The British Chamber of Commerce in Spain, in collaboration with Marbella Dutch Business Club, is inviting citizens to an informal drinks and networking evening to be held at Hotel Puente Romano in Marbella on March 31st. The event begins at 7 p.m. with a welcome by chairmen, and networking follows from 7.30 p.m. Entry is free, and there will be a cash bar. To reserve a place contact Rachel Barber on 951 968 786
Last Sunday the Dutch Club Costa del Sol celebrated its 30th anniversary with a festive afternoon at the Alay Hotel in Benalmadena Costa. Guests at the event enjoyed a lunch and cocktails followed by a performance by Dutch bandoneon virtuoso Carel Kraayenhof, who performed at the wedding of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander in Amsterdam seven years ago. Further musical entertainment was provided by La Insostenible Big Band and a Spanish show orchestra in the style of Glenn Miller. Here’s to the next 30 years!
Sunday 29 March 2009
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Solar energy Marbella Costa Del Sol Spain
Marbella News
Solar Energy
Since 2005 Spain has made huge efforts to make use of something that they have in abundance – free sunshine. Spain is now the second highest producer of solar energy in Europe with most of the solar farms being located in most southerly province of Andalucía.
The Marbella council has identified 30 buildings which would be suitable to have solar panels installed in a move to cut costs and use the free clean energy. Many of the municipal markets, schools, sports centres and council warehouses have been identified as being suitable and a number of businesses in the energy sector have expressed an interest in working with the council.
Gas supplies
After five years since it was first planned Marbella is finally about to get natural gas. No longer will it be necessary for residents and business’s to have those orange gas containers delivered or for the container to run out in the middle of cooking or taking a shower.
The work will cost 11 million Euros and involve more nearly 100 kilometres of pipeline. The work is due to start in the area of Nueva Andalucía first and then move east into Puerto Banus and Marbella town itself.
Solar Energy
Since 2005 Spain has made huge efforts to make use of something that they have in abundance – free sunshine. Spain is now the second highest producer of solar energy in Europe with most of the solar farms being located in most southerly province of Andalucía.
The Marbella council has identified 30 buildings which would be suitable to have solar panels installed in a move to cut costs and use the free clean energy. Many of the municipal markets, schools, sports centres and council warehouses have been identified as being suitable and a number of businesses in the energy sector have expressed an interest in working with the council.
Gas supplies
After five years since it was first planned Marbella is finally about to get natural gas. No longer will it be necessary for residents and business’s to have those orange gas containers delivered or for the container to run out in the middle of cooking or taking a shower.
The work will cost 11 million Euros and involve more nearly 100 kilometres of pipeline. The work is due to start in the area of Nueva Andalucía first and then move east into Puerto Banus and Marbella town itself.
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Finding an asset in negotiating the foreign exchange market
If you choose to enquire with a specialist foreign exchange company as an alternative to your bank or building society, you will be assigned with a ‘personal account manager’, much like a stock or share manager who takes your order and provides pertinent information to help you with the timing and choice of your purchase.
As with stock and share brokers, they are varied in quality and expertise. However, if you know what to look for and choose wisely, you could be retaining the experienced services and guidance of an extremely valuable asset, at no cost and without signing away anything at all.
‘Currency today.co.uk’ examines the benefits this relationship can bring and how to find the ones with your best interests at heart that could ultimately save you a great deal of time and money.
A good account manager will:
• listen patiently and attentively to your enquiry, ensuring they have a complete picture of your situation before making any possible suggestions.
• make it easy to understand what all your options are, detailing them but not confusing you with numbers and non-pertinent financial data.
• be available at all times in trading hours to respond to any enquiry you may have, or keep you updated with the exchange rate and other market data affecting it, as well as replying promptly to any email or message you leave.
• be far more concerned with the service that is provided than the commission on the sale, aiming to build their business through satisfied customers rather than individual sales. This will show if they genuinely want you to achieve the best exchange rate possible and go that extra length to keep you informed of all information necessary, and stay with you for as long as is required or necessary until the best rate is achieved (as the market allows).
