Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which includes Ibiza and Minorca, and has been a popular holiday destination since 1952, in particular with visitors from the UK and Germany. The island of Mallorca is an easy to reach Mecca for sun worshippers from all over Europe, showing off a fantastic coastline of more than 550km!

Once you have decided on Mallorca as your ideal holiday destination and you have confirmed your Self Catering Property Rental you can start planning what to see, do and eat when you get there, the island has some fantastic resorts, water parks, museums, restaurants, bars, cafes and so much more to suit everybody’s taste!

Fly into Son Sant Joan Airport, Palma, the Capital of the Island and of the Balearic Islands from all UK major airports and some smaller local ones with any of the major airlines and the Budget airlines, such as Thomson Fly, BMI baby and Easy Jet! Palma Airport is situated approximately 9km away from the city centre, and is in close proximity to many of the major resorts that the island has to offer.

There is a bus that runs from the Airport to the city every 15 minutes, which will connect you to buses that run all over the island. The bus services on Mallorca are very good, but remember that the service is limited later on into the evenings and on Sundays.

The best way to explore the island and everything that it has to offer is to hire a car, this can be done direct from the airport, or the majority of the resorts have hire car offices, that offer competitive rates all year round.

Take a day out from your ideal self catering holiday accommodation and visit the historical city of Palma; you can get there from all the resorts on the island by bus or just a simple drive. Once there book yourself onto an open top tour bus, which guides you round the city taking you to the more popular tourist attractions including Pueblo Espanol and one of the larger shopping centres on the island Porti Pi.

Do some celebrity spotting while wasting away the afternoon sat in a Tapas bar, sampling some of the local culinary delights, which include olives, almonds and for those with a sweet tooth the Ensaimada.

The island of Mallorca is and has been the home to many celebrities over the years from Frederic Chopin and George Sand to modern day celebrities like Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones and the legendary Peter Stringfellow! Even the Spanish Royal Family can be spotted here during the summer months, while they stay in their Majorcian Palace!

See if you can coincide your self catering holiday with one of the many Spanish Holidays, and Mallorca like the rest of Spain celebrates the national and local fiestas in style! Two of the most popular fiestas are the Celebration of the Christians winning power over the Moors which is held in May and the Sant Joan Festival in October which celebrates the arrival of winter.

Mallorca is a haven for sun worshippers from all over the world, and offers some great value self catering self property rental in the resorts all over the island. There are fantastic resorts all over the island, with some of the most popular being;

Palma The capital city which shows that there is more to Mallorca than neon light late night bars and nightclubs. Dominating the Palma Skyline is the historic cathedral of La Seu which had its first foundation stones laid in 1229! The cathedral is home to many chapels including St Peter, Corpus Christi Chapel, All Souls Chapel just to name a few. Throughout the year the city is home to open air concerts,exhibitions, festivals, ballets and theatre productions along with bars and nightclubs in the El Terreno district, this area is a gay friendly area and offers a great alternative to the bars and clubs that can be found in the resorts of Magaluf and Palma Nova. One of the more respectable nightclubs and the one to be seen in, in Palma is Tito’s, three floors of cocktails, champagne and beautiful people! On your visit to Palma don’t miss the opportunity to travel to Soller on the historic Street Car, these traditional street cars date back to 1913 and hold 12 people in each carriage, travelling through some fantastic scenery and lemon and orange groves along the way to the pretty little town of Soller.

Alcudia Situated on the north coast of Mallorca, this is a great destination for your next self property rental holiday. An easy drive from the airport in Palma, infact some may say that this is easiest drive on the island. Alcudia has warm shallow waters, and a relaxed and cheerful attitude making it a popular resort among families in particular those with younger children.

Cala Millor A more modern resort that is the largest on the east coast of the island. Cala Millor has over 65 Self Catering apartments available throughout the year. With a coastline of 6km of sheltered bay, the beach here is known as one of the best on the island, offering a number of water sports activities. The local market is held here on a Friday, one not to be missed! Cala Millor is one of the livelier resorts on this stretch of coast, with evening entertainment from a selection of bars and nightclubs.

Magaluf Approximately 15km from Palma Airport, Magaluf is the largest resort on the South coast of the island. Magaluf resort stays open all year round, and from October through to Easter is more accommodating to couples and people looking for some winter sunshine, than in the summer months. Magaluf has fine sandy beaches with many of the self catering villas and apartments having fantastic views of the beach and the bay. Magaluf is home to many a nightclub, Karoke Bars and late night if not all night drinking bars. The largest nightclub in Magaluf is BCM, which has a maximum capacity of 4000 people! If you are looking for an action packed holiday in Mallorca, then Magaluf is the place for you, it is certainly not somewhere for a person of the faint hearted to stay!

