Murcia Property Snapshot

Interested to receive the below update from the moveworldwide.net - with a concise snapshot and thoughts on the Murcia region and property profiles..starting with....

La Manga Most people would class La Manga is the strip of land between the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor, but that strip is divided into two. One end is like Benidorm, the other is more like San Javier.  At the far end of La Manga, apartments are as little as 100EU but because it takes so long to travel down it, property at the near end costs double that, with luxury flats priced around 250EU. Locals would go for the cheaper zone. Overseas buyers tend to stick to the more expensive area, where front line beach properties are standard. 

Cartagena is a strange place for Brits - it's like a little London! The second city in the Murcia region, there's a lot of good stuff going on here, with a new deep sea marina being developed. The aim is to build properties around the port and turn it into a Dublin-like high-end area and attract the luxury cruise liners. There's not much space left in Cartagena to build, so instead a lot of old buildings are being redone into modern apartments. Still, not that many holidaymakers are buying, especially not Brits. 

Los Alcazares Lots of Scandinavians and Germans buy holiday homes in Los Alcazares because it's close to the Mar Menor. Holiday homes here are a bargain because of the price - it's opposite the more upper-class La Manga, but it's far more affordable. Los Alcazares was a typically Spanish town, with narrow roads and a good local market, but it has since been extended. There are not many new build properties in the area, so you need to go outside of the town to find new developments. 

San Pedro -  If buyers could get a place in San Pedro, they would. When I first moved to Murcia, I lived here. It was great, but parking was a nightmare in the summer because Spaniards would come from the North for the beautiful beaches! Overseas investors tend to find that the places are smaller than they expect because they have been built for Spanish buyers. It's only a 1km walk to the beach so homes don't tend to include swimming pools - one of the main things Brits want. There's not a supermarket in San Pedro as such; it's a holiday destination so if you live here, it's quite a drive to the shops.   

San Javier is very similar to San Pedro! It has the current airport, which gives it an advantage, but when Corvera's International Airport opens, that will change. Still, there are some lovely beaches and bars. 

Águilas is a beautiful place. Really beautiful. The beaches are probably the best in Murcia - on a par with the South of France. There are new properties here, but the developers are naive, so the resorts don't always have facilities such as bars. The town is lovely but it's mostly undiscovered by the Brits. That could be because of the roads - you used to have to drive all the way around to get here - but the new motorway means it's only 20 minutes from the Paramount Theme Park, so there's a lot of potential for things to improve. When the park opens and the facilities are added, Águilas could become one of the most in-demand hotspots in Murcia. 

Mazarron is a bit of a myth place... There is one development called Camposol, which has been there for years, but that was basically a bog land. Because the developer, MASA, was well connected, they erected these quick, pre-fab properties and sold them at low prices. They were featured on TV shows, such as Holidays from Hell. People still come out looking for these cheap detached villas, but they don't always buy them. It's 15 minutes in-land from the Murcia coastline, so they're not exactly beachfront, although there are several nice golf courses. Otherwise, Mazarron has got some great views, lovely mountains and nice beaches, but the properties on the coastline can be quite pricey.

Sucina - a typical mountain town, a nice little place with a couple of golf courses. It's popular with overseas buyers - quite a few Brits go to the Spanish schools there - but the market has got room to expand. Sucina seems to be at the centre of all the new motorways in Murcia. It's connected with the new shopping malls, the new airport, it's just 10 minutes to the coast, 10 minutes to the city... It's really well linked up. When Paramount Theme Park arrives and Murcia starts to see an undersupply of property, all kinds of developments will spring up around Sucina. 

Alhama de Murcia -  15 to 20 minutes inland, Alhama benefits massively from being the nearest town to Paramount Theme Park when it opens. Everyone wants to go there, it's popular, but I've never sold a house there. It's a nice town, but the property tends to be Spanish-style housing, situated above restaurants and bars. Existing developments that do appeal to overseas investors tend to consist of identical units of white houses. But most people in the know are buying property here now because of the location - in a few years, more developments will appear and demand will soar.

Corvera at the World Tourism Exhibition

November 5th  - 8th - World Travel Market 2012 at the London  Excel exhibition Centre


Interesting to see that an exhibition stand has been booked by the Aeropuerto Internacional Region de Murcia or Corvera as we all have come to know it over the last few years !

