I am always pleasantly surprised as to how things seem to work here.  Out of apparent chaos there seems to be a level of organisation that manages to save the day.   You can now drive through San Pedro on the lower road and the link to the Ronda road has been greatly improved with a new slip road and a large roundabout replacing the dreadful traffic lights for the left turn into the centre of San Pedro.

Every time I drive through (about twice a day) I am amazed at the speed with which the landscape changes and I think it will be fascinating to see the final result.

I do however feel sorry for the businesses on the A7 in San Pedro as they have lost all their passing trade and must be struggling to make ends meet in the current situation.

Until next time

Michael

Whilst the road works in San Pedro continue to cause a measure of frustration the end result will, I am sure, be worth all the inconvenience of the last, and future months.

This week the new link road between the Ronda Road and Benahavis Road is now open.  This link has been long awaited and it now means that from the North of San Pedro it is easy to by-pass the road works without using the toll road and it will in the future be a great help in opening up Benahavis and the new communities in the area of La Alqueria, Marbella Golf and Monte Mayor.

Over the years a lot of potential buyers have steered clear of the New Golden Mile because of the inconvenience of driving through San Pedro.  Once the new road system is open I think that this objection will fade and we will see buyers whose focus is Marbella looking at this area as a viable option to the established locations to the East of Marbella.

Normally I shy away from anything to do with the media but in this case the producers wanted to make a factual show to give viewers an idea as to what the changes in prices would allow them to buy for their money and also wanted to show some positive images of the Costa del Sol’s beaches, marinas and golf etc.  Fortunately they did not want me or any of my staff to appear on the programme so as far I was concerned we were happy to help.

We supplied a number of properties for them to film and our Vendors were, for the most part, more than helpful and happy to co-operate.  The filming was far more long winded and harder work than I had anticipated and I have to confess that I now have a great deal more respect  for these people what goes into the making of a few minutes of  T.V.

What really surprised me was how uncooperative various businesses were and how difficult it was to get them to help.  There were golf courses who wouldn’t allow the crew to film on or near the golf course, restaurants and beach bars that didn’t want to know etc.  To me the most incredible was the marina at Puerto Banús where they were not allowed to film anything because it was private.   The security guard there even escorted the cameraman out of the marina to ensure that he did not get any footage.   In contrast you had businesses like the Ocean Club who having seen the camera out on the beach came out to see if they could be of any help.  They couldn’t have been more helpful  even found the crew a boat so that they could film the coastline from the sea.

I am not sure whether this attitude to film crews is because people do not understand the value of publicity or whether they have become jaundiced to the media because of all the bad publicity which has been generated by unbalanced reporting and tv making.  Whichever is the case I now have a much greater appreciation of how hard these people have to work to get a few minutes of T.V.

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Until next time

Michael

Despite all the gloomy predictions from my friends who write the newspapers it would seem that more people than anticipated are deciding to take a holiday on the Costa del Sol!  Unfortunately the car hire companies seem to have based their fleets on the predicted volumes and we now have the ludicrous solutions that tourists coming to the coast are unable to find cars available for hire.  Even worse when there are cars available the prices seem to around treble the rate that would have been charged in previous years.

I have some friends coming over later today who (stupidly) forgot to book their car hire and were amazed to find that they were being quoted in the region of 750 Euros for a basic car for 11 days.   They eventually found something for around 500 Euros but this is nearly 2.5 times as much as they have paid in previous years.   Seems crazy to me when the car makers have fields of unsold cars and we are all doing everything we can to encourage tourism to the area.

I think it is another reminder that in these difficult times that we cannot afford to go into total hibernation.  There is business out there and we need to be prepared and ready to provide the services when they are demanded.   One would hope that with this experience people will book earlier next year although my big concern is that, next year, the tourists will go elsewhere on the basis that the Costa del Sol has become too expensive.

Until next time

Michael

I certainly didn’t until I read about it in the Sur in English, after the event!  It would appear that this move only increased traffic flow on the toll road by 13% which isn´t surprising if, like me, nobody knew about it.

Apparently the toll was only waived between San Pedro and Estepona.  If you drove diirect from Marbella to Estepona you had to pay the full toll.   Now, in order to enter the Toll road at San Pedro you would have to sit in the greatest part of thetraffic queue for San Pedro, then turn right onto the Ronda Road, head inland and join the toll road north of San Pedro. You would probably get to Estepona quicker by continuing through San Pedro!

Marbella Town Hall have already, and quite rightly in my opinion, said that this isn’t enough and have asked the Government to waive charges on the toll Road for the whole of July and August. I hope that for once they listen.   The toll road should be free for the whole of the holiday season from Marbella right the way through to Estepona.   It should be widely publicised and all the overhead gantries should be changed to tell people that the road is open and free.

Come on Spain, lets show the viistors that they are welcome and that we want to make their stay here as pleasant as possible!

