceremony 

Corvera / Paramount - bad news / good news ??

Bad News 1st??

I read reports that an "anonymous" source at the Ministry of Public works has confirmed that all developments at Corvera International Airport are currently "on hold".

The opening of the airport, privately owned by Aeromur and to be managed and operated by state-owned AENA, is believed to have been blocked for "military reasons".  The unnamed source went on to say how, aside from economic reasons, the operation of the airport has been suspended at the eleventh hour due to the importance that the Murcia area, has in offering security for Spain, Western Europe and NATO in the event of a nuclear threat.  Although this has still to be officially confirmed by government sources, if done so it will bring questions as to why this issue has only been addressed at this late stage in the proceedings and after millions of euros in private and public investment.

I thought this sounded totally mad and bizarre...but it seems that Spain does have a worrying history when it comes to building "ghost" airports,  only 400 kms north of us is the airport at Castellon, newly built and close to Valencia (hmm sounds similar to San Javier / Corvera ?) Castellon airport cost 150M Euros but has never seen a passenger !

Castellon airport was inaugurated in March 2011 but almost a year later, and having failed to secure a license to operate, the virgin airstrip is to be torn up. The State Agency for Air Security has found that its main strip is too narrow for airplanes to turn around, and will have to be widened to meet regulations.

It is the latest revelation in an ongoing saga of an airport that has come to symbolise the reckless public spending of ill-thought out projects across Spain that has left the country crippled with debt. Regional officials were aware of the narrow-runway problems within weeks of the airport opening but kept it under wraps, Spain's daily newspaper El Pais revealed on Wednesday.  Last month it emerged that 30 million euros had been spent on publicity for Castellon airport despite the fact that it had failed to secure permits to receive air traffic. The private contractor hired to run the airport for 50 years is demanding that the regional government of Valencia reimburse 80 million euros for cancelling its contract. It was hoped that the new airport would open up a new area of Spain's eastern coast to tourism but airlines have so far failed to be persuaded to add the destination to their routes. 

The region is already well served by busy international airports of Valencia and Alicante to the south and Barcelona to the north, a recent study showed that of the 48 regional commercial airports built in Spain over the last 20 years, only 11 make a profit. 

Ghost Terminal at Castellon

Good News 2nd !

A lot of reports running on the forums currently about the initial signs of life over at the Paramount Park the construction of access roads and drainage.

The Minister of Culture for the region of Murcia, Pedro Alberto Cruz, confirmed that the ceremony to lay the first stone of the Paramount Pictures theme park will commence on site at Alhama de Murcia, at 1.00 pm on Thursday the 31st of May with 200 specially invited dignitaries in attendance.

The event will mark the start of works to install the required infrastructure on the 1'000'000 sq mt site, with works expected to be complete in time for the park to be fully open for the 2015 season. Interesting to see that the site is also now visible from Condado !

Press release details to follow with pictures after the opening ceremony - if you are going let me know !

You get the idea of the proximity behind Naranjos 6

Golf Clubhouse under Construction

Its been a while but I am pleased to report  that the long awaited golf clubhouse site is finally under construction. I grant you it's not exactly the premises that we may have all hoped to see, but its a start and another amenity that will bring golfers onto the resort to play the challenging course.

Many thanks to Onno Weg for the pictures taken this week !!

Bankia Euro Bailout

May 2012 a new month...and with the current election upheavals in Greece and France, I read with interest today in the London City AM business news about the plight of Bankia. This is of personal interest as I hold account and mortgage with this re-named group who took over Bancaja recently .

ANOTHER day, another U-turn in the Eurozone – although this time it may mark the Spanish government’s acceptance of the huge problems in the country’s banking system.

 

The Spanish government announced on Monday that it will be injecting Bankia, the country’s third largest bank, with up to €10bn (£8bn) in capital, using the state-backed FROB bank restructuring fund, despite previously dismissing the possibility of doing so. Given the timing of the announcement – on the same day that Greece went through political upheaval – one can’t help but think that the Spanish government harboured some hope that the declaration might fly under the radar.

