more on the invasion
A friend of ours in the UK sent us the article below (source: www.telegraph.co.uk). It contains little that Big Jim and I didn't already know, but the piece is interesting nonetheless. Word to Ms. Rutherfurd though: if you've managed to find a village where you remain the only foreigner, I wouldn't go bragging to the Telegraph. Just my opinion....
Enjoy!
hasta pronto,
mylifeinspain
We Brits want old, traditional Spanish houses, reeking with character; the locals want pristine new ones, complete with all mod cons. Is the result just a series of expat ghettoes? Anthony Jefferies reports from the white towns of Andalucía
The dream is a familiar one. Work hard, save harder, sell up and head for a new life in Spain. Not Madrid or Barcelona: too metropolitan. Not the Costas: too busy and too British. No, hidden, "real" Spain is what fits the bill: a pleasant, out-of-the-way little town, authentically Spanish and with no appeal for our more rough-and-ready compatriots.
The images are seductive. Long, hot summer days broken by leisurely lunches, shopping in the local market, tapas and a glass of chilled sherry and, by way of a little excitement, a regular round of flamenco and fiestas. But the trouble with idylls is that everyone wants to buy in too, and if we want to nail our red, white and blue colours to the Spanish mast, why shouldn't our compatriots want to do the same? Unfortunately, while we Brits are moving into "real" Spain, real Spaniards are moving out. The result is that more and more of those lovely old Spanish towns and villages are turning into foreigners' ghettoes. The locals, of course, are happy to grab the incomers' cash and spend it on buying a comfortable, modern house in the new urbanizaciónes (roughly, estates) - and make a tidy profit into the bargain.
It's an arrangement that suits them and suits us. Spain, after all, isn't the other side of the world. The most southerly tip of Andalucía is less than three hours from London and if, as surveys suggest, more than 700,000 of us own property in Spain, then the chances are that, wherever you go, you're going to find a few Brits; even so, the idea that we can buy our own, very Spanish piece of real estate in an undiscovered gem of a town persists. The research, the visits, tracking down someone who can find that rambling, ramshackle apartment waiting to be transformed into the embodiment of Iberian style - it's all part of the game, part of the challenge. And then, at the end of the inevitably lengthy and confusing purchasing process, you have a real Spanish property - all nooks, crannies, uneven surfaces and primitive plumbing, but all yours. You're not just a visitor: you've insinuated yourself into the local culture.
It comes as a bit of a shock, then, to discover that you're not the only Brit in the village. Not unless you've relocated to a hamlet in Extremadura - and even then it's only a matter of time. Because the British are persistent and adventurous - at least those who want to "go deeper" are.
Vejer de la Frontera, just inland from the Costa de la Luz, is perhaps the best example of this anglicisation. Vejer is one of the loveliest of the white towns, or pueblos blancos, of Cádiz province. It has been on the tourist map for a long time and rightly so: a clutch of whitewashed houses clamped firmly to a commanding hill with the remains of a Moorish castle standing guard at its peak.
There are hotels, restaurants and bars, gift shops selling Moroccan pots, mirrors and shawls and a couple of plazas where you can enjoy a glass of something cold and watch the world at play.
Predictably, plenty of British (and other European) expats and second homers have bought into this Andalucían dream town. And plenty of locals have been only too happy to sell to them. The result is that Vejer now exists as two very separate communities: the old town, with its sizeable foreign contingent, has become largely seasonal; the new town remains resolutely Spanish, with its urbanizaciónes of identical houses and apartment blocks and its soundtrack of raised voices and loud music and whining mopeds.
Graphic designer Campbell Reid, who has lived in Vejer for four years, thinks it's a curious mix: "You do hear a lot of English spoken on the streets. It surprised us at first but we got used to it. The locals are very introspective and it is hard to penetrate any level of local society, especially for those who don't speak Spanish fluently. The old town is dripping with romance but living there all year is hard. If you only come for the summer, you live in a bubble to some extent and it's a lot easier."
Estate agent Chris Mercer, whose company is selling modern developments in Vejer, says: "It suits the local people to sell in the old town. They can't wait to get out of the old properties and move into a modern house with all services. But the exodus has turned Vejer into a bit of a ghost town. British residents are starting to sell their old town properties and buy new ones. They don't want to leave Vejer; they want to be more a part of the town's regular life."
Arcos de la Frontera, at the other end of the province, is starting to feel the "Vejer" effect. The old town is built along the top of a 300ft-high cliff and its dramatic setting and whitewashed streets of centuries-old houses are a powerful tourist magnet. The number of foreigners buying property in the old town has mushroomed recently.
