Apartments
Apartments in Spain are where the most part of Spaniards live in, particularly in apartment blocks, especially in large towns and cities. Construction of apartment blocks have continued since the late ’60s, and there’s still a good market.
The quality and size varies enormously, from tiny studio. They may be situated in small side streets and be dark and cramped, while others are spacious front-line beach or golf developments with views stretching as far as the eye can see. Prices range from €85,000 for a small one-bedroom apartment in a less popular resort (e.g. on the Costa Blanca) to well over €1 m on Marbella’s golden mile with just about everything in between.
Under Spanish law, all owners of apartments in Spain are members of the community of owners ( comunidad de propietarios) must comply community’s rules and pay community fees.
Advantages of apartments are:
- low maintenance
- security – especially if the block has 24-hour security or a concierge ( portero)
- the use of communal gardens and pool (and possibly other facilities such as tennis courts). Apartments situated in towns also have the added advantage of local facilities and amenities within walking distance.
Disadvantages are
- noisy neighbours
- poorly-maintained communities
- and crowded complexes during holidays.
Townhouses
Townhouses ( casa adosada) terraced houses in Spain, often with communal gardens and pool. In coastal resorts town houses are often built in a style known as the ‘Mediterranean village’ ( pueblo Mediterráneo) and houses may be white-washed or, as is increasingly popular nowadays, painted in shades of blue and yellow.
Townhouses are usually spacious and often have three or four floors, including a basement for a garage and storage, and a roof area with a roof terrace known as a solarium. Townhouses generally have little outside space or garden except for a small patch at the front and back, often paved as a patio. Construction tends to be recent and is generally of reasonable to good quality.
Townhouses usually form part of a community property and owners must abide by the community’s rules and regulations and pay community fees.
Townhouses are generally in the ourtkirts of towns, with prices ranging from €100,000 for a one-bedroom townhouse in a less exploited area, e.g. CostaBlanca, to over €750,000 for three bedrooms in a really popular area.
Villas
In general, the Spanish people don’t live in detached houses in Spain (casa, chalet or villa) and in many large towns and cities it’s difficult to find a large house unless it’s a mansion or palace belonging to the local aristocracy. On the coast, however, detached houses abound and are generally owned by foreigners or wealthy Spaniards who use them as second homes. Some villas form part of a complex and may share communal gardens and a pool, and are situated on small individual plots, while others are set in huge grounds.
Villas built in the ’60s and ’70s tend to be single-storey and often need extensive renovation work, particularly if they’ve only been used as holiday homes and not properly maintained. Construction quality may be poor in older properties, although the quality is usually excellent in newer properties, which tend to be at least two storeys and more spacious than older villas. Prices start at €150,000 for a small two-bedroom villa with a communal pool in a less popular area, although villas in many parts of the Costa del Sol, the northern part of the Costa Blanca, andIbiza and Majorca cost over €1m.
If a villa forms part of a community property, owners must abide by the community’s rules and regulations, and pay community fees.
Urbanisations
Urbanisations ( urbanizaciones) are purpose-built estates or developments which may include apartments, townhouses and villas, forming an essential part of Spanish resort landscapes and cities.
Some are small with a limited number of properties, while others are huge complexes, almost towns in their own right, such as Calahonda on the Costa del Sol or La Marina in the southern Costa Blanca. Property available on urbanisations is varied and caters for different needs and price ranges, and many urbanisations contain a mixture of apartment blocks and individual villa.
Facilities can be extensive in this places, from shopping facilities, transport systems and sports complexes to local bars. Some urbanisations have permanent resident populations while others turn into ghost towns outside the summer. Many urbanisations in Spain are populated mainly by foreigners and some tend to cater for one nationality only, e.g. British or German, particularly on the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and the islands.
Advantages include quietness, pleasant surroundings, good security and a settle foreign community.
Most urbanization are community properties, and owners, who automatically form a community of owners, must abide by the community’s rules and regulations and pay community fees. Some properties in Spain may belong to a sub-community within the larger community of the urbanization.
Country Properties
As property prices have risen on the coast and resort areas have become more crowded, some foreigners are increasingly looking in the countryside in their search for a property in Spain. Property here,called fincas–are basically well-preserved farmhouses – is generally cheaper than coastal resorts in Spain and widely available except in areas close to the coast. Fincas range from a ruin set in a large area of land to cottages or large country homes, sometimes together with working farmland.
Almost all fincas in Spain come with large plots of land may include fruit trees, olive groves or meadows. Renovation is almost always necessary unless you pay a plus for a property that’s already been modernized.
Advantages of country properties In Spain include cheaper prices, peace and quiet, low local taxes and the opportunity to enjoy the ‘real’ Spain. On the other hand, rural properties usually need extensive maintenance as well as restoration work, utilities may be poor or non-existent, amenities and facilities are often some distance away and you don’t have the advantage of a ready-made community.