• be completely transparent in explaining all the charges and costs involved. As well as the commission (which should be free) and the transfer costs (which should be low), they will explain how they make their money. This is where the real costs lie; the difference between their cost of buying the currency, and your cost of buying it from them (also known as the spread). Even though this is often a larger charge than any commission or transfer costs involved, it should be a significant improvement on any bank or building society.
• inform you of other hidden costs, such as charges the receiving bank may make. A good account manager will isolate these charges, and provide a service that will absorb them all for you.
Further reading :
http://www.currencytoday.co.uk/
As with stock and share brokers, they are varied in quality and expertise. However, if you know what to look for and choose wisely, you could be retaining the experienced services and guidance of an extremely valuable asset, at no cost and without signing away anything at all.
‘Currency today.co.uk’ examines the benefits this relationship can bring and how to find the ones with your best interests at heart that could ultimately save you a great deal of time and money.
A good account manager will:
• listen patiently and attentively to your enquiry, ensuring they have a complete picture of your situation before making any possible suggestions.
• make it easy to understand what all your options are, detailing them but not confusing you with numbers and non-pertinent financial data.
• be available at all times in trading hours to respond to any enquiry you may have, or keep you updated with the exchange rate and other market data affecting it, as well as replying promptly to any email or message you leave.
• be far more concerned with the service that is provided than the commission on the sale, aiming to build their business through satisfied customers rather than individual sales. This will show if they genuinely want you to achieve the best exchange rate possible and go that extra length to keep you informed of all information necessary, and stay with you for as long as is required or necessary until the best rate is achieved (as the market allows).
• be completely transparent in explaining all the charges and costs involved. As well as the commission (which should be free) and the transfer costs (which should be low), they will explain how they make their money. This is where the real costs lie; the difference between their cost of buying the currency, and your cost of buying it from them (also known as the spread). Even though this is often a larger charge than any commission or transfer costs involved, it should be a significant improvement on any bank or building society.
• inform you of other hidden costs, such as charges the receiving bank may make. A good account manager will isolate these charges, and provide a service that will absorb them all for you.
Further reading :
http://www.currencytoday.co.uk/
Saturday 7 March 2009
The Marbella property review – March 2009.
The property and financial markets of the world have certainly had an interesting time of late. In general, over the last 10 years, all property and financial markets everywhere have seen massive increases followed by a big slump. Whether your money has been in stocks and shares or property you will be doing very well if your investment is worth more now than it was a year ago.
I believe that there is a big difference between a property and a stock or share and we should not put them into the same bracket of an investment. Yes, property, over a mid to long term should rise in value and if an affordable mortgage is taken out and repaid over a mid to long term period then the property will provide a solid investment for the future. However, a property should be so much more than an investment. It is a permanent or holiday home. Somewhere for the family to live or enjoy regular holidays, and in Marbella I think there are signs that people are starting to think in a more traditional way about property. They are looking again at Marbella property in a way that they should – a place where they can buy a nice property to live in or enjoy regular holidays.
In some parts of the world property values have fallen through the floor. Some properties in so called emerging markets are practically unsalable. Some city centres/dockland areas where thousands of 2 bedroom shoe boxes have been built remain like ghost towns with thousands of apartments unsold. The common theme with these properties is that they have been built in the thousands not because people want to live in, or use them but because people thought that if they bought them they would make some money.
The Costa del Sol is no different and thousands of basic two bedroom apartments have been built. Typically they would be sold at exhibitions in Britain or Ireland to “investors” who would sometimes buy three or four units hoping to sell on before completion and make a big profit. The people who did this in the early days did make money although most of them took their money and did the same thing in the emerging markets of Dubai, Bulgaria and Morocco and have subsequently come unstuck. For those that joined the party a bit later they are now sitting on a property that they never wanted and which is worth a lot less than they paid.