Magaluf is home to not one but two of the water parks on the island, AquaLand which is great for thrill seekers offering some death defying rides and Western Water Park, a wild west themed water park home to not just water slides, but a diving show, falconary, animal farm and a replica wild west town with can can dancers and knife throwing performers! Both parks offer a multi pass which means that you can visit them time and time again!

Palma Nova The quieter side of the resort of Magaluf and one of the earliest purpose built resorts on the island. In Palma Nova you will find some lovely bars and restaurants that don’t just offer the typical English food along with the majority of the major chain takeaways including McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King and KFC, making this an ideal base for any one on a self catering holiday. The beach here is kept clean and tidy, as are the others on the island, due to the fact that it is illegal to drink alcohol on the beach and to take any form of glass bottle on to the beach itself. Palma Nova to date only has one nightclub that stays open until the early hours. Palma Nova is a quieter alternative to the action packed neighbouring resort of Magaluf.

Santa Ponsa Santa Ponsa Resort is less famous than its neighbouring resorts of Magaluf and Palma Nova. Santa Ponsa has a strong Celtic theme and is popular with the Irish and the Scottish alike. The main beach in Santa Ponsa is popular with tourists and locals alike so if you want to get away from the crowds head for the smaller beach in its own sheltered little cove which is approximately 15 minutes walk away. Santa Ponsa has a wide selection of great cafes, restaurants and live music venues that cater for all. The Supermarkets in the area have adapted to the increasing number of self catering visitors to the resort and they offer many of the UK branded products, albeit at an inflated price.

With all the resorts offering some fantastic and value for money accommodation, it makes them ideal for your perfect self catering holiday whether you choose to stay in an apartment of villa in Mallorca.

Whatever resort you decide to stay in you will always find that the locals are cheerful and easy going, with some great attractions on offer in each resort with the whole island being a fantastic place to holiday, and you will return time and time again!

Europe’s favourite holiday island Majorca is set to have Spain’s most luxurious hotel in Spain on her soil, boosting the island’s image and economy while attracting high spenders, according to news reports recently.
As well as helping the island’s economy directly, luxury hotels, especially on a favourite holiday island to many Europeans and North Americans, will doubtless see Majorca mentioned in the press and on entertainment shows when the stars drop in – already Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones own property in Majorca, as does ex Wimbledon champion Boris Becker, who is understood to be selling one house but looking for another.
The luxury hotel has come about unexpectedly from a project started some ten years ago that ran into financial difficulties, nd it is that will be transformed into Spain’s finest, with the hotel anticipated to open for business some time in 2009 or 2010.
The hotel will be owned by a Dubai company which also owns the well known Burj-al Arab hotel in Dubai, as well as hotels in London and New York.
Siuated in Mallorca’s Port de Soller it is only 10 miles from the Mallorca hotel owned by Richard Branson. In Port de Soller two hotels have marketed themselves as boutiques recently, with Port de Soller and neighbouring Soller aiming to become the lucrative luxury area of Mallorca.
Mallorca as an island has been promoting itself to the UK market recently, with the UK advertising campaign for Majorca including a team distributing information at London’s Victoria Station. Trains from Victoria run several times an hour to London’s Gatwick Airport, allowing easy access to Mallorca for Londoners.
The Balearic Islands of which Mallorca is part consist of three islands, as well as Malloca there is Menorca (the smallest island)and and Ibiza. Menorca has a season that traditionally is at its peak early May to end September, but is now trying to extend that from mid April to mid October.
As part of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has welcomed many visitors back to live full time on the island. Menorca property has proved popular too, for those looking for a gentler pace of life than big sister Mallorca.
Property prices in Mallorca are similar to Menorca property, with a range of apartments and villas in both rural and town locations, and with twenty golf courses plenty of golf course developments too on Mallorca.
Menorca has just the one golf course, recently extended to eighteen holes, and is located in Son Parc, which has a choice of hotels, apartments and villas for holiday makers.
The cost of flying to Mallorca has come down in recent years from most European countries due to low cost airlines, especially in the island’s core tourist areas of the United Kingdom and Germany, and last year easyJet started direct flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to the sister island of Menorca, as well as serving Mallorca itself.
Despite competition from other destinantions, Mallorca looks set to remain a favourite holiday spot for some time to come.

