HOoTr NOT?
L Some are naturally cool, some are designed that way... the Olive Press Property Magazine (inside) takes a look at the hottest (well coolest) new buildings on the FOREIGN RUSH Costa del Sol www.theolivepress.es
April 2023 IKE London buses, the saying goes, as wait ages, then two you turn up together. And that’s certainly with a pair of brand the case ings just opened in new buildEstepona. Dramatically changing the coastline - and genesis of the once small fishing - the Mirador del village tower and nearby Carmen neutral’ town hall ‘carbon much a statement are very mayor Jose Maria of current Garcia Urbano. Soon to enter his they come after fourth term, grand openings, a decade of including a hospital, athletics and orchid museum. stadium Taking just 14 months to build, the unusual Mirador del Carmen12-floor (left) comprises an arts and cultural centre, with close the Carmen Thyssen links to Museum, in Malaga. It also has a library, ditorium for concerts an aurooftop terrace with and a viewing platform. At the opening at the weekend Urbano described a ‘colophon’, a Greek it as word, SEEING DOUBLE: The new meaning inscription Estepona town hall and Mirador (below) at the end of a bookor stamp or manuscript. Junta president, Juanma Moreno, added it to the town and itswas a ‘gift’ It comes just weeksvisitors. after the town also finally inaugurated its new €13 million town hall (right). While its signature an internal slide boast is the fourth and fifth between liven up the days floors to employees, the of the 200 structure also aimsseven-floor to be carbon neutral. Said to be the ‘most sustainable town hall’ in to its renewable Spain, due energy creation and ‘bioclimatic solutions’, the cube by a white lattice is sheathed designed to shield the inhabitants from the heat of the day. Meanwhile, photovoltaic els have been installedpanon its roof, which are to cover the entire expected electricity demand.
FOREIGN property buyers accounted for 88,858 in Spain last year home purchases - up by 45% on 2021 figures. By Alex Trelinski The College of 9.47%, French (6.97%), buyers in coastal and island areas, Belgians fordeals struck by Registrars says (5.21%), Moroccans non-Spaniards year (5.15%), Roma- 41.7%led by Alicante province with while Romanians and Moroccans worth at least €500,000 nians (5.07%) and Dutch were the to of all house deals, with increased Overall,13.8%. Tener- chasers inleading non-Spanish purby 63.5% compared The registrars deduced (4.91%). ife on 35%. nearly 650,000 sales landlocked regions that propwere like vious year, accountingto the pre- carried out last year - the highest fig- erties with an area of over 100 m2 In terms of regions, the Balearic Aragon, Extremadura and Madrid. for 8,975 ure since transactions. are bought by Americans, Islands account for Total 2007, just 34.38% of all 646,241transactions last year were the Brit- non-Spanish The registrars added erty bubble burst in before the prop- ish, Danes and Dutch, deals - 14.5% more sales. while those than in centage of foreigners that the per- The breakdown of Spain. results by nation- below 80 m2 are usually acquired by That's followed by the Canary Is- 2021 with used property sales exSpanish housing marketentering the ality puts UK buyers Moroccans, Romanians, lands ceeding 530,000. at 11.07% of Poles Bulgarians, Murcia (28.6%), Valencia (26.8%), The around 13% annually, is normally purchases made by and Italians. average price paid for (19%), Andalucia (15%) foreigners. but rose last They a home in and Spain was around Unsurprisingly tourist Catalunya (13.5%). are followed by Germans €188,000 - a 4.5% areas are with areas that rise, with bigger most foreign buyers the Broadly speaking, British and increases in the Gergo man buyers led the list of foreign Balearic Islands, Madrid, the Basque Country and Catalunya.
High spending foreigners
OLIVE PRESS
boost property market
with Brits on top
ANDALUCÍA
The FREE
Property
st s be ag n’ m ai ty ish Sp operEngl pr in
SLIM SHADY
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 17 Issue 416 www.theolivepress.es April 5th - April 18th 2023
Happp Easter www.protecgroupspain.com
Frontier Justice
‘West west’ border dispute with policeman’s family leads expat to sell up and flee remote mountain region AN expat has been forced to sell her country home after taking a neighbouring landowner to court for assaulting her. Human rights campaigner Sarah Hermitage was left sprawled in the
EXCLUSIVE By Walter Finch
dirt after tangling with Vicente Gonzalez, 66, and his Guardia Civil son in September 2020.
A video shows the terrifying moment the British expat, 69, was thrown to the ground, as she tried to remove fence posts illegally installed on her land in inland Granada. A trial that took over two years to come to Motril court eventually found Gonzalez guilty of assault and various claims against her thrown out. However, despite her victory, Hermitage, a human rights lawyer, told the Olive Press she has been forced to sell up and move after the ‘threats, bullying and intimidation’ continSee ued. Spain’s “It’s very reWeirdest mote and like Easter the Wild West Events up there,” the on p6, anti-corruption Semana campaigner infriendly sisted. on p16 “When I first showed them and Rain my title deeds God on our to my land they back page threw it on the
While the tourists might disagree, most locals and long-term expats are preying for the heavens to open this Easter as we approach a summer of drought...And as the Spanish will tell you it always seems to pour during Semana Santa. Happy Easter come rain or shine!
FLOORED: Hermitage was left writhing on the ground and in happier times with Stewart floor. I then told them I would pull the poles out if they put them in again.” Hermitage had bought her charming country farmhouse near the isolated village of Guajar Alto, in 2014, to retire. It came after the lawyer and her late husband Stewart were forced to flee Tanzania at gunpoint after facing death threats and violence over another land dispute. But, within months of arriving in the Granada region things started to turn sour once again. It quickly became clear that Gonzalez and his family held undue sway in the mountainous area, running the local water authority. When Hermitage complained about a loud water generator installed illegally by a river, things heated up. A few months later, the fallout intensified when he decided he owned part of her land and decided to fence it off to plant
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avocados. “It was completely clear who owned the land as I had the escritura and deeds, which clearly marked the boundaries,” she told the Olive Press. “I obviously made that clear via friends and a lawyer but he just wouldn’t listen.” When in September 2020 she woke up to find a new fence going in, she decided she had to act. With a friend coming along to record the conversation she began to remove the posts, throwing them into a ravine in front of the Gonzalez workers. Like a red rag to a bull, a dramatic video shows the moment Gonzalez aggressively drives up to Hermitage at speed along their shared track, only narrowly avoiding hitting her. A physical altercation quickly ensues between Hermitage and Gonzalez, who recently retired from the forestContinues on Page 4
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