Lanzarote is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Spain.  With around 1.5 million tourists attracted to this small Canary Island’s beautiful beaches every year.

Like the other six islands in the archipelago Lanzarote boasts wonderful weather all year round.  As it is situated close to the West African coast and the Tropic of Cancer.  [...]]]>

Lanzarote is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Spain.  With around 1.5 million tourists attracted to this small Canary Island’s beautiful beaches every year.

Like the other six islands in the archipelago Lanzarote boasts wonderful weather all year round.  As it is situated close to the West African coast and the Tropic of Cancer.  But remains a Spanish possession and a member of the EU.  So visitors from countries such as the UK don’t need any special visas or paperwork to enjoy a holiday here.

Britain is in fact the largest source of the islands’ tourists guests.  This is partly due to the fact that there are cheap flights to Lanzarote 1 available from most major airports in the UK,  as a result of increased competition on this route between operators such as Ryanjair and easy Jet over the last year.

Lanzarote is volcanic in origin and this is evident as holiday flights circle and touch down on the island.  The south is dominated by the Timanfaya National Park, which is where enormous eruptions took place in the 1730’s.  Leaving this whole region covered in lava fields.  But don’t worry as all of the volcanoes on the island are now dormant.

Thanks to the internet many visitors now find their accommodation direct online rather than booking a package holiday with a tour operator.  There are some fantastic quality holiday villas in Lanzarote available for rent, especially in resorts such as Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen.  Whilst apartments also offer excellent value for those working to a slightly tighter budget.

As well as being shaped by Mother Nature Lanzarote has also developed into a modern holiday island with the help of a local artist, Cesar Manrique.  Who created a set of unique visitor attractions as well as battling against over development.  As a result the island today is free of high rise buildings and tourists can sample the delights of wonderful sights such as the Jameos de Agua, Mirador del Rio and the Cactus Garden.  All of which were created by Manrique.

The artist was sadly killed in a car crash in 1992 but his efforts were rewarded in 1994 when Lanzarote was awarded the status of a UNESCO biosphere reserve.  There is certainly a lot to see so visitors area advised to book a rental vehicle form one of the many Lanzarote car hire offices located across the island and get out and explore.

The first weekend in February 2008 saw teams testing on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. These teams are preparing for the upcoming Grand Prix season, which commences with the Australian Grand Prix in [...]]]> Things have been a bit stormy in the Mediterranean of late as Spanish Grand Prix fans racially abused British driver Lewis Hamilton.

The first weekend in February 2008 saw teams testing on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. These teams are preparing for the upcoming Grand Prix season, which commences with the Australian Grand Prix in March.

Some Spanish racing fans hurled taunts, insults, and racial slurs at Lewis Hamilton during his walks to the track. There is much hatred and resentment seething in Spain because of Hamilton’s rivalry with Fernando Alonso.

Alonso is a Spaniard and a former teammate of Lewis at Mercedes-McLaren racing. Although he is now part of the Renault team, Alonso felt McLaren gave preferential treatment to Hamilton last year. Alonso expected special status with McLaren and was upset when he didn’t receive it. In last year’s driver competition, Alonso finished directly behind Hamilton in the standings.

There were televised reports of some spectators wearing monkey suits and slinging racist remarks at Hamilton. Hamilton was also the target of booing.

Spain’s motorsport authorities condemned the behavior of these so called ‘fans’. Anticipating trouble, the Catalunya authorities had extra security on hand for the practice sessions. They also had fencing around the team areas for protection.

Spain’s racing community fears Formula 1 will take severe action against them if this abuse continues. The FIA (International Automobile Federation) has the power to suspend races in Spain. They could cancel the Spanish Grand Prix if they feel further volatile and repugnant behavior will manifest itself. The European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain could face a similar fate if these disruptions continue.

Many Spaniards dislike, and even hate Hamilton because of his rivalry with Alonso. He is a firm favorite though in the wider world of Formula 1 due to his racing skills.

Lewis Hamilton, born in Stevenage, UK, is twenty-three years old. The 2007 Australian Grand Prix saw his debut on The Formula 1 circuit.

With McLaren, he chalked up 17 starts, 16 finishes, and 12-placings at the podium last year. He won six pole-positions and was the victor in four Grand Prix races. These victories occurred in Canada, the United States, Hungary, and Japan.

Hamilton started racing at age eight and at age ten won his first British Kart Championship. At age thirteen he became the first (and still the only) teenager to sign a contract with a Formula 1 team.

This achievement came about when Mercedes-McLaren signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme. He continues to impress and develop as a racecar driver.

The racism in Spain aimed at Lewis spurred Gerry Sutcliffe, a British government sports minister, to take the FIA to task. He wants to see and end to this cycle of abuse against British athletes when they visit Spain. English soccer players were targets of racial abuse in the past few years during games in Spain.

Rio Ferdinand, a leading Manchester United and England player, issued a call for rectifying action from F1’s governing body over the Hamilton incident. He played for England when they met Spain in a soccer match in Madrid in 2004. To Spain’s shame then black players were subject to verbal abuse throughout the match.

Formula 1 wants to solve this problem quickly and take measures so it doesn’t happen again. They do not want the aura of 1985 lingering over their sport. In 1985, there was much controversy as F1 decided to continue their race in South Africa that year.

South Africa’s apartheid policy caused many international sporting events to avoid the country some decades earlier. The apartheid system segregated people by race and discriminated against blacks.

Formula 1 insisted in racing in South Africa 1985 under apartheid. It became a blemish on their history, and it is something they do not want to repeat.

Formula 1 moves on with preparations for the 2008 season. There is concern Spain’s two Grand Prix races could be in jeopardy if racist fans do not curb their behavior.

Looking [...]]]> Original article: Property blog
According to Spain’s national institute of Statistics (INE) the collapse in property sales may be coming to an end. Based on the latest figures from July (link below), there were a total of 37,079 property transactions in the month, of which 33,694 were standard sales and 3,345 were social housing (VPO).

Looking at non-VPO sales for a moment, that is a decrease of 19.6% year on year. Not necessarily a good figure, but compared to earlier in the year there has been a marked improvement in the level of sales with an increase month on month of 5.8%. Finally a positive bit of news!

On another interesting note looking at the figures for Spain, of the total properties sold 18,688 were for newly completed properties and 18,351 were for re-sales. This is the first time in recent years that both of these categories have reached parity. Generally new properties have made up a higher percentage of the total over the last year, due to the off-plan property boom in recent years. But with fewer and fewer off-plan sales from the ‘boom’ left to go to completion, this figure should continue to decrease and re-sales should once again make up the majority.

But this does not mean there will be no more new build sales. There are still many promotions on the market still looking for buyers. So, we can expect the figure to continue to decrease, as the best new build properties will sell first, and the less popular will continue to drop in price until there is demand. Although I could be wrong on this matter and the new build figure might suddenly plunge to next to nothing! Unlikely, but still a possibility.

Now for a bit of positive news for us here in Andalucía. Of the total 37,039 properties sold in Spain, 7,898 were in Andalucía. That 21.1% of the total. Or 1 in 5 of all properties sold in Spain!

So although the figures are better for July than for June, year on year, they are still down. And of course they are lower than the 2007 peeks. But if this trend continues we might soon see the end of this long dark tunnel

INE Report

Regards
Andrew Belles
Costa del Sol property