Mallorca real estate has been popular for several decades now, with many Europeans who have holidayed on the Spanish island deciding to buy a second home for holidays, a business, or for retirement.

Prices have risen on the island as buyers – mainly British and German – have moved in, but there are mixed signals coming from the property and tourist sectors, which could see a freeze in Majorca property inflation, and possibly even a dip in prices in the near future.

Official figures for Majorca holidays this year indicate an increase in tourist numbers by between five and seven per cent. And it is from the pool of holidaymakers where property sales often happen a few months later, as some visitors like the island so much they decide to look into buying an apartment or villa, with some even retiring to the island, or buying a business.

With the increase in visitor numbers, property demand should in theory be good.

Cheap Mallorca flights have been running for some years now, and even with increased air tax in the UK, Mallorca is easily accessible from more than a dozen airports in the UK for property owners and tourists alike, with a flight time of under two hours, allowing a market for weekend homes for overseas property buyers.

Although one of the earliest package holiday destinations with companies like Thomas Cook, Mallorca has had new competition in recent years from the former Soviet Bloc countries in Eastern Europe, that are now able to offer cheap holidays to the British market, and for the property market countries like Croatia and Bulgaria have been able to offer apartments and villas at a fraction of the price Majorca can offer.

In response, the island has fought back showing it’s not just the Mallorca weather that attracts property buyers, but a well established market with the infrastructure in place to protect overseas investors money.

Any slow down or possible reversal of property prices could be welcomed by the local Majorca population.

They have seen the price of property in Majorca escalate, and many have been priced out of buying their own home.

This has led to some protests, with a demonstration against plans for more development in Mallorca being held earlier in the year, with the belief that developers will destroy what is left of Majorca’s open spaces, and rendering the map of Mallorca unrecognisable in years to come.

With encouraging tourist figures, Mallorca hasn’t been resting on her laurels. This summer’s SuperCup yachting event has seen the appointed of an experenced race organiser, in an attempt to make the event more high profile.

Similarly, neighbouring island Minorca is hosting a Classic Yachts weekend, with entrants expected from across Europe, with the event boosting occupancy for Majorca hotels.

Of the three Balearic Islands, Ibiza comes top for spending per tourist according to official recent statistics, reaching nearly a hundred Euros a day per tourist, with Majorca second, and Menorca third.

Current prices for property in Mallorca include brand new 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartments in Puerto Pollensa at 285,000 Euros, a country house with its own pool at 1,500,000 Euros, and a three bedroom three bathroom villa with its own pool at 900,000.

Recent new competition from the former Eastern Bloc countries have focused the minds of the tourist boards in traditionally favourite holiday destinations for Europeans in recent years – and it appears they could be doing a good job as many of the most chosen areas for this year are pretty much the same as ten and even twenty years ago.
The biggest winner this year among the holiday resorts seems to be Spain with six out of the top twenty destinations either being regions of the mainland like the Costa del Sol, or one of the Spanish Balearic or Canary islands, such as Ibiza and Tenerife.
Among city breaks Paris ranks highly, as it always does, while London has suffered with a high pound resulting in visitors from the US dropping this year – and a boredom factor setting in – with some Americans not visiting a second time as they feel they have ‘done it’ after seeing Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament. While some will venture as far afield as Windsor Castle, some twenty miles out of London, and some Oxford, few venture to other parts of England, preferring to catch the Eurostar to Paris with a two city trip.
Far flung destinations reaching the top twenty include Egypt and the Dominican Republic. Florida is in the doldrums for European visitors despite good value with the Euro and British Sterling both doing well against the US dollar. But getting in and out of America is becoming a real chore for many visitors now. If it isn’t bad enough queueing at Disney for the rides with children in tow, a long wait in line at immigration after a ten hour flight is not the best start to a holiday – and with EuroDisney a far easier option visitor numbers are unlikely to recover any time soon.
But it appears no matter what new destinations come up for holiday possibilities, Spain and her islands are resilient to the challenges, and when they are challenged aren’t afraid to advertise to past tourists to visit again, and for new ones to visit for the first time.
Mallorca as an island has been promoting itself to the UK market by including a team distributing information at London’s Victoria Station. Trains from Victoria run several times an hour to London’s Gatwick Airport, allowing easy access to Mallorca for Londoners.
The Balearic Islands of which Mallorca is part consist of three islands, as well as Malloca there is Menorca (the smallest island)and and Ibiza. Menorca has a season that traditionally is at its peak early May to end September, but is now trying to extend that from mid April to mid October.
As part of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has welcomed many visitors back to live full time on the island. Menorca property has proved popular too, for those looking for a gentler pace of life than big sister Mallorca.
Property prices in Mallorca are similar to Menorca property, with a range of apartments and villas in both rural and town locations, and with twenty golf courses plenty of golf course developments too on Mallorca.
Menorca has just the one golf course, recently extended to eighteen holes, and is located in Son Parc, which has a choice of hotels, apartments and villas for holiday makers.
The cost of flying to Mallorca has come down in recent years from most European countries due to low cost airlines, especially in the island’s core tourist areas of the United Kingdom and Germany, and last year easyJet started direct flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to the sister island of Menorca, as well as serving Mallorca itself.
Despite competition from other destinantions, Mallorca looks set to remain a favourite holiday spot for some time to come.