The new airport of the Spanish Mediterranean welcomes you

Región de Murcia International Airport (RMU) has been built to become a gateway to one of the Spanish tourist destinations with the greatest potential for growth. Southeast Spain now has a new gateway to the world through Región de Murcia International Airport. A comfortable, practical and efficient airport, for both passengers and airlines.

First Test Flight at Corvera

OK - It wasn't actually the Spanish Airforce - but its a great image !

With thanks to The Leader newspaper....exciting reports of further progress at Corvera

Still the subject of speculation and criticism, as well as disbelief and opinion that it may never happen, the authorities are still carrying on with the schedule of testing for operations at the soon to open Murcia Airport, located at Corvera.

This week, the Spanish airport authority, AENA, sent a technical test plane to the region of Murcia, with the sole intention of verifying that tests and adjustments which has now been completed, and that aircraft will be able to land and take off, using both traditional and state of the art methods, and that the airport is now technically ready for operations.

We have followed the development of Corvera airport for some time, you might remember that we recently reported that the infrastructure and aesthetics are complete and that the facility is ready and set to receive passengers, well this next stage will also prove that aircraft are able to use the airport, and that, once and for all, the long awaited transport hub for the Murcia region will be confirmed as a reality.

The flights undertaken by technical staff from Aena were aimed at testing out the procedures to be used by future operators of the airport and insuring that they were acceptable.  The procedures were previously agreed upon by the General Air Force Academy based at San Javier, following consultation with representatives from the Alcantarilla Air Base and the Spanish Air Force, as well as senior officials at the Department for Public Works and Planning of the regional government, the airport concessionary company and experts from Aena. 

The technical report states that during these verification flights, all arrival, departure and approach procedures which require the use of the VOR air navigation aid were tested, not only that of the new airport, but also those of nearby airports, namely San Javier, Alicante and Almería.  In addition, the technical staff tested procedures involving the use of RMU´s ILS (Cat I) precision approach instruments.

The official bulletin states that the results of these flights will be published by Aena Aeropuertos in an official report in the next few weeks, and will subsequently be presented to the Interministerial Committee of Defence and Public Works (CIDEFO) for approval.

So the buildings are ready, the runways are ready, now the instruments are set and working. Once the findings of this report are published, of which nothing has so far been highlighted to the contrary, it will be “chocks away” and all systems go as the Región de Murcia International Airport, or RMU for short, is declared officially ready, firmly fixing the region on the internationally prepared transport map of the world

Flood Devastation in Murcia Region

After one of the driest and hottest summers on record in the region the September rains arrived with a cruel  vengeance over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, after torrential rain triggered flash floods across a swathe of southern Spain and another 35 were injured when a tornado swept through a fairground in the valencian town of Gandia.. 

 

The strength of the torrents washed away cars, turned roads to rivers, damaged houses, brought down a motorway bridge and forced thousands to abandon their homes. Many people had to be rescued by the emergency services using inflatable rafts to ferry them to safety.  The worst hit areas were in the provinces of Málaga and Almería, and the Murcia region

Flooding in the Centre of Murcia

Spain's weather agency said that 9.6 inches of rain fell on Friday morning alone, the heavy rains in parts of the south follow months of drought and high temperatures across Spain which triggered dozens of wildfires. The flooding disrupted high-speed train service between Madrid and Valencia and regional lines, while bridges and roads became impassible. Two motorways were closed and a plane heading for Málaga was diverted to Seville. Heavy rains are expected to continue throughout the weekend, with the front moving north toward Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, according to a regional government spokesman in Málaga.

Murcia Today Report on Flooding

BBC News Images of the damage


On Condado the damage appear to have been limited to some local flooding and water ingress into apartments but with no substantial damage or harm to residents,

Season Review 2012

As the 2012 season comes to an end, some personal thoughts on the year

As I was preparing this entry a quote came to mind from the opening lines of the Tale of Two Cities that seemed appropriate….." It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”

There is no doubt that the resort in terms of population and commercial enterprise is growing steadily. There are still a  large number of properties available (certainly the lower number penthouse blocks all seem available ?) it’s apparent by reading the forums that there are a lot of new buyers around , attracted by the rock bottom prices and also no doubt.. the longer term potential of the resort.

