Live News From Spain As It Happens

RESIDENTIAL property prices have increased year on year at the highest level seen since August 2006 – although this national average is skewed by five provinces in Spain where home values have soared dramatically, according to recent statistics.

As at the end of April – the most recent full month for which figures are available – the annual price rise on average was 10%, putting the typical figure for Spain at over €2,100 per square metre.

To give a practical example, a standard medium-sized apartment with two or three bedrooms would be between approximately 70 and 90 square metres, giving a typical market value of €147,000 to €189,000.

This hike in purchase price is the largest recorded in nearly 17 years, but property specialists expect demand to tail off slightly in the next few months, bringing market values back to a 'more stable level'.

'Average price' on a wide spectrum

In reality, an 'average price' for the country as a whole gives very little information to potential buyers – in fact, even an 'average price' for one specific town only tells a small part of the story. Location, property type, and local services, together with how sought-after or otherwise a given province, town or even neighbourhood is, means the actual asking price for a home can vary considerably. Two identical houses or apartments for sale, just one or two streets apart, can have vastly different market values.

Price rise also differs greatly depending upon whether the property is a new build or second-hand – the definition that covers any home that has ever been lived in before, even if it was constructed relatively recently. 

And the latest figures show that the average second-hand home price rise in the past year presents major gulfs between provinces, with some having gone up in value by up to 25 percentage points more than others.

Price hikes are very different across Spain – in fact, in three provinces, they have actually gone down in the last 12 months.

Where the largest leaps in home prices are

The biggest increases since April 2022 are seen in the Balearic Islands, with an eye-watering 25.6% surge in market values.

In fact, the top two regions with the greatest rises are both offshore – the Canary Islands have seen huge hikes, particularly in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

This – one of two Canarian provinces, the other being Las Palmas – encompasses the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro, four of the region's eight, and here, asking prices for properties, and final selling prices, have shown a year-on-year rise of 21.5%.

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BLUE flags are the global gold standard for beaches, which means you don't have to worry about anything lacking when planning a trip to one of them: If it's flying the flag, then it's already perfect.

That's an objective qualification, not just an enthusiastic opinion. The criteria for a blue flag are so stringent that town councils spend all year and huge amounts of funding on trying to achieve them, or retaining them from the previous year, since they're not handed out to just anyone. Unless every feature on the list of essentials can be marked as 'excellent', a beach won't make the cut. 'Great' or 'very, very good' isn't enough.

Of course, this means that a beach can be of superb quality, clean and inviting, with convenient facilities and easy access, but still only reaches 99% of the necessary standards for a blue flag; not having one doesn't mean your local beach is somehow defective. In fact, lots of beaches don't have blue flags because their local councils opt not to apply, perhaps due to other funding or time commitments that year.

But if, for you, nothing less than a blue-flagged beach will do, Spain is your destination: It has more than any other country on earth, and always has. In the 36 years since the award was created, nowhere else has ever gained more of them than Spain.

Check out the list below to see whether your nearest, or favourite, beach is in the 2023 blue-flag list.

Costa Brava

Best beaches and marinas of 2023 in the province of Girona include Castelló d'Empúries (Empúriabrava), which has gained back the blue flag it lost last year.

The remainder are the same as in 2022, and are found in Blanes (Blanes, Sabanell, Sant Francesc-Cala Bona), Castell-Platja d'Aro (Cala Rovira, Platja d'Aro-Platja Gran, Sa Conca), Palafrugell (Canadell, Llafranc, Tamariu), Palamós (La Fosca), Port de la Selva, Llançá (Del Port, Grifeu), Calonge i Sant Antoni (Cala Cristus-Ses Torretes, d'Es Monestrí, Sant Antoni, Torre Valentina), Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Sant Feliu, Sant Pol), Torroelloa de Montgrí (Cala Montgó), Tossa de Mar (Gran de Tossa, La Mar Menuda), and Lloret de Mar (Cala Canyelles, Sa Boadella, Santa Cristina, and the Lloret and Fenals beaches which have earned their blue flags back this year).

Barcelona province 

Top beaches in towns that share a province with Spain's largest city include a new one in Badalona – La Marina – with Pescadors having kept its flags from 2022, whilst Coco regained one and Cristall has lost its kitemark.