2007 has proved to be a good year for Spanish tourism, and with Majorca doing particularly well, the sister island of Menorca is doing her best not to be overshadowed.
With official figures some way off, the general feeling in the hotels and holidays trade is that, like Majorca, an increase in the number of visitors compared to 2006 is likely.
But privately run companies often have a quicker gauge on market trends than government bodies, and easyJet, one of Europe’s best known airlines, has begun a new route to Menorca from the island’s important UK market. The new route flies from Newcastle in the north-east of England to Menorca’s capital Mahon, and some 5000 holiday makers are anticipated to be using the service during this season. The Newcastle service to Menorca is in addition to the airline’s existing flights in the UK to the island from London’s Gatwick Airport, Liverpool and Bristol.
In a further boost for Menorca, this time from the financial services sector, one of Britain’s best known banks and mortgage provider is to open three new offices on the Spanish islands of the Canaries plus Menorca to meet demand for Britons looking to buy a home in Spain.
The decision by the Halifax was taken from data showing a trend towards Britons buying homes overseas, with Spain the most popular choice.
Part of the decision was to open in Menorca, the quietest of the three Balearic Islands. Commenting on the move a local travel guide commented:
‘While Majorca and Ibiza are possibly better known than Menorca, it’s perhaps not so surprising that the bank has decided to open an office on the island. The typical buyer for property in Menorca is normally older than that for Majorca and Ibiza, which could mean they are hoping to service their investments and pensions along with a normal account – especially for those moving full time to Menorca.’
Commenting on the new bank branch in Menorca, the bank said that the opening of branches away from mainland Spain is an important step in the development of their branch network, and that they will continue to target the Spanish islands in addition to their Spanish mainland business.
Once bought, Menorca villas are often let out to holidaymakers, with the season generally running from May to end September.
The three Balearic Islands of Menorca, Majorca and Ibiza might be close to each other, but they are all different in character and the type of tourist they typically attract.
A surprise is that the amount of time spent on Ibiza by each tourist is longer than on Menorca and Majorca – destroying the myth that Ibiza is primarily for long weekends or short trips for a couple of nights in the club.
Recent findings by the Balearics Tourist Authority show that after Ibiza, Menorca visitors stay on average for 11 days, with Majorca just behind. And the same pattern emerges for spending per day, with Ibiza top, Majorca second, and Menorca last.
The amount spent by Ibiza tourists averaged 94 Euros a day – a huge contribution to the island’s economy, looked on enviously by Majorca and Menorca. But with new banks and flights Menorca might be starting to catch her sisters up.

Information about traveling to and within the country of Spain including flights, rail and road travel and ferry services

Mainland Spain is situated on the Iberian peninsula in the southwest of Europe. It also encompasses two groups of islands. The Islas Baleares (Balearic Islands), in the Mediterranean, Mallorca the largest island is just over one hundred miles off the eastern coast and the Islas Canarias (Canary Islands) which are situated approximately five hundred miles to the southwest and lie off the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Mellila and Cueta are two Spanish enclaves in Morocco on the African continent.

Whilst Spain is one of the world’s leading destinations for the package holiday there is more to this country than the beaches of the costas and islands. The independent traveler will want to move around see what more Spain has to offer.

Getting there – There are thirty one airports on the mainland serving the following cities and towns: A Coruna, Albacete, Alicante, Almería, Asturias, Badajoz, Barcelona, Bilbao, Burgos, Cordoba, Girona, Granada, Jerez de la Frontera, Leon, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia, Pamplona, Reus, Sabadell, Salamanca, San Sebastian, Santander, Santiago, Sevilla, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo and Zaragoza. In the Canaries the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Lanzarote and Tenerife and in the Balearics Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca all have airports. Gibraltar, the British colony at the southern most tip of Spain, also has it’s own airport. British Airways and the Monarch fly daily to Gibraltar from several departure points in the United Kingdom and Monarch has some very good deals on seats. Major carriers provide scheduled flights to Spain but it is also a principal destination for budget airlines with return flights available for less than 100 Euros from other European cities. It is also possible to pick up bargain seats on the many charter flights serving the tourist industry. Air travel within Spain, with the exception of a couple of budget airlines, is expensive.