Given the size of Bankia and the implications of the bailout such hopes were misplaced. Bankia has one of the largest exposures to the country’s bust real estate and construction sector at €38bn, of which €18bn is considered problematic. It was also the poster child for what now looks to be the laudable but ultimately doomed structural reform of Spanish banks that took place last year. It is the largest of the consolidated cajas (Spanish regional banks) and the problems on its balance sheet highlights how little the banking consolidation solved.

Taxpayer-backed bank bailouts are never ideal, but if Spain goes down this road, getting the correct mix of support and strong conditions is vital.  The most likely form of any future intervention is the widely mooted “bad bank” plan and the first question, as always, is where will the money come from? Currently Spanish banks have €54bn in provisions against €136bn in doubtful loans. The latter number looks set to increase as conditions worsen, particularly with much larger falls in real estate prices expected – we predict that provisions will need to be at least doubled. Bankia is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg, both in terms of problems in Spanish banks and the use of public funds.

Securing private funding will be near impossible, leaving two sources of public funds: the Spanish FROB bank restructuring fund and the EFSF/ESM Eurozone bailout funds. The FROB in theory has a lending capacity of €99bn, but most of the cash must be raised by issuing debt, with only €18bn directly guaranteed by the state. There are questions over whether the fund could borrow cheaply if it backed a “bad bank”, potentially leaving the majority of the gap to be filled by Eurozone bailout funds.

Given the growing political opposition to both the bailouts themselves and the austerity conditions which they come with, such a large transfer of European funds could be political dynamite in Europe.

The main concern is the huge moral hazard associated with bailing out banks – this was a trend which many in Europe hoped had been bucked, and opening it up again would damage Eurozone credibility. The aim is to encourage banks to start lending and aiding economic growth again but this is notoriously difficult – who’s to say they won’t keep hoarding funds over wider fears of a Eurozone break-up? 

The most important part of the process will be an honest external valuation of these doubtful loans, something which Spain and the Eurozone have shied away from before.  Any funds must therefore come with clear conditions. The key to enforcing these will be allowing some banks to fail or be wound down. In the end, many of these banks have unworkable balance sheets in the aftermath of the housing bust. This will be the clearest signal to show that public funds are not being used to solely prop up banks, that only viable businesses will survive and that the Spanish government is committed to reform.

In many ways the use of public funds to help Bankia could be a turning point for the crisis in Spain. The good news is that the Spanish government finally accepts the need to tackle the wider problems with its banks, presenting an opportunity to flush out the sector once and for all. On the other hand, it significantly increases the likelihood of taxpayer-backed Spanish and Eurozone funds being used to bail out banks once again. What’s clear is that, until the problems are fully addressed, the Spanish banking sector malaise will still threaten to engulf the whole economy and potentially drive the country into a full bailout programme.

Easter 2012 Trip Report

We have just returned back from 10 days on site over Easter, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to blog an update on what is going on in the resorts and what has changed since our last visit in November 2011.

The overwhelming feeling we always get when we drive up the grand tree lined drive to Condado is how wonderful it is to be back.....followed closely by "I hope everything is OK in the apartment and do we have water !"  - it's a bit daft thinking this now, as everything is fine these days,  now that we are on the legitimate twin gods of  Urbaser and Iberdrola.  I remember the early days when we were on the "builders supplies" and the fear was always it would shut down at any minute !

Our usual route once we are through security, with a cheery wave from the security guard  - (who are ALWAYS in sunglasses.. whatever the weather) is to have a drive around the site and see how busy it is.

We were expecting the site to be busier as it was Easter, but as usual apart from a smattering of cars along the Jardines full time residents, it  looked quiet as usual. up and back along the 16 separate penthouses generated only around 30 cars.  The supermarket on our arrival seemed lacking in supplies, with very little fresh produce of any variety, this was improved over the next few day so maybe we arrived just after the locusts had descended and picked the shelves clean.

Its great to see some activity now in El-Kasar with the re-opening of both the Clover and Restaurant site,  we had dinner in the Bulgarian restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at both the service and standard of food. We arrived and were show to a table among hordes of children , we discretely alerted the charming young waitress to our desire to sit somewhere a little less active and she moved us round the other side where we sat in splendid and quiet isolation. We started off with a couple of Tequila cocktails complete with unexpected sparklers, we sampled these while looking though the lengthy  menu that is split between Bulgarian dishes and also the more traditional offerings of Pizza, there is an option for Paella but only if you have ordered in advance, in our opinion the the food was good, prices reasonable and the service fast and efficient.

