Sunrise in Manilva

So is it all doom and gloom or can anyting positive come out of a recession?  Well perhaps we should look around and see what is happening.  whilst devastating and harsh, deep recession can lead to new innovations and creativity.  To succeed in these times, good is just not good enough.  You need to bend backwards to capture a market. We can already see this with people working longer days to hold on to jobs, prices being slashed to hold on to market share and a much stronger work ethos.  We have to question whether this is indeed a bad thing or could this be nature’s way of re-allocating scarce resources in a more efficient manner.  Unfortunately the last few years of boom in Spain did see individuals lax into a more luxurious lifestyle and greed led to less value for money and quality control.  Take Real Estate for example, whilst so many new urbanisation’s were being built, just a handful of the complexes were really built to high quality specifications and merited the prices that people were asking.  Now in the light of current market climate the opposite is happening and prices are tumbling down -the vast supply is putting buyers in a brilliant position (those who can still buy) and moreover they are getting value for money.

Just look around you and see the innovative new things propping up, the new deals availabe, the new marketing styles.  Even on a very subtle level - take for instance Mercadona - whilst previously selling fruit and veg pre-packed, they are selling individual items.  They have obviously realized that many no longer have the purchasing power to buy ‘big packs’ of fruit and veg but instead just buy what they need.  Similarly FNAC had  a  big sale of their older Cds and DVDs at 1 euro each.  Carrefour have even got sales on new season items claiming, ‘nos bajamos los precios y los mantanemos’.  Never before have their been so many buy one, get one free offers.  Even Spas are encouraging people with their fantastic bargains - for example the Albayt are offering weekday Spa and lunch package for 39 euros and believe me we are talking slap up 3 course lunch with drink included.

So whilst recession is tough, we need to pull our socks up, tighten our belts and battle to keep afloat.  Perhaps we need to see it as a challenge - a creative exercise - just how little can we spend on the next meal for our families??? How many fun activities can we do without spending a penny?  How about taking a lovelywalk in the countryside, playing on the beach, a trip to the park, creative time at home - painting, modelling.writing. It can be scary to see the economy falling to pieces but in order to keep ourselves mentally positive, we need to hold ontight and look on it with a sense of adventure and make the most of the unpredictability of the years ahead.

Should Savers be the ones to Suffer?

Well, I ask myself. Is this really fair? I guess, you’d say is life fair? However despite the latter, I think that the way we encourage our society to act ‘appropriately’ is really a bit of a farce. Take the current economic crisis at present. Some people have just really over extended themselves and ended up drowning in debt, whilst others who have weighed it up have been fairly prudent, trying to save for a rainy day. One would think this was a good thing.

As kids, we are taught to be careful, put money aside. Yet these savers are being reprimanded. They are receiving ridiculously low rates of interest and many who counted on the interest of their savings to help cover living expenses can no longer do so. Does it only sound crazy to me? These savers did the right thing, they looked after their money, They placed their trusts in banks and now their money is also being eroded.

As for monetary policy - does it even work any more. Will low interest rates encourage savers to spend and boost the economy or will they be more frightened than ever to part with their quickly depleting accounts. So, I ask myself, do we scold the child who has saved their sweets for another day to prevent their teeth from rotting or do we reward them for being sensible??? These savers are few and far between and in this economy, we need them as they are the potential spenders, the potential injectors into our economy. Is cutting their disposable income really the way to get them out of the woodwork?

Bargain of the Day

Bargain Beachfront Property

Well this has to be our bargain of the day. Yes, we have a beachfront apartment at only 125,000. Oh, I can hear you saying, it must be a pokey 1 bed apartment. But can you believe it, it is actually a pretty decent sized two bed. Not only that, it is on a private urbanisation with communal pool and gardens. Even better, you walk out of the urbanisation right onto the promenade and beach. So no need to take the car - just enjoy! Walk to the fabulous restaurants like El Estribo and Miel and the new Mumbai Palace, or merely roll down to the beach and sip a tinto verano in the sun. Does it sound too perfect??? The scary thing is that it can be done from this apartment.

It really is a buyers market and whilst banks are struggling to cough uppmortgages - for those lucky people with money saved in the banks (receiving terrible rate of interest), the time has finally come.  Click here to find out more..

On Saturday, we visited Nuevo Castellar and went to a restaurant there called, El Vegil (956693059 ). This typical Spanish restaurant had quite an extensive menu at very reasonable prices. I have to say that my food was superb. The warm oven baked goats cheese was divine and my solomillo de cerdo with a a peppered sauce was delicious.