Typically, these properties are 2 bedroom apartments, miles away from the beach, miles away from any form of life – shops, restaurants etc and only accessible via a half built, extremely steep road. They are not the sort of properties that anybody would look at and think “I would like to spend my holidays or live there”.
The sales market for this type of property is very different to the more traditional holiday home. Properties all over the world that are in good locations have held their values far better. Yes, buyers are wary of what is going on in the world and are either waiting to see what happens or looking to negotiate a bargain which is putting pressure on sales prices. However, the buyers today know what they want and that is not a shoe box in the mountains. It is a well built property near the beach or a golf course and with easy access to restaurants, shops and bars.
There is a saying that quality will always last and that is true of the property market. Mayfair in London will always prove to be a good long term investment. So will most of the best areas in any town in Britain or when it comes to holiday homes, areas such as The South of France or Tuscany in Italy will always do well.
Marbella is very much in that category of quality. It has been popular for over 50 years and there is no sign that it will lose that popularity. Why should it? The main reasons that it become popular 50 years ago are still valid today – the best climate in Europe and great beaches. That, basically is what people want from a holiday home.
For anybody contemplating buying a property for an investment I would say, make sure you think of it as a mid to long term investment and make sure you buy in a quality area. For anybody buying a holiday home it’s more simple – buy in a place that you are going to enjoy. For both types of buyers I would recommend property in Marbella as an option and there is a lot happening in Marbella that I believe will ensure that the next 50 years are as successful for this area as the last 50 years.
So why did Marbella become popular 50 years ago?
Very simply the climate and the beaches.
The climate is generally recognised as one of the best in Europe. It’s one of the most Southerly places in Europe and the huge Concha Mountain that hovers over Marbella provides a unique micro climate. This makes it a great year round destination which means whether or not you are here in August or January you will enjoy lunch on the beach and a vibrant atmosphere.
The beaches stretch all alone the South Coast of Spain and legend has it that Marbella got its name when centuries ago Queen Isabela visited and exclaimed “que mar tan bello” – what a beautiful sea. These two factors were important 50 years ago and are still valid today.
What has happened to Marbella in the last 50 years?
From a little fishing village 50 years ago Marbella has developed into a cosmopolitan year round destination loved by many people who return year after year or who have set up permanent residence.
It is probably the people that have set up permanent residence that have changed Marbella so much. In these days of technology and a more flexible work environment many people can choose to work from wherever they want and for many people that is where the sun shines most of the year – Southern Spain. This has only enhanced the all year aspect of Marbella and it is now a place where people can live all the time. Shops and restaurants are open all year but also the mix of facilities is much greater than most Mediterranean resorts – cinemas, large shopping centres, hospitals, schools etc.
The sheer diversity of Marbella is amazing. There must be more than 10 five star hotels in the area but then in the old town you will still find small, hostels run by the original Spanish owners. Eating out can be at a Michelin star restaurant where the finest International cuisine is served or a scruffy beach or tapas bar where often the food is just as good.
Golf’s Ryder Cup played between Europe and the USA at Valderama in 1997 really put the Marbella on the world’s stage for golf. Since then the area has cemented its reputation as one of the most popular golfing areas in the World with nearly 50 golf courses.
I believe that there is a big difference between a property and a stock or share and we should not put them into the same bracket of an investment. Yes, property, over a mid to long term should rise in value and if an affordable mortgage is taken out and repaid over a mid to long term period then the property will provide a solid investment for the future. However, a property should be so much more than an investment. It is a permanent or holiday home. Somewhere for the family to live or enjoy regular holidays, and in Marbella I think there are signs that people are starting to think in a more traditional way about property. They are looking again at Marbella property in a way that they should – a place where they can buy a nice property to live in or enjoy regular holidays.
