[Anonymous]

I had the chance to spend 3 weeks in Spain till yesterday. I was in Benasque Valley and 1 day in Costa Daurada.

I have never seen so many cranes in my entire life. Even in the hidden places of the Pirinei mountains there was plenty of constructions sites.

But more than cranes were the sale signs! And prices were ridiculous, 150K Euros for a small 1 bedroom apt. in a place where the salaries were
20K/year… And there was no foreigner buying in that region in Aragon, just good old spanish people…

One question: is Salou the worst place on the Costas?

[Anonymous]

Ralita,

I feel the same every time I drive along the coast, which is frequently. But the funny thing is, it’s not so much the quantity of construction that bothers me (though it is totally out of control), as the type of construction. From top to bottom they are covering the Spanish coast is pretty much the same dull apartment blocks, no green areas or trees worth mentioning, let alone pleasant cafés or places where you can imagine yourself enjoying just passing the time of day. In short, the Spanish coastal urban planning model is a disaster. If they were building too much but of the right stuff, then sooner or later it would all be okay.

Anyway, is Salou the worst place on the coast? I think the question of the worst urban model on the Spanish coast deserves a thread all of its own. I’ll set it up.

Mark

[Anonymous]

And what of the quality of the construction?
What do you believe will be left of them in 20 years time?
Many which were constructed 3-4 years ago are cracking now and not just superficial.
For those who have invested for the long ter, I think their maintenance costs could be high and just make them pray that their neighbours are also prepared to be good house-keepers, as this could also affect the prices.

[katy]

MG. that’s true. Just have a read at some of the forums. Not only have they not had any snagging done but some have been left with leaking swimming pools, underground car-parks that flood, leaky pipes…and lots more. Even heard of one that only a lift shaft was left by the constructors, no lift. 😯

[Anonymous]

Poor construction quality is a consequence of Spain’s insane property boom for 2 good reasons:

1) Even crap sold quickly in the boom. Developers noticed that everything sold fast at whatever price they asked, so many of them took the easy route, built crap, raised the price, and made a killing. Undiscerning foreigners buying off-plan investments on weekend inspection trips made this particularly easy to do. Fast deteriorating quality is one of the reasons why Germans stopped buying in Spain. Everyone who has worked in the business long enough will remember that Germans were quality conscious.

2) When a country like Spain builds 900,000+ properties per annum, you can rest assured that at least half of them will be built by low skilled immigrants in a hurry. You don’t have to be a genius to work out what impact that has on quality.

There are other reasons, but I won’t bang on about it.

Mark

[Anonymous]

mg wrote:

And what of the quality of the construction?
What do you believe will be left of them in 20 years time?
Many which were constructed 3-4 years ago are cracking now and not just superficial.
.

The buildings in Salou seemed to be falling apart.

On the other hand, the buildings in the Pirinei mountains seemed solid.
We stayed in a 10 year old apartment complex and the apartment was immaculate and very well isolated from heat or cold.

[Author]

Posts