 SPAIN VS. FRANCE: VIVA ESPAÑA
5 February 2006
Thousands of British homebuyers head to both
countries - but where is the best place to buy
property? Home's own resident experts, our French
Mistress, Helena Frith Powell, and Spanish Property
Doctor, Mark Stucklin, slug it out
The welcome you get from the locals
The French call us perfidious Albion and les
rosbifs; we call them craven and Frogs. In the
French media, "anglo- saxonne" is their
code for everything wrong with the modern world.
Despite the entente cordiale of 1904, there is
no love lost between us.
So it should come as no surprise that the French
Resistance is back in action, this time saving
rural France from British homebuyers. Tensions
are mounting in Brittany and the Dordogne as Brits
price locals out of the market while making no
attempt to go native ("clinging on to Blighty"
as the French Mistress describes it).
In Spain, on the other hand, the British get
the red carpet. There are no spiteful nicknames,
no historical animosities, no modern rivalries
and certainly no resistance if the British want
to throw money at local properties.
Communication factor/language
The Spanish are falling over themselves to learn
English, while the French are still lamely trying
to make the rest of the world speak French. If
you must learn a new language, you are better
off learning Spanish, spoken by 330m people, than
a language spoken only in France and parts of
Canada and West Africa.
Quality of life
The French may have more three-star Michelin
restaurants and spend more public money on healthcare,
but on all other fronts you can argue that Spain
offers the better quality of life.
Crime: According to the seventh UN survey of
crime trends, in 2000, France suffered the fifth-highest
level of burglaries in the world, with 371,000,
compared with 24,000 in Spain. In terms of total
crimes, France was in fourth position, with
3,770,000; Spain, in 16th position, had 923,000.
Cost of living: Comparative figures from the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) show that prices in France are 94% of
the OECD average, while in Spain they are just
79% of the average.
Taxation: OECD figures for 2001 show France
had the fifth-highest tax rate among selected
OECD countries, with 48.3% of average gross
earnings given up in tax. Spain was 15th, with
37.9%. The Spanish government is in the process
of reducing taxes further.
Property choice and prices
Between 1997 and 2005, Spanish property was
a better investment than French property, with
gross returns 50% higher, according to The Economist's
global house-price indicators. Looking to the
future, there is a risk that property is overvalued
in both countries, perhaps slightly more so
in Spain, although the difference does not appear
to be large.
When it comes to buying property, most Brits
want a reasonably priced villa on the coast
somewhere warm and sunny. Spain's Mediterranean
coastline is twice as long, further south and
covered in villas, which is precisely why more
Brits choose to buy there. Spain may be less
elitist than France, but it's certainly more
popular.
Climate
Most buyers want to escape the winter or enjoy
the summer, or both. The summer bit is easy
in both countries, but for a good winter climate
you need to be south of the city of Valencia,
on Spain's Mediterranean coast.
Anywhere north of here, and the winter starts
to bite, which rules out France as a winter
sunshine destination. Spain has more than 620
miles of Mediterranean coastline below Valencia,
not to mention the Canaries, Europe's winter
sunshine destination par excellence.
Presence of other Brits
The French national statistics website (www.insee.fr)
gleefully offers figures on poverty and social
exclusion in the UK, but has almost nothing
to say about the number of foreign-born residents
in France. It takes a lot of internet research
to find out that there are some 100,000 British-born
residents in France.
The Spanish national statistics website (www.ine.es),
with nothing to say about social problems in
the UK, readily reveals that there are 227,000
Brits officially resident in Spain.
So yes, you are more likely to come across
other Brits in Spain, largely because Spain
is a nicer place to live. Unlike in France,
Brits are largely concentrated in some coastal
areas and so are easier to avoid. Torrevieja
may seem like a hot version of Blackpool, but
central and northern Spain are almost Brit-free.
Travel and access
Low-cost airlines have wiped out France's traditional
advantage of proximity. They now fly to 30 airports
in Spain, compared with 35 in France.
Spain's airports can also be reached from departure
points spread more widely around the UK. Compare,
for instance, Perpignan airport in France with
nearby Girona in Spain. You can fly to Girona
from 12 UK airports but to Perpignan from only
five.
What to do when you get there
With so many Brits now living in or visiting
Spain, opportunities to find work or set up
businesses there are increasing. Before you
rush to set up a B&B, bear in mind that,
like renting gîtes in France, this is
a rather crowded sector.
On the leisure front, you are spoilt for choice
in both countries, so this must be a non-differential
factor, though the French Mistress may have
other ideas about exotic leisure pursuits in
France.
Bureaucracy and taxes on property
Okay, these are not Spain's strong points.
Anybody buying property in Spain needs an identity
(NIE) number, and there are other bureaucratic
hoops to jump through in the process of owning
property and becoming a resident in Spain.
Non-resident property owners also have to deal
with some low but nonetheless unwelcome property
taxes. Along with local rates, say 400
(£275) per annum, there is an imputed
income tax and a wealth tax that often come
to about £340-£680 per annum combined.
Then there is the scandalous 35% capital-gains
tax that non-residents have to pay when they
sell, compared with 15% for residents.
Future potential
To buy property in a new country, you need
a positive outlook. So how do France and Spain
compare? The French are vainly trying to cocoon
themselves against globalisation, clinging on
to agricultural subsidies and blaming everybody
else for their problems. French society is increasingly
riven, with rioting and car-burning in the banlieues,
while the National Front marches on. Public
finances are in a mess, too, with a budget deficit
stubbornly above the EU's ceiling of 3%.
Spain also has its problems, principally of
national identity in the political arena and
declining competitiveness in the economic sphere.
Nevertheless, the country's recent economic
growth has been good, and public finances are
healthy. And crucially Spain is placing a hefty
bet on northern Europeans relocating to Spain,
building golf-course and retirement developments
to house them. With that attitude, you've got
to take your sombrero off to the Spanish.
Read Helena Frith Powell's response: Vive la
France
© Mark Stucklin (Spanish Property Insight)
Back to top |