In some parts of the world property values have fallen through the floor. Some properties in so called emerging markets are practically unsalable. Some city centres/dockland areas where thousands of 2 bedroom shoe boxes have been built remain like ghost towns with thousands of apartments unsold. The common theme with these properties is that they have been built in the thousands not because people want to live in, or use them but because people thought that if they bought them they would make some money.
The Costa del Sol is no different and thousands of basic two bedroom apartments have been built. Typically they would be sold at exhibitions in Britain or Ireland to “investors” who would sometimes buy three or four units hoping to sell on before completion and make a big profit. The people who did this in the early days did make money although most of them took their money and did the same thing in the emerging markets of Dubai, Bulgaria and Morocco and have subsequently come unstuck. For those that joined the party a bit later they are now sitting on a property that they never wanted and which is worth a lot less than they paid.
Typically, these properties are 2 bedroom apartments, miles away from the beach, miles away from any form of life – shops, restaurants etc and only accessible via a half built, extremely steep road. They are not the sort of properties that anybody would look at and think “I would like to spend my holidays or live there”.
The sales market for this type of property is very different to the more traditional holiday home. Properties all over the world that are in good locations have held their values far better. Yes, buyers are wary of what is going on in the world and are either waiting to see what happens or looking to negotiate a bargain which is putting pressure on sales prices. However, the buyers today know what they want and that is not a shoe box in the mountains. It is a well built property near the beach or a golf course and with easy access to restaurants, shops and bars.
There is a saying that quality will always last and that is true of the property market. Mayfair in London will always prove to be a good long term investment. So will most of the best areas in any town in Britain or when it comes to holiday homes, areas such as The South of France or Tuscany in Italy will always do well.
Marbella is very much in that category of quality. It has been popular for over 50 years and there is no sign that it will lose that popularity. Why should it? The main reasons that it become popular 50 years ago are still valid today – the best climate in Europe and great beaches. That, basically is what people want from a holiday home.
For anybody contemplating buying a property for an investment I would say, make sure you think of it as a mid to long term investment and make sure you buy in a quality area. For anybody buying a holiday home it’s more simple – buy in a place that you are going to enjoy. For both types of buyers I would recommend property in Marbella as an option and there is a lot happening in Marbella that I believe will ensure that the next 50 years are as successful for this area as the last 50 years.
So why did Marbella become popular 50 years ago?
Very simply the climate and the beaches.
The climate is generally recognised as one of the best in Europe. It’s one of the most Southerly places in Europe and the huge Concha Mountain that hovers over Marbella provides a unique micro climate. This makes it a great year round destination which means whether or not you are here in August or January you will enjoy lunch on the beach and a vibrant atmosphere.
The beaches stretch all alone the South Coast of Spain and legend has it that Marbella got its name when centuries ago Queen Isabela visited and exclaimed “que mar tan bello” – what a beautiful sea. These two factors were important 50 years ago and are still valid today.
What has happened to Marbella in the last 50 years?
From a little fishing village 50 years ago Marbella has developed into a cosmopolitan year round destination loved by many people who return year after year or who have set up permanent residence.
It is probably the people that have set up permanent residence that have changed Marbella so much. In these days of technology and a more flexible work environment many people can choose to work from wherever they want and for many people that is where the sun shines most of the year – Southern Spain. This has only enhanced the all year aspect of Marbella and it is now a place where people can live all the time. Shops and restaurants are open all year but also the mix of facilities is much greater than most Mediterranean resorts – cinemas, large shopping centres, hospitals, schools etc.
The sheer diversity of Marbella is amazing. There must be more than 10 five star hotels in the area but then in the old town you will still find small, hostels run by the original Spanish owners. Eating out can be at a Michelin star restaurant where the finest International cuisine is served or a scruffy beach or tapas bar where often the food is just as good.
Golf’s Ryder Cup played between Europe and the USA at Valderama in 1997 really put the Marbella on the world’s stage for golf. Since then the area has cemented its reputation as one of the most popular golfing areas in the World with nearly 50 golf courses.
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