The biggest social  / commercial change has come about with the resurrection of the Al Kasar courtyard, once a dusty barren area,  this now contains lively Bars / Restaurants and even a gift shop and Ice Cream Bar, we also have a US style diner proposed. Our thanks must go to all the individuals who have dedicated time and money to establishing such excellent services within the resort.

Thankfully we finally saw this year the siting of the golf clubhouse, many of us will recognize this building as we all stood on its roof many years ago and surveyed our dusty off plan purchases !.

The Condado golf club continues to go from strength to strength and arrival of a 19^th hole at the course will further cement the fine reputation these 18 holes have within Europe.

The twin pillars of optimism in Corvera Airport / Paramount Theme Park are still glinting temptingly on the horizon but not yet within touching distance.  However I read reports today that the military flight restrictions that have delayed Corvera may finally be resolved and that a April 2013 opening for commercial flights is now scheduled.

After the initial blast of publicity from the stone laying ceremony, news on Paramount has been limited,   I assume that they have been looking for finance with which to commence the build.  Jesus Samper the head of the project was originally quoted as saying there was money in place for initial build and I read since that there have been presentation tours in the US to raise capital finance. There has also allegedly been interest from Russia following news of large casino investments in both Barcelona and Madrid 

You will all have been aware of the emails sent out from Milenniun and the previous blog posts and it is this I think of as the "worst of times" in 2012.  Its sad when member of the community who has worked so hard on an unpaid and voluntary basis is so publicly vilified, by daring to ask legitimate questions over how OUR  money is spent in running the resort. There are allegations over commercial issues and as yet these are unproven although evidence is alleged to exist that evidences Mileniun may have not always been working in our best financial interests - further information to follow when publicly available.

 

Murcia Seeks Emergency Loans

The Spanish region of Murcia became the third to say it will need emergency loans, and Valencia signaled it needs funds to cover current and past overspending, adding fiscal pressure on Prime Minister Rajoy.

A day after Catalonia said it needed 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) from an 18 billion-euro bailout fund announced by Rajoy last month, an official in southeastern Murcia yesterday put its needs at 700 million euros. In Valencia, an official who asked not to be named in line with policy confirmed remarks by economy chief Maximo Buch to Europa Press that 3.5 billion euros would cover only current needs. 

   

A worried man ??

 Rajoy meets in Madrid today with French President Francois Hollande as he considers seeking a second European bailout after securing up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) in loans for banks. The country’s regions risk overwhelming a plan to tackle the euro area’s  third biggest budget deficit. They were responsible last year for most of Spain's overspending, which remained nearly unchanged from 2010 at 8.9 percent of gross domestic product.Together with Murcia, Valencia and Catalonia, Spain’s two most indebted regions, aim to use more than half of Rajoy’s last bailout fund, created to enable regions to face bond redemptions and finance their deficits in the second half.

“Everything depends on Andalusia now,” said Juan Rubio- Ramirez, an University economist in Durham, North Carolina. “If Andalusia asks for aid, it could be a similar amount to Catalonia and that means the fund may not be enough.” Rubio-Ramirez co-authored a report this month forecasting the regions may run deficits as high as 4 percent of GDP this year, compared with 3.3 percent last year and a target of 1.5 percent for 2012.

Andalusia, one of the four largest contributors to Spain’s GDP along with Madrid, Catalonia and Valencia, doesn’t rule out making a request, a local official who declined to be identified said by telephone. Along with Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Valencia and Catalonia in June tapped 68 percent of the 17.7 billion euros of loans set up by the government for the regions to settle their backlog of unpaid bills.

The four also used over two-thirds of another mechanism that prevented regional defaults in the first half, an approximately 5 billion-euro credit line from the Spanish government’s bank Instituto de Credito Oficial, or ICO. The region with the highest deficit last year, Castilla-La Mancha, hasn’t yet decided whether to tap the new fund.

Rajoy has said he’ll decide whether to request more aid after the European Central Bank details its involvement in a bond-buying plan aimed at lowering governments’ borrowing costs. Van Rompuy this week said European authorities are ready to assist. 

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos yesterday said a European mechanism to lower spreads would be thrashed out at a meeting between EU finance chiefs in Cyprus Sept. 14-15. The yield on Spain’s 10-year benchmark bond yesterday fell 2 basis points to 6.46 percent, narrowing the gap with similar German maturities to 5.08 percentage points. 

