Alternative view on credit crunched property in Mallorca, Spain

There was an interesting article in The Daily Telegraph last weekend, predicting that regardless of the credit crunch / economic slowdown, "tourist" travel is set to increase significantly in the coming years. A few comments reflected on why Spain has been such an attractive destination for the British, and indicated that it will continue to be so, albeit might be in a different form to the mass coastal tourism we have come to associate with the Spanish Costas. The same factors are likely to influence demand from property in Spain, and properties in Mallorca in years to come.

The article quotes figures from UNWTO (UNWorld Tourism Organisation). It goes on to state that, after the USA, the country that generated the most from tourist receipts in 2007 was Spain with £35.4 billion in revenue. Third was France and fourth was Italy. The primary reason given was the Spanish climate and the simple yet sophisticated lifestyle that “turns simple pleasures into an art form”.

No-where could that be more true than in Mallorca. Whilst Mallorca has been developed for tourism and there are a few coastal areas that have been blighted by development, in the main the island has been more rigorously protected than the mainland and the traditional way of life if something of which all generations are both aware and proud. One only needs to take a short drive out of Magaluf to find beautiful mountain scenery, traditional villages and small towns such as Calvia, Es Capdella, Estellencs and Esporles, great festivals including Sant Antoni, superb Mallorquin food and local wine (E.g. Binisssalem and Santa Maria).

To get back to the gist of the posting, the same UNWorld figures show that there were 903 million tourists in total worldwide in 2007 (6.6% more than the year before), and they are predicting this will rise to more than 1.1 billion by 2010.

Asia is expected to see much growth in the sector. The only limiting factor on this is the fact that tourism contributes to greenhouse gases and travel costs generally are likely to rise. These factors indicate that closer destinations will also continue to benefit from peoples desire to travel to better climates and explore other cultures.

It is well recognised that property demand is something that follows on from tourism. It makes sense that if people like to travel to a place, some will decide to take a more permanent foothold there or possibly make the decision to relocate on a permanent basis.

So credit-crunch to one side, my prediction is that Spain in general, and Mallorca in particular will continue to be prime locations for both holiday properties and second homes, as well as seeing an increase in the number of people looking to buy a property in order to relocate permanently to the better climate and lifestyle that Mallorca offers.

What type of properties will people be searching for? My guess is that it will be quite broad, reflecting the wide range of age groups and profiles of people that are interested in buying property here. Villas and apartments as well as country houses for second and permanent homes, as well as city apartments in Palma, Mallorca and some of the other larger towns all have their attractions. Over time even the older holiday resorts will be smartened up as we can be sure of one thing … that people in the UK will always have a hankering to escape the rain and get some sunshine!