Record Number of Tourists in Spain

Spain is still a massive draw for holidaymakers, with statistics showing higher tourism levels than ever.

Spain’s tourist board are celebrating a successful year after figures have revealed record numbers of foreigners visiting the country’s holiday hotspots last year.

During 2007, 59.2 million overseas visitors descended on cities and coastal resorts, 1.7 per cent more than 2006, with the Industrial, Tourism and Trade Ministry reporting that Andalusia was among the most popular destinations, especially areas along the Costa de Sol.

The main market is still the UK, with Britain accounting for 27.5 per cent of all foreign visitors, though Spain is also becoming increasingly popular with North American visitors, with the number of arrivals from the United States rising from 22 per cent to 1.1 million.

Britain’s passion for Spain’s holiday and property market is partly due the abundance of low cost airlines linking the two countries, making trips to Spain easy and affordable. Low cost airlines are credited with carrying 24 million passengers to Spain over the past year, an increase of 34 per cent from 2006. Ryanair are the overall leaders with 5.4 million passengers, followed by Easyjet with 4.2 million.

Málaga was the principal entry point for the 3.6 million low cost travellers who arrived in Andalucia last year, with six out of every ten tourists reaching the Costa del Sol via low cost airlines.

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Murcia On The Rise

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Commerce show that:

(1) passenger traffic is up 23 per cent at San Javier airport;

(2) cruise traffic is up 20 per cent at Cartagena port;

(3) overall tourist spending is up by 30 per cent; and

(4) Murcia has been the third most popular location for British property buyers – behind Alicante and Malaga.

Property prices in the region of Murcia are still some 15 per cent below the national average.

Crack down on under-declared property sales

There has been talk of a new crack down on under-declared property sales in Spain.

Q: What procedures and evidence do buyers need to follow / produce when purchasing a property to ensure they are not under-declaring? What are the possible penalties if found guilty of undeclaring?

A: Since the late eighties and during the nineties, under declaration on the purchase price in the Title Deeds has been an unfortunate, and endemic, practice in Spain. When the Euro was going to come into force in 2001, a massive exchange of B monies was produced for obvious reasons: the peseta was going to disappear. It would be naive to say that under declaration does not exist anymore, but because of the incorporation of the Euro as a new currency and due to the strict attitude of the Inland Revenue (Hacienda Publica) and the Public Prosecution Department (Ministerio Fiscal), this is a practice which appears to have been virtually abandoned. In fact, it is difficult to find this practice if you are buying from a well-known, reputable developer.

Buyers must ensure that every payment is made / transferred from their account to the seller's account. The balance of the purchase price should also be made by means of a Bank Transfer or handing over a cheque or bankers draft on completion at the notary's office. You should never make cash payments or payments which have not been documented prior to completion of your purchase. You should also ask - and this should be agreed in your contract - whether the full price is declared in your title deeds; otherwise you should pull out of the deal.

When you attend completion before the Spanish Notary, make sure all monies you have paid are declared in the title deeds and check that the price that appears in the deeds is the price agreed and paid by you. If you notice that the price to be declared is less than the one you have agreed and paid, you should mention this to the Notary and refuse to sign the title deeds unless the full price is declared. Nowadays, under declaration may not only lead to a penalty with surcharges and interest from the Inland Revenue, but in some cases, it may lead to imprisonment.

Story from www.opp.org.uk