Interesting…. Is that for a normal tourist or a high spender ?

that’s not €70 billion from UK ?

Aren't homeowners spending all year round - IBI, basuras, Renta etc as well as when they are actually there? Unlike holiday makwers they are also spending on builders and other costs like agua and luz standing charges etc.

Most people's IBI and basura bills for a year would not amount to as much as one week's spending by the average holidaymaker (according to Fred's figures) and homeowners who are not tax resident because they spend less than 183 days a year in Spain don't pay Renta. Whoever owned the house would be paying the utility standing charges, IBI and basura bills and spending on maintenance, so I don't see why British second home owners should be treated any differently.

isn’t that the point being made ….. it’s the British second homeowner paying these ?

As a general point it’s pointless comparing what tourists spend vs homeowners but surely anything a homeowner spends contributes to the economy whether it’s 1 euro or a billion.

But they don't have to be British homeowners - if they sold up someone else would buy so those bills would still be getting paid.

I am not so sure that second homeowners are the saviours of local economies that people seem to think they are. The area of town I used to live in originally had little local shops and bars, when we first went to live there. Gradually more and more of the houses were bought up by second home owners (not just British, of course). Now virtually all of them are closed and shuttered because there is just not enough year round trade for them to be viable, even the indoor daily food market which used to give a lot of life to the area with people coming and going was relocated to the other end of town where there are many more full time residents.

The vast majority of the second homeowners don't use local Spanish workers to do building or maintenance work on their homes, they prefer to use ones of their own nationality because communication is easier for them, in spite of the fact that it invariably costs them a lot more. This is not well regarded by the Spanish.

Its the average for all tourists, not just Brits.

Maybe not in Spain but in France (which seems to be the country pushing this issue at the moment) that might not be the case.

I’m certainly not saying they are the saviour but there must be some local economies that would be hit hard if the British weren’t around (there are also some areas that may see it as a good thing )


Thats quite a generalisation if you don’t mind me saying and surely depends where you live, many places simply don’t have British (or other nationality) builders or trades). Probably like you I prefer to use local builders anyway for various reasons.

I don't see second home owners as a saviour of the local economy but in some areas where British have a large number of incomers I think winter visiting second home owners will be of help to the local economy. Some Costa areas do tend to cater for specific nationalities for tourism and property sales often holiday home sales. Those areas that mainly have British will I guess feel the difference if second home owners are not visiting for as long as they used to be able to. Some may well decide it's not worth keeping the holiday home and sell up. The second home property market can't be as inviting to British buyers as it was pre Brexit with the restrictions on length of time one can use their holiday home. That must have an effect on sales even though other nationalities may buy the area may be seen as more a British area for tourism and not so attractive to other nationalities. Some second home owners may think ok we will let it out on aB&b when we can't use it but recent thread on that subject indicates Spain don't want that . On top of this on the Costas there is increased property development again mainly apartments urbanisations ideal for second home owners. I'm sure the government are not blind to how the 90 day rule will affect potential sales of such properties. Certainly the developers won't and no doubt will lobby government for something in their favour. Yes other nationalities also buy property in Spain but Brits have been buying here in quantity for years and because of the 90 day rule I think that may be negative for such sales. That's why I say the Spanish government if they do change 90 day rule will do so with Spain's interests at heart which may also help a sector of the British .

I do some work for the biggest construction company in Alicante province. They are saying the the big spending clients are Russians and Ukrainians. They no longer market for Brits. Torrevieja is teeming with wealthy Russians and Ukrainians and they are now the dominant groups for buying property. The Notaries now sound as though you are in Moscow rather than Spain. Brits are simply fading away so it is highly unlikely Spain is going to give preference to them more likely they will be focusing on these new groups.

Yes I'm sure over time that will be the case.

It is based on 20 years of talking to foreign second home owners (and some foreign permanent residents) here. Some of them have employed workers of their own nationality who have travelled quite some distance as they didn't live locally.

I respect your 20 years ….. I won’t get into a trumping game on years but as I said does depend on where you live. I’m sure some areas are swarming with British builders and some not.

Spot on. As it happens, my friend's mother sold her place in Torrevieja to Swedish nationals.

We are about 10kms inland from Lynn (east of Malaga) and she has accurately outlined the situation around here. I would add that the British have virtually disappeared and been completely replaced by Dutch people. We also have increasing numbers of German and Belgian nationals. It's popular because it's a very nice part of the world and has no difficulty attracting new people. There are attractive white villages dotted about inland but everything mostly centres around the large coastal town which has all services and is a lively year round resort with plenty of activities, excellent health facilities, great beach and good restaurants. Most of the frontline coastal apartments are Spanish holiday homes and they are very well used. Further back they become more residential and are a mixture of Spanish and northern Europeans but very few British people. I hardly see any British people here these days and sales are not targeted at them anymore.

There is certainly no great push to change the 90/180 day rule around here.

We also have a place in Portugal and it's the same story there but the nationalities are a mixture of northern Europeans and quite a few from the US.

The current world situation is leading to Russian money flooding into many parts of the world and in some parts of the world causing property and rent prices to spike massively having a negative impact on the expat population. How permanent it is remains to be seen but I suspect that like other parts of the world Russian owned properties will eventually sit empty for months on end or indeed permanently. Estate agents chasing Russian money is only natural for their business until the next best thing comes along.

I wasn't speaking only of British builders. I have known plenty of German, Swedish, etc. second home owners who have preferred to use workers of their own nationality. One Swedish guy even brought a ground source heat pump over from Sweden with him, plus another Swede to help him instal it. Another person had an electrician coming from Torremolinos every day, travelling 50km to get to his house.