Major roads provide access from Portugal to the west and France which borders Spain to the northeast. Road travel within the country can vary. Many roads are not of a good standard but Spain has received billions of Euros in aid from the European Union and much of this has been spent on the infrastructure and so it is also possible to travel on some of the newest and finest roads on the continent. The country is well served by many bus companies linking the major towns and cities with express services. There are also a wealth of local bus services.

The train service is well developed enabling access to the country from both Portugal and France and fast travel between towns and cities within Spain. Fares are cheap compared to some other major European countries. Madrid and Barcelona are served by extensive Metro (underground railway) networks.

In addition to the many inter island services ferries run from the mainland to both the island groups and the two enclaves in Morocco. The Canary Islands are served by a boat running from Cadiz. The journey is long, some 48 hours and the sea conditions often make for a rough passage. It may be preferable to fly although as we have already pointed out this can be expensive. Ferries from Tariffa and Algeciras, in the Andalucian province of Cadiz, run to Tanger in Morroco. Ferries also link the enclave of Cueta with Tariffa, Algeciras and Malaga. Mellila, the other enclave is served by a boats out of Malaga and Almeria. The Balearic Islands have services to the mainland running to Barcelona, Valencia and Denia.

More information about Spain can be found at the Spanish Travel Guide

The summer 2007 SuperYacht Cup, held off Palma de Mallorca, will be the most competitive for the yachts since the event began ten years ago.
With 40 entries so far, and another 20 possibles by the time the yachting weekend comes along, will ensure races to remember both for the yacht crews and spectactors, with plenty of social events organised for the evenings.
The organisers have appointed a Race Officer for this year’s event, to move the image from one of fun and socialisng, to that of a serious yacht competition, with the social side as active as ever.
The new officer has experience of helping to organise regattas in Cowes, on the UK’s Isle of Wight, one of the most famous locations in the yachting world, has sailing experience himself and brings to the Mallorca Supercup a drive and level of experience necessary to meet the organisers ambitions.
Palma in Mallorca is well suited for sailing. Set in the Mediterranean, with Menorca and Ibiza as close neighbours, it’s an ideal base for the Mediterranean.
The actual bay of Palma is ideally suited for the Cup races, and is some ten miles (nearly 15 kilometres) wide, with a naturally occuring wind – vital for good yachting!
As well as Mallorca, the yachting world has a busy year ahead in Europe, with Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight, and for the megayachts the Monaco Yacht Show in September just two of the occasions to look forward to.
The SuperYacht Cup is a welcome event for the holiday island of Mallorca. As well as drawing extra tourists for the event itself it adds an extra attraction for those holidaymakers already on the island, adding to the possibility of a return visit in future years – and with more destinations to choose from in recent years repeat visitors has become an important strategy in tourist locations.
As part of the Balearic Islands, Mallorca has welcomed many visitors back to live full time on the island. Menorca property has proved popular too, for those looking for a gentler pace of life than big sister Mallorca.
Property prices in Mallorca are similar to Menorca property, with a range of apartments and villas in both rural and town locations, and with twenty golf courses plenty of golf course developments too on Mallorca.
Menorca has just the one golf course, recently extended to eighteen holes, and is located in Son Park, which has a choice of hotels, apartments and villas for holiday makers.
The cost of flying to Mallorca has come down in recent years from most European countries due to low cost airlines, especially in the island’s core tourist areas of the United Kingdom and Germany, and last year easyJet started direct flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to the sister island of Menorca, as well as serving Mallorca itself.
Despite competition from other destinantions, Mallorca looks set to remain a favourite holiday spot for some time to come.