Until next time

Michael

We then saw a hairdresser from the North of England who was moving to Marbella to start a new hairdressing business. His first day seemed to go well but apart from that there was no more information given.

A large portion of the program followed one of Marbella’s longest established agents as she glided through a few large Villas and then went to the hairdressers.  I really am not too sure why she agreed to appear on the show but I guess it has something to do with the maxim that all publicity is good publicity even if the program maker is looking at you with a tongue firmly pressed into the cheek!

If this is the best that ITV can do when making a review of the Spanish property market then to my mind it is a very sad indictment of their journalistic prowess. Maybe one day we will see some of these programs making an attempt to show a balanced view of their subject matter although I realize that sensationalism is the only way to attract viewers!

The market is difficult and times are hard for everyone at the moment.  Having said that the level of doom and gloom portrayed by the media is well and truly overboard and is doing nothing to help the current situation.

Until next time

Michael

Although during the last years his reputation was dragged through the mud nothing can take away from the fact that the man was a genius  who has left behind a legacy of some of the most impressive and moving music that I have heard.

In 1988 I went to the Bad concert at Wembley Stadium in London where the atmosphere was electric and the performance amazing.

I was interested to read in the Diario Sur that Michael Jackson had performed the same concert in Marbella in 1988, his first live concert in Spain.  It was interesting to read that even in those days his entourage of 150 people and his requirements were unusual even for a star of his caliber.

He stayed at the, now troubled, Los Monteros Hotel where a dance floor had to installed in his suite together with plastic flooring and extensive medical equipment because of his pre-occupation with his health.  The concert needless to say was a sell out and, as with me, still remembered by all those who were lucky enough to attend it.

But now I wonder why do we not see concerts of this standard in the Marbella area these days?  We only seem to get 2nd rate shows and artists who are well past their “sell by dates”!  I am hoping that the refurbishment of the Nueva Andalucia Bull Ring as a concert venue may bring us more interesting shows and concerts which are worthy of an area such as ours.

Without it in 20 years time I don’t think I will be writing reminiscing about the artists who were on in Marbella in the Summer of 2009!

Michael Moon

As a long term resident of Spain and the owner/manager of an estate agency here I am always wary when the media get the teeth into the Spanish Property Market.

To a certain extent my fears were proved right as we were told the usual stories of disastrous experiences suffered by the unfortunate people who had got themselves embroiled in the financial trap of owning properties that were either, difficult, or impossible to sell in the current market conditions.

Whilst the cases shown were typically extreme it is fair to say that the current economic situation has put many people into the position where ownership of property with big mortgages is proving to be a liability.

I spend a large portion of my working life at the moment advising people who find themselves in this type of situation.  Property Owners who for one reason or another either cannot afford to continue funding their mortgages, or who need to release their equity in order to use the money for other purposes.

The majority of the problems all seem to be rooted in the amounts of money that have been borrowed.   Over the last decades we have all fallen into the trap of believing that borrowing was the way to fund the lifestyles which we believe we are entitled to.  The Financial Institutions made this so easy.

They desperately wanted all of us to jump on the bandwagon and it seemed that the borrowing frenzy was never ending.   The availability of money helped push the house prices up,  and rising house prices increased the feel good factor making us all feel wealthier, better and more important.

Now it is clear that all that has stopped.  Hopefully the banks will take a more responsible attitude to lending in the future and for our part, I hope we will take a more responsible attitude towards borrowing.   But where does that leave the property market, and more importantly Spain?

I am extremely confident in the future of the Spanish market.  As agents we resisted the temptation to diversify into the new markets and have remained focused on the Costa del Sol.  Our Offices are all seeing increased inquiry levels from genuine buyers and sales are being made on a daily basis.

We have noted that the buyers are currently coming from more diverse countries and in recent months Dutch, Russian and Spanish buyers have been the largest groups.   The British have dropped back into fourth place, mainly I think, as a result of the low pound, but even this seems to be rallying and so far in June the number of British Inquiries has increased dramatically.

The Infrastructure on the Costa del Sol coupled with the best climate in Europe have always made it the most logical place to own a second home or to come and live.  We have a truly multi-cultural, multi-national society and now, with lower prices it is more affordable.

As the programme stated at its closure,  “The British love of Spain seems to continue”  from our perspective that seems to be true… but it is not just for the British!

Regards

Michael Moon

I have always thought that the chiringuitos on the beach were one of the most attractive features of the Costa del Sol´s beaches.  Let’s be honest we are not endowed with the best beaches in the world but being able to sit in a chiringuito enjoying a glass of wine or a plate of sardines has always been one of the simple pleasures of life here.

Are these simple pleasures to be taken away and are the Junta de Andalucia and the Town Halls determined to shoot themselves in the foot on this issue?

Regards

Michael Moon