The Torrevieja-based real estate developer and agency Torrevisa-Masa International, better known to overseas buyers as Masa International, is reported to have sought court administration to protect it from its creditors, according to an article today in the Spanish press.

Torrevisa, who bought local estate agent Masa International in 2003 for its European-wide sales network, is said to have built 30,000 homes in Torrevieja and southern Alicante (Vega Baja) in last 25 years, making it one of biggest builders of holiday homes in Spain.

Torrevisa is waiting to see if its request for court administration is accepted before making any official statement. Unwise business investments in Brazil and Croatia, along with the collapse in sales of holiday homes on Spain’s coast, are said to have been the undoing of the company.

Thousands of British and other European buyers will have bought homes either built or sold by Torrevisa and Masa International, both of which mainly dealt in cheaper homes.