The government has budgeted for Catalonia’s needs, de Guindos told reporters in Madrid. “The government appreciates Catalonia’s efforts and has no doubt that it will continue to do what is necessary to meet this year’s and next year’s deficit targets.”

Catalonia may not be able to pay bills until it receives aid, news agency Efe reported, citing spokesman Francesc Holms. With their debt rated junk by at least one rating company, Valencia and Catalonia started losing access to capital markets in 2010, prompting them to rely on selling securities known as patriot bonds to their residents.

The regions have a combined debt load of 145 billion euros, which has doubled since 2008 to the equivalent of 14 percent of gross domestic product. Redemption's will amount to about 15 billion euros in the second half of this year, according to data from the Budget Ministry.

Economic Crisis impacts on Spanish Culture

Sad but I guess inevitable to read the comments below by the Murcia Culture minister Pedro Alberto Cruz on the economic crisis and how heavily it has impacted upon on the cultural activities in Murcia and beyond.

Spain’s economic crisis has reduced its once flourishing culture scene to a shadow of its former self.  "In no other developed country has culture been hit by the crisis as heavily as in Spain,” says Pedro Alberto Cruz, culture and tourism minister of the southern Murcia region.

The region, with 1.5 million residents, has seen its culture budget slashed from 148 million euros (178 million dollars) in 2008 to only 42 million euros. “The situation is similar” in Spain’s other 16 semi-autonomous regions, Cruz reported recently.  Museums run by the Murcia regional government remain open, but for instance the Conservera contemporary arts center has halved its number of exhibitions.

La Conservera Arts Centre in Murcia

There are no more opera performances in the regional auditorium. Many actors and musicians performing at theaters get no payment other than a part of the ticket revenues. “Big Spanish museums will survive. But everyday culture — theatre and dance companies, writers — is on the verge of disappearing,” Cruz said.

Not only are Spaniards spending less on culture in the country where a quarter of the workforce is unemployed. The central and regional governments have also axed culture budgets, prompting artists to stage unusual street rallies.  “Culture is not a luxury, it is a public good. Cuts in culture (budgets) produce citizens who are unable to think,” actor Juan Diego Botto said.

Before the economic crisis, the culture sector employed more than 600,000 people and contributed 4 per cent of Spain’s gross domestic product. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government eliminated the culture ministry as an independent entity and integrated it into the education ministry as part of its attempts to cut the 8.9-per-cent budget deficit.

The government also cut spending on culture by 15 per cent this year. From September onwards, value added tax on cinema, theatre or concert tickets will go up from 8 to 21 per cent — one of the highest levels in Europe. The measure will reduce audiences by 43 million people and kill 4,300 jobs, an association of culture entrepreneurs warned.

Spain’s once showcase movie industry has already suffered heavily from subsidy cuts and from internet piracy. Cinema audiences dropped from 144 million people in 2004 to 98 million in 2011. The country that gave birth to the likes of actress Penelope Cruz or director Pedro Almodovar sees its production figures tumbling.

Bookshops and art galleries are also languishing. “My paintings used to sell for thousands of euros, but now my gallery is only offering me 800 euros for them,” says a Madrid painter with a long career.  The crisis has even hit giants such as Madrid’s Prado art museum, home to masterpieces by Francisco de Goya or Diego Velazquez. Such top museums, however, can rely on income from entrance fees, souvenir and catalogue sales. The Prado has amplified its opening hours and plans to seek more sponsors.

Smaller venues and individual artists are also increasingly relying on private money. Murcia, for instance, has adopted the model known as "crowd-funding", initially developed by artists seeking small contributions on the internet. Companies can get the status of official sponsors by contributing at least 500 euros to cultural institutions or projects, Cruz explained. More than 100 companies have already joined in.

The Spanish culture scene is surviving through “efforts and imagination,” Cruz said. Some theatres, for instance, survive by renting out rehearsal rooms or by giving acting classes. Bookshops open cafeterias. Some cultural venues have taken bank loans.

The Spanish culture scene has depended too much on state subsidies, leaving it excessively vulnerable to the economic crisis, Cruz argues. “We want more sponsoring agreements and less of a subsidized culture,” said Jose Ignacio Wert, the minister responsible for culture, education and sports

Presidential Coup at Condado

The political machinations over Mileniun and the level 1 presidency continued over the weekend...