After that we took a lovely walk along the canal in Castellar Nuevo, just down from the Castellar Zoo

The walk was lovely and perfect for all age groups as it is a fairly easy walk.

Townhouses at bargain prices

Will prices fall any further?? Have we finally hit the bottom? Over the last weeks we have seen several bargains come onto the market and buyers finally seem to be moving in. To be honest for those who have been waiting on the sidelines for the real bargains, I believe that they are here now. Take this fuly furnished fabulous 3 bed townhouse on a well-kept urbanization, in Casares Costa, for sale at only 134,950

This brand new townhouse has built-in-wardrobes, 2 bathrooms, fully fitted kitchen, large living room, private garden ,terrace and solarium. The price includes the parking place. The urbanization has mature gardens and swimming pool.

Find out more

The original article can be found here!

MADRID, Spain (CNN) — The Bank of Spain took over a troubled savings bank on Sunday, saying the bank has more than a 2 billion euro ($2.65 billion) shortfall that the government will guarantee, according to a government statement and CNN affiliate Cuatro TV.
Spanish VP Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega and Deputy PM Pedro Solbes discuss the government’s move.

Spanish VP Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega and Deputy PM Pedro Solbes discuss the government’s move.

The takeover on Sunday is the first since the financial crisis hit Spain. Its Socialist government has previously lauded its banking sector for weathering the storm due to strict regulations and extra-cash provisioning measures.

The chief executive officer and the entire board of the savings bank, Caja de Ahorros de Castilla-La Mancha, were relieved of duty and replaced on Sunday with three administrators appointed by the Bank of Spain, according to the statement and Cuatro TV.

The savings bank, which operates in the sprawling Castilla-La Mancha region just south of Madrid, has assets of about 17.2 billion euros ($22.8 billion), but liabilities of about 19.5 billion euros ($25.8 billion), Cuatro reported.

Second Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pedro Solbes told reporters he expected to use two to three billion euros for the ailing bank, Cuatro reported.

But the prime minister’s cabinet, which held an extraordinary Sunday meeting, approved a nine billion euro maximum credit for the entity if needed, the government statement said.

The emergency measures emerged during the weekend after the bank’s efforts to merge with a larger savings bank in the Andalusia region fell through.

First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told reporters that savings deposits are guaranteed at the troubled bank.

“The Caja de Ahorros de Castilla-La Mancha is a solvent entity,” the government statement said, separately. “The Spanish financial system is solid. This is an isolated case.”

But the shadow finance minister, Cristobal Montoro, from the main opposition conservative Popular Party, told reporters the takeover was just the first of what would be future cases of troubled banks.

Unlike private commercial banks, the savings banks in Spain are immersed in regional and local politics, with local governments often appointing a majority of the board members, as was the case with the Castilla-La Mancha savings bank.

The bank has about a million clients and 500 branch offices, Spanish news reports said.

The government statement said the troubled bank was “not a very significant case,” given that “it represents less than one percent of the total assets of Spain’s financial system.”

The Spanish government has been urging savings banks across the nation to consider alliances or mergers to better handle the financial crisis.

Spain’s unemployment rate of about 14 percent is the highest in the European Union. The financial crisis has hit Spain’s once-booming construction industry particularly hard. New home starts, until recently an engine of the economy, plummeted 42 percent last year, the government reported last week.

Andrew at the Estepona Trade Fair 2009

Estepona Trade Fair. We’ve just finished a busy 3 days at the Estepona trade fair which took place at the Palacio de Congresos, opposite the Carrefour supermarket. The fair was inaugurated on Friday at 12noon and was open from 11am to 8pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A total of 85 businesses and associations attended and it was a great occasion to meet new and existing contacts as well as our clients. There was a wide range of businesses from clothes shops and jewellery to health products and web design. Visitors were able to taste the traditional Spanish ham, manchego cheese and paella. There was a bouncy castle and face painting for the kids, a fashion show and several dance performances- belly dancing, contemporary and flamenco. Freebies were available in abundance along with a raffle for a weekend away in Ronda. Hamilton Insurance & Hamilton Homes also raffled a 10,000 Euro household contents insurance. However, if you didn’t manage to make it down to the fair this weekend - don’t worry. We are extending the draw until next week. To enter you simply need to send an email to info@hamilton-homes.com with your name and contact details and we will enter you into the draw. Good luck and watch this space to see if you are the lucky winner.