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BIG changes are afoot for Spain's future Queen, with major new challenges in her path – and, although young Leonor is proof that being major Royalty means few privileges and limited choices, the demands on her at a tender age have not yet taken the wind out of her sails as she soldiers on with a smile.

Even though Princess Leonor's father, King Felipe VI, is only in his 50s – so, if he never decides to abdicate, his eldest daughter may not reach the throne for another 40-plus years, all being well – the Hallowe'en-born student has been in preparation for her future job practically since the cradle. 

This preparation has been quite tough enough so far – her first public speech on her 13^th birthday, spending summer holidays at camp in the USA perfecting her English, travelling the country during half-term for official engagements and, just two months before turning 16, moving abroad, without her parents, to go to school.

In accordance with the Spanish Constitution – signed in December 1978 and still valid in its original version – the reigning monarch is always automatically the supreme head of the national Armed Forces.

As per Article 62, Leonor's granddad, King Juan Carlos I, was the highest-ranking military leader in the country until he abdicated in June 2014, after which his son, Felipe VI, would take over this status as well as that of King and Head of State.

Princess Leonor, then, will become Spain's top Forces figure when she is crowned Queen.

Even though compulsory military service was disbanded in Spain in March 2001, the heir to the throne was never going to be excused from it – being head soldier is not simply a token title, which means Leonor will have to join the Army. 

Still, after moving abroad alone and living life in a foreign language at the impressionable age of 15, learning to fight for her country possibly isn't as daunting for the brave young Royal as it sounds. 

Infanta Sofía to follow elder sister to sixth-form in Wales

Back in summer 2021, HRH Leonor passed a series of stiff exams, sat anonymously, to gain entrance to the United World College of the Atlantic in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales, where she would spend two years as a full-time boarder working on her sixth-form qualifications. 

The international baccalaureate Leonor has been studying is taught in English, and she has spent this time among students from all over the world – over 70% of them on full scholarships and ranging from European Royalty to youngsters from the poorest countries on earth – with mandatory extra-curricular activities involving community service and sports.

Naturally, Princess Leonor is one of the 30% whose families pay the full fee of nearly €80,000 for her education, but in accordance with UWC Atlantic policies, has been living in a sparsely-furnished, shared house with students from different cultural backgrounds and languages – this is deliberate on the part of the college, to encourage cross-community integration - and they are all expected to do their own domestic chores and laundry.

Her younger sister, the Infanta Sofía – who turned 16 last week – will follow in Leonor's footsteps this coming September after having passed the stringent entrance exams.

The girls will not be at UWC Atlantic together, though – Leonor's final sixth-form exams are due in the coming weeks, and the next stage in her long-mapped-out career will be back in Spain. 

Three years, three Forces, and 'fast-track' training

Supporters and critics of the monarchy alike have expressed mixed views on Leonor's next chapter, which involves a condensed and intensive training in the three main military disciplines. Although the Princess will have known all her life that she was never going to be able to follow a career of her own choice, and is said to be very keen to get started on the new leg of her journey, there is a sense among the general public that it would not matter either way – she might love it, or she might hate it, but she's still going to have to do it.

Many have said that if Leonor ends up hating her Forces experience, the three years she will spend training will be far too long; by contrast, if she loves it, then three years will not be enough.

Starting this September, the Princess will join the Territorial Armed Forces, or Land Army, at the military academy in Zaragoza, Aragón, where her father Felipe VI trained. Here, she will stay for one academic year, but her military education will be fast-tracked: By summer 2024, Leonor will have reached the stage of a second-year graduate, or 'passing out'.

The next academic year, from September 2024 to summer 2025, Leonor will move to the far north-western region of Galicia to spend a year training with the Navy in Marín (Pontevedra province).

Here, she will go straight in as a third-year student and, after completing her studies at this level, will go offshore, training on the water on the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, a Naval academy ship named after the Spaniard who completed the first-ever round-the-world voyage.

Year three – from September 2025 to summer 2026 – will take HRH Leonor to the opposite end of the country, to San Javier (Murcia). She will join the Air Force Academy in this south-eastern coastal region, going straight in as a fourth-year student.