At times of poor economies property prices more often than not fall, and the property market in itself is sometimes enough to cause a recession in the rest of the economy as home owners see their top asset slashed in value, and cut back on spending as a direct result of feeling less wealthy.
2008 has already seen the world’s financial markets in turmoil with a rogue trader in France losing billions of Euros for his bank, and the Federal Reserve aggressively cutting interest rates to try and stave off a recession in the US.
But among the gloom, those involved in real estate markets around the world can often point to areas where property bucks the trend, and is on an upward move despite all that is happening to property elsewhere.
A prominent UK real estate site predicts that France will see a rise in property values for 2008 of between 5 and 8 per cent.
The advantages France has compared to some European markets is that the British buy there extensively, and have done for over twenty years now. The recent upgrading of the channel tunnel could ensure interest remains high in Northern France, easily accessible from London and her Home Counties.
Two countries who share borders with France are also likely to be areas where property prices will increase in 2008 – the tax havens of Andorra and Monaco, which have similar tax benefits.
Monaco because tax havens are in demand whatever is happening to the economy, and the supply of properties is short with new supply not coming on stream for another three to four years. Andorra will continue to enjoy the overspill from Monaco, where studio apartments start at around a million Euros, while in Andorra the same million Euros will buy a house.
Further into Southern Europe the UK property site suggests both Mallorca and Tenerife could see property price gains, and with local populations on both Spanish islands becoming restless about the amount of future developments to be allowed the supply of new apartments and villas could be limited.
Mallorca – often known as Majorca – is the main island of the Balearic Islands, which also includes Menorca and Ibiza. Located in the Mediterranean off the east coast of the Spanish mainland, Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands and sees most tourists – some of whom ultimately buy a holiday home on the island or move there full time. According to the 2005 census, the population of the city of Palma was 375,048. The population of the entire area was estimated to be 517,285; the 12th-largest urban area of Spain. Approximately half of the total population of Mallorca lives in Palma, but many newcomers steer to the coastal resorts such as Alcudia.
And while 2008 may appear to be gloomy for the real estate sector, there will no doubt be some light among the darkness of falling prices in some areas of Europe.

When the economy is good and people are taking two or three holidays a year, letting out an overseas property and getting good occupancy levels isn’t that difficult.
And with low interest rates, the rentals will cover the mortgage and often leave enough for a profit, and at the end of the mortgage the property is owned outright by the buyer, leaving him or her with a valuable asset good for a pension, or for a retirement home in the sun. Everyone involved, the owner, the bank and the people who rented for a holiday are happy.
But in times of economic troubles the picture isn’t so happy, and it’s at these times that potential buyers should really way up if the area they are considering buying in is a good investment.
The number of people renting villas and apartments abroad drops, the mortgage payments aren’t covered, and if the owner hasn’t got deep enough pockets to pay the shortfall between the rental income and the mortgage the home is repossessed.
But even in times of economic downturns this can lead to a new generation of overseas property owners picking up properties on the cheap, ready to rent out when times get better, and perhaps sale at the top of the next economic cycle.
So where is a good place for new overseas property buyers to look for? The answer is where the holiday markets are still strong despite the recession, where rental incomes might not dip as much as in other areas.
One UK based villa holiday specialist company has analysed which areas produced best booking returns for the 2007 villa holidays season, and Spain came out top. Within Spain it’s important to know which regions – and even narrower – which areas are performing best.
The regions of Spain showing good villa holidays rental potential include the three Balearic islands of Menorca, Ibiza and Majorca. The Canary Islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote were also popular last year and expected to be so again in 2008.
On the Spanish mainland the Costa Blanca was the most popular region, the Costa Blanca being made up of areas like Torrevieja, the Jalon Valley and Denia.
Once in a region where holiday villas are for sale look for something that has general appeal but also appeals to a particular market – a golf course is a good example. Menorca is a prime example of where it could make sense to buy close to a golf course.
The island only has one golf course, Son Parc, and if an overseas property buyer was to invest in an apartment or villa close to Son Parc the occupancy rate could be higher than other parts of the island, and the rental prices could be higher than those areas further away from the golf.
Menorca is the second largest of Spain’s three Balearic Islands. The other two islands are Majorca and Ibiza, Majorca holiday villas could also benefit during any recession as it is becoming increasingly popular and taking market share away from other holiday rental destinations.
Daytime summer temperatures hover around 27C in Menorca. Lovely peaceful days are on the menu on this island, a pace that attracts holiday makers in their 50’s and 60’s – who often have the spending power to rent a villa for a week or two, helping the owner with mortgage and other costs of maintaining an overseas property.
Overall the message is clear – in times of an economic downturn be careful where you buy a holiday home if you need to take a mortgage out to finance it. Do some research – and don’t accept estate agents high occupancy levels at face value – the estate agent is after a sale and acting for the seller, not you – do your own research locally first before committing to a sale – and use a lawyer to complete the sale to try and make sure there are no hidden problems.