"When I first arrived, two years ago, there were maybe 20 British people in the old town," says Mark Vedmore, whose rooftop terrace has views of the Sierra de Cádiz mountains and across towards the coast. "Now there are streets where maybe 30 per cent of the houses are foreign-owned. It's an inevitability. People are here for the same reason I am and it would be hypocritical to complain about them. By and large, the British residents make some effort to integrate, but the second-home owners are different. They're only here a couple of weeks a year and don't make any attempt to participate in the life of the town."
For the locals, selling up means an end to poor services, no car parking and having to struggle up the hill with shopping. And the British buyers are happy, too. Whatever they have paid seems cheap to them and they've got a foothold in "real" Spain.
"My aunt lived in a flat in the old town - a typical Arcos house with a shared patio," says Juan Carreras, a local plumber. "For years she wanted to move. She was fed up with the bad electrics and plumbing but it would have cost a lot to put it right. She sold to a Dutch couple and got a good deal. They got a holiday home and she got a new house in the new town, so they're all happy.
"I have done lots of work for foreigners in the old town. The plumbing is always bad and it's never a small, simple job. That's great for me but it's a lot of effort for people who are buying to convert old properties. Sometimes I get the feeling that people think they've taken on too much."
Fiona Rutherfurd, who has lived in Spain for six years, thinks the expat profile in Arcos has changed. "When I moved to Arcos, there weren't many other British people, and those who were there had similar ideas about what they wanted and what they hoped to get from and give to the community.
"The people arriving now are largely here because others have established themselves - they're coming to Arcos on the strength of a burgeoning British community.
"One result is that foreigners have driven up prices in the area unrealistically, and if they want to sell on, it's not easy to make big profits because they bought at such a high point."
Ms Rutherfurd left Arcos two years ago for the town of Villamartin, 20 miles to the east. "It's not as obviously pretty as Arcos and has few visitors but it's still a totally Spanish town. As far as I know, I'm the only foreign resident but if there are others, they integrate as I try to, so you don't notice them."
Fiona Wilkes, of Arcos Real Estate, says prices there have risen by more than 100 per cent in recent years. "Even little houses in town are now selling for £80,000. The locals think it's great. As for a fully legal property with deeds, especially in the countryside, it's so rare that people are asking crazy sums."
Back towards the Costa de la Luz, the handsome town of Medina Sidonia seems less ravaged by a British invasion. It's hard to know why, because Medina is well connected to airports at Gibraltar, Málaga, Seville and Jerez de la Frontera, and is less than half an hour from the coast.
Gary and Kirsty Biston, who run a guest house in Medina, think it is down to the lack of an obvious tourist attraction. "Vejer is pretty and stylish and Arcos is very much on the tourist trail," says Gary. "Medina's charms are harder to find and casual visitors don't stay long. It's a 'living' town, though - much more so than Vejer. Things are going on all year. There aren't too many British residents and they all seem to integrate. In that sense, Medina is a rose between the two thorns of Vejer and Arcos - or maybe it's a thorn between two roses. A very lovely thorn, though."
Peter Linnane, who runs estate agents Andaluz Homes, says that prices in Medina have "more than doubled" in the past five years. "It was hard to sell old town houses then. Now you can't get your hands on them. Everyone seems to want to come to this area and buy a town house. Mind you, a lot of people realise once they're here that they would be better off with a newer, low-maintenance house. There is a steady trickle of expats coming in, but they don't affect Medina's very Spanish 'feel'."
Back in Arcos, Mark Vedmore is less optimistic. "I came to Arcos because it's a real town. It still is but the atmosphere is changing very subtly. It was clear that the explosion would happen - it just seems to be happening very quickly. Outsiders, particularly those with holiday homes, have bought into 'real' Spain. But the very act of them buying into it is killing it.
What you can buy in the pueblos blancos
Vejer de la Frontera
Townhouses go for anything from £210,000 (€300,000) to upwards of £1.1 million (€1.5 million), depending on size, age, location and condition.
Andaluz Homes (www.andaluzhomes.com) has properties at both prices - the latter dating back to the 12th century with an original stone, vaulted courtyard, three large salons, five double bedrooms and a suite.
Sol y Mar (www.mbsolymar.com) has everything from a two-bed apartment with shared courtyard for £95,000 (€132,000) to a large town house with a private patio for £1.1 million (€1.5 million).
Arcos de la Frontera
Lighthouse (www.lighthouse-spain.com) has a traditional three-bed townhouse for £83,000 (€120,000) while Flamenco Shop www.flamencoshop.com has a two-bed apartment for £92,000 (€130,000) and fincas (farms) near the town from £360,000 (€500,000).
Cadiz Properties (www.cadizproperties.net) is selling a property with good views, plenty of space and a garden for £195,000 (€275,000).
Medina Sidonia
Andaluz Homes has a townhouse with six bedrooms and a further 14 rooms for £385,000 (€540,000) and smaller properties from £150,000 (€225,000).