Although her training will be considered complete after these three years, Leonor will automatically rise through the military ranks alongside her colleagues over the fourth year, from September 2026 to summer 2027, when they will all – the Princess included – graduate.

'Lieutenant Leonor' to combine university with military

This 'express' training route across three disciplines, designed jointly by the Royal family and defence minister Margarita Robles, will mean Leonor reaches the level of Sub-Lieutenant in the Navy, and Lieutenant in the Army and the Air Force. 

A Sub-Lieutenant – or, in the case of a frigate, Midshipman – in the Navy is equivalent to that of Lieutenant in the Armed Forces or the Air Force, and is the ranking below that of Captain.

During her year in Zaragoza, HRH Leonor will combine her Land Army training with university studies, although it is not clear how she will continue with her academic career after summer 2024 – whether her second and subsequent years will be deferred until after her military education, or whether she will be able to carry on with it at least part-time, dovetailing her law degree with the Navy and Air Force.

Leonor, and also her sister Sofía, will both be expected to take a university degree, and will probably go onto post-graduate higher education studies, too, although this is likely to be optional.

Princess waives right to €417-a-month salary

It has already been confirmed the Princess has waived her right to the allowance, or salary, normally paid to students in the three military disciplines. Set at 60% of the so-called 'sub-group C2' in the first year, she would have received just over €417 a month, rising to €668 by the end of her training.

King Felipe VI explains that his eldest daughter will not be paid during these years, because her Forces education is not aimed at an eventual career as a soldier, unlike that of her colleagues.

Even though both Princess Leonor and the Infanta Sofía are members of the Royal family – much reduced since Felipe VI's coronation and now only encompassing the girls, their parents, and King Felipe's parents Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía – neither of the monarch's daughters receives an allowance from the State.

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YET again and for the 36^th year running, Spain holds the record for the highest number of blue-flagged beaches in the world, with its east-coast region of the Comunidad Valenciana having more than any other.

And for the second consecutive year, Spain has increased its blue-flag count by exactly six – from 615 in 2021 and 621 in 2022, its total has risen to 627 for 2023.

Overall, 91% of beaches, ports, yacht marinas and leisure crafts, such as cruise ships, which applied for blue flag status were accepted, although it was beaches which showed the greatest rise in standards.

Last year, 103 ports and yacht clubs earned blue flags, but the number has dropped to 97, whilst the five 'tourist vessels' given the kitemark in 2022 have retained it for 2023.

Counting these, Spain now holds 729 blue flags, of which 627 are beaches, out of the 689 which applied.

Many awarded flags for this year were regaining those lost in 2022, showing that their town councils had dedicated extra effort in attempting to bring their beaches back up to 'excellent'.

More than one in seven blue-flagged beaches are in Spain

An international quality stamp, the blue flag award was created in 1987 and applying for it is voluntary, but nerve-wracking and expensive. Extremely rigorous criteria must be met, which normally involves months of local authority efforts and considerable funding – although the cash spent on bringing a beach up to the stringent standards for a blue flag is normally considered an investment rather than an expense, since it is a major draw for tourists and a splendid advert for a destination.

The International Environmental Education Foundation is the awarding body, and Spain's blue flags are granted via the Environmental and Consumer Education Association (ADEAC).

As yet, Spain has never failed to be the country with the most blue flags on earth – quite an achievement, considering it competes against established beach tourism destinations that multiply it in size and length of coast, such as Brazil and México and, in the case of Australia and the USA, countries larger in land-mass than the entire continent of Europe.

In fact, 15% of all blue-flagged beaches on earth are in Spain – one in every 6.7 - with Greece and Turkey coming second and third.

“We should be super-proud of Spain, because it is one of the few countries in the world where its entire coast is accessible to the public, and that requires huge effort,” says ADEAC deputy chairwoman Virginia Yuste.

“I have never yet found another country like this.”

Where are the flags?

Perhaps it's unsurprising that the regions with the longest coastlines will have the most blue-flagged beaches – but that's not necessarily the case. Whilst the southernmost mainland region of Andalucía has more coastal provinces than any other – Almería, Granada, Málaga, Cádiz and Huelva – its flag total for this year, 148, comes second to that of the Comunidad Valenciana, with 153.

The latter, with three provinces, all bordering the Mediterranean, is habitually the region