He’s asking what he paid for it back at the peak of the boom in 2007, despite prices falling at least 22pc in the area since then.

You can’t blame him for trying to sell his holiday home in the El Mirador de Vera urbanisation, a stone’s throw from the (nudist) beach in Vera, Costa Almeria (Andalucia). He’s a busy man, and totally out of his depth trying to lead Spain out of recession. I doubt he has time to go hang out on the beach in Vera (he also has nicer ‘grace and favour’ places to go on holiday as the PM), and the Spanish press reports he hasn’t been able to rent it out recently, which may sound familiar to countless other landlords up and down the Spanish coast.

But if I was an estate agent in the area, I wouldn’t touch his property, not even for the curiosity or celebrity value (the house is in fact in his wife’s name). Spanish press reports say he’s asking 400,000 Euros, what he paid for it back in 2007 when prices were boiling. Asking prices in the area have since come down by an average of 22pc, according to the website facilisimo.com, and transaction prices probably more. As a vendor Zapatero is what agents would call a time-waster with a ridiculous asking price. Many would argue he is also a time-waster as Prime Minister. There is no sign he is about to grab the bull by the horns, on any level.