After Dinner we ambled next door and into The Clover for a nightcap or two, (its great to have this option available to us now !!)  with the multiple TV screens up there was an adoption to watch 3 or 4 separate UK football games, the bar was a largely male preserve with just a few wives / girlfriends, who had obviously been promised a night out !

I was chatting to one of the guys who own and run the clover and congratulating him on the success in taking over the drinking and entertainment requirements for the entire resort.  We were discussing the future plans and economic options and he was telling me that apparently in Spain its common practice for "table service" to cost 10% more than service at the bar. As such is you are in the Clover over the summer months bear this in mind if you are sitting outside and ordering drinks from the wait staff as it will cost you more than if you get up and wander to the bar yourself !

Mystery Car - any claimants ??

The below car is parked (or possibly abandoned) in one of the designated  Block 16 parking spaces...

This UK registered car is without tax and while it appears to be in a reasonable condition with 4 inflated tyres, it has not moved in a considerable time....

Is this vehicle owned by any Block 16 resident or should we be making plans to have it removed ?

Flight Delays at Corvera - get ready for 2013 ???

I am not overly surprised to read this morning that the planned opening of Corvera Airport for 2012 has been delayed.........its a bit like like waiting for your delayed flight to arrive..dont you think ???

  

With thanks to The Leader  for the article....

It now seems unlikely that Corvera International Airport will see any commercial airline activity until the summer of 2013 at the very earliest. The President of the Murcia Community Snr Valcarcel is reported to have told reporters from the Spanish press that his hopes for an opening in 2012 may have been a little premature. 

According to La Verdad he said that the airport would have to wait until the end of this year before it could even think of starting the transfer of services and staff from San Javier and given the disappointing number of flights and routes that the airport has so far attracted this means that Corvera is unlikely to become operational until the summer of 2013 and even this depends on the satisfactory outcome of negotiations being reached between AENA and the Murcia Regional Government regarding the airport concession.

Realistically Corvera could be ready to open with the limited winter schedules but it is thought that the more likely decision would be to run a few test flights during the winter period with one or two selected airlines before beginning with the summer schedule next Spring.

The authorities would want to have the full range of facilities available to service the need of its passengers so a winter opening  would probably mean operating at a financial loss. With over 500 staff to pay and shops and businesses needing to earn a living it seems unlikely that a half hearted attempt to open would even be considered.  It would appear to be much more likely that the airport will wait until it is able to open fully next Spring.

Valcarcel said that with the quantity of paperwork still to be completed, it was unrealistic to even consider opening this summer and with the Ministry for Development indicating a favourable opinion towards the possibility of round the clock operations there was still a vast list of technical reports and details to be undertaken.

“We want to do things well”, he said “and with all the guarantees so we are not going to do this in a hurry. “
In recent years the Murcia Government has been under immense pressure to do something in the region with regard to the stimulation of the economy and employment and until the announcements of the new International Airport and the Paramount Theme Park the economy in this particular part of the Province was suffering from severe depression.

However the promise of the two new developments went a long way toward soothing the voices of protest. This recent announcement will once again lead to raised voices of criticism if the summer tourism season fails to live up to expectations. It is most certainly not the message that the hotel sector and construction sectors wanted to hear

Following the article in La Verdad, and in order to avoid any further speculation, Antonio Sevilla, the Regional Minister for Public Works, released a statement confirming  that the new Airport would not begin operations until Summer 2013.

He  said that there are still many different departments of central government  to be approached. Progress is still being made, although he admitted that it is not proving to be as rapid as was first hoped, due in part to the change in staff in all the relevant government ministries following the general election last November.

According to information released last week by AENA, seven airlines, Air Nostrum, Bmibaby, EasyJet, Jetair Fly, Jet2.com, Ryanair and Norwegian Air, will operate throughout this summer from the current airport in San Javier.

Paramount Brochure

Hot off the press (and with thanks to Google alerts and Marketwatch)

I haven't seen any of these before so thought it would be an interesting post for a project that will have a massive impact on our locality be it good or bad - where do you stand on this ???

Very posh web presentation by Premursa of the Paramount park details - enjoy !!

Paramount Park 1

Paramount Park 2

Paramount Park 3