Hacienda del Alamo - International Golf Resort of the Year 2007

Hacienda del Alamo, a luxurious Golf Resort in the Murcia region of Spain, won the "International Golf Resort of the Year 2007" award in Dublin on Tuesday November 27th. The Commercial Director of Hacienda del Alamo, Rafael Ruiz, was there to accept the award from Suzanne Coyne, presenter of "Golf Ireland", a programme on Irish television channel TV3. The Resorts Agents Manager, Aisling Brew, and Communications Director, Chris Mann, were also present. The award itself was a spectacular piece of Waterford Crystal.

Rural land prices continue to rise sharply

Rural land prices in some parts of Spain continue to appreciate at the same rate as last year, reports the Spanish daily ‘ABC’. According to the article experts agree that rural land near to big cities or in areas with good tourism potential is still an excellent investment. The price per hectare for rural land has increased by 30% per year for the last 2 years, but only in areas with the right climate and other conditions suitable for recreation. Though recreational buyers have been driving the market for attractive rural land, 2 other factors are now adding to demand for rural property in Spain: solar energy farms, and cereal farms for biodiesel fuel.

Spain's Property Market Clean-Up

The Spanish government is getting tough on real-estate corruption, with more than 100 investigations opened into suspect public officials and developers just six months after special police units were set up to fight corruption in the sector. So far the civil guard has arrested 57 people and charged 126 others.

The investigations are tackling a huge volume of corruption that erupted during the ten-year property boom, especially in Andalucia, where British investors have been victims of many of the building scams.

The majority of the culprits are town halls officials who accepted bribes from construction companies in order to push through building permits or break zoning laws, allowing properties to be build on beaches and on protected green areas.

The Spanish government has already begun clearing the Spanish costas of illegal buildings, which the Ley de Costas planning law stipulates have to be 106 metres from the waterline. The Ministry for the Environment has demolished more than 660 homes and hotels built too close to the shoreline this year.

The civil guard units are also working to set up a registry of all illegally built properties across the country. This will help to discourage government officials from accepting bribes in future, and developers from offering, all of which makes the Spanish property market a much safer place to invest.

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