DESPITE the continuing downfall of property prices in the United States, Spain’s continues to shine on the contrary even as winter is coming up. Everybody knows that the peak of tourist arrivals and along with that, the demand for summer holiday homes, is during summer where lots of activities are taking place aside from the usual beach moments where Northern and Western European troop because of the high temperatures there from 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. During the Holy Week, lots of religious festivals are taking place and for the whole week of May, there are festivals every day in every place in the country. Lots of major sports activities are taking place during summer like the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and premier sailing event America’s Cup all happening at Valencia. Then there’s the obligatory game of bullfighting where almost every Spaniard who’s got testosterone goes. Bullfighting is also popular among the other Europeans like the Portuguese who live in the same Iberian Peninsula where Spain is located. This is another reason that even the Portuguese, who have their own real estate boom in their country, also crave to live in Spain. It may not be permanent but they do invest in holiday homes here in Spain especially in landlocked areas and near the Alps – places rarely found in seaside Portugal.

Now that winter is approaching, the shift in real estate marketing is focused in the Alps area where winter sports like skiing, Alps hiking and cycling around the mountain ranges abound. There are available cabins up for sale or for lease for vacationers who want to have a serene view of the snowy surroundings and beyond. They may be remote so they may not have access to cable television or Internet. Surely, there is no DSL central office in that area and dialup is of course nil. One can have Internet or cable television through satellite means but this can be expensive. And when one lives in a remote mountain cabin, one must not live alone to assist himself or herself during times of emergency in such an isolated area. Prior to buying the place, the prospective owner must also know the way to the nearest trauma hospital as well as how to contact emergency numbers such as the nearest fire suppressing station and the nearest police detachment.

Another reason why Spanish properties continue to boom is the real estate policy and taxation system in the country. Real estate policy is friendly to foreign ownership and there are only two known taxes – the annual property income tax and the monthly garbage collection tax which goes directly to the national government where the villa or the condominium is located. Taxes are where the Spanish economy can rake from foreign property owners. Most of the British owners of holiday homes here lease their properties to their compatriots, thus earning income with corresponding tax to be remitted yearly to the Spanish government. With a booming Spanish real estate in sight, who’s afraid of tumbling mortgages overseas?