I received a request dated 14th August calling the Level 2 presidents to an EGM on the 17th to remove Mr Phillip Tann as the incumbent Level 1 president.

Its worth backtracking slightly at this point to clarify the presidential "structure" of the resort...

• There are 46 Presidents within the community
• These 46 elect 5 Presidents at Level 2
• The 5 presidents at level 2 elect the Level 1 President

Each Level has its own responsibilities and function with the resort , the Level 3 presidents are required to approve minor expenditure and repairs to their individual gardens / block area. The level 2 presidents are responsible for the facilities, street lights, cleaning etc. The level 1 president covers off security and the day to day strategy and financial administration.


This EGM request by Mileniun was in direct violation of the agreed constitution of the resort as specified under Article 21. To call a such an EGM with 24 hours of the request is not legal

If you were being exceptionally cynical, you would possibly surmise that this EGM had been called at a time to ensure that certain presidents concerned would be absent from the resort ??

The level 1 president responded to the request and agreed to hold an EGM within thirty to forty-five days of the original request (as per the agreed articles of the resort) the revised date for the EGM was suggested as  18th September..

To be clear this was not an attempt to delay the EGM and Mr Tann was happy to attend any meeting and despite being supported at all the previous meetings by the Level 2 Presidents he has already stated that he was prepared to stand down from his position if the majority voted to replace him.


There was no response to this request and the next thing we were all aware of, on Friday 17th  was the notification sent directly from Mileniun to all the owners informing us that we have a new president

Is this what passes for democracy in Spain in 2012 ?

Presidents and Politics.....

There has been a mass of vocal debate recently over what I have titled here as  "Presidents and Politics" or maybe "Condado-Gate", this has been initiated by the documents sent out recently to all owners by the resort administrators Mileniun Levante.

The first document issued on August 9th was a 20 page document containing a number of comments and accusations of impropriety and intractability against the standing Level 1 president of the resort.

The second document issued on August 10th runs to 78 pages and purports to be the minutes of the Presidents meeting held on 28th July.

I have no desire to delve into a line by line dissection or an audit of these documents and I wasn't present at the recent meetings so to do so would be unfair, as such my comments are based only on my personal experiences as a president and on the the interactions that I have had with Milenium and the Level 1 president.

Mileniun are employed by the "the community" and we all pay to employ them pay as such it is not correct procedure for them to issue such inflammatory statements to all owners under their own volition. It is also worth noting that the minutes sent out so publicly have not been approved and nor have they been signed off by the presidents as a "true and fair reflection"  of the meeting.  It is also telling that Mileniun chose to release these documents when the Level 1 president is away from the resort and unable to respond.

So why have they done this.....I am sure we have all been involved in commercial and social committees where the relationships have broken down - this seems to be very much the case here, one thing I am sure we are all in accordance with is we need less "war and more jaw"  we all want the resort to be well run but with adequate checks and balance on all parties who are spending our money and effecting our investment.

In a resort like Condado with several thousand apartments and a geographically diverse ownership base, the rule of 80/20 almost certainly applies, with 80% of the owners having little or no interest in what happens "in the background" as long as...when they arrive the grass is cut, the place is clean and they have water and electricity into their property.  To engage such a vast number of owners into a cohesive and decision making body is wholly impossible and as such, and whether we like it or not this power must be ceded to our representatives whether we have actively elected them or not .

The Presidents are elected on straight majority at the AGM, in reality... this may mean that if your Jardine has 200 separate properties and only 1 individual has offered his name as a president, he/she could be elected on a handful of votes. A major issue all the presidents have, is that we have no official listings of who lives in our specific garden  / block,  Mileniun have this information but under data protection are not allowed to pass over to us - this does make lines of communication difficult as we rely on the owners to contact the presidents, this was the key reason I started this blog to try and offer a heads up on important issues to the owners in P16.

I am sure that this debate will either gather steam over the next few weeks and blow up...or cool down and blow itself out, certainly it is not a time for knee jerk reactions on either side that risk putting the resort on a poorer commercial footing.

If you have any specific questions please do mail me.

Friday 27th July 2012

I couldn't miss this opportunity to celebrate the start of the 2012 Olympics in London today and to wish all participants an amazing games as the eyes of the world look on ...