I was recently visiting a friend in Ayamonte, Huelva.   She is staying on a huge, partially built urbanisation called Costa Esuri which was supposed to be one of the developers masterpieces of urban planning.  The developer in question was Fadesa, who as you may know, after trying to secure extra backing finally threw in the towel and succumbed to the economic crisis.

The point being that Costa Esuri, rather than being an outstanding example of  a Spanish urbanisation, has been financed to a very large extent by expat money.   Some Spanish even call it the 'village built for the foreigners'!  It was going to be yet another of those fantastic opportunities to make money by buying off-plan, or renting out for half the year etc. etc.   You will have heard the story a million times.  Unfortunately, not only did the economic crisis finally bare it gnarly teeth, for the English investors there was the added torment of the plummeting currency exchange.  Suddenly, the affordable mortgage on the Spanish property became very expensive indeed.

Which brings us back to my visit to Costa Esuri where I was shocked when my friend pointed out an apartment that was on the market for just €80,000.   A 'new' three-bedroom apartment that would probably have originally been selling for approximately €160,000 or thereabouts.   Ten of thousands of euros gifted away to the lucky buyer just so that the owners can get rid of the burden.

What saddens me is that this is a story that is repeated over and over again throughout Spain, not just in Huelva.  When I wrote my book, Spain: The Expat Survival Guide, I was accused of being pessimistic because I pointed out how hard it could be to move to Spain.  Turns out I was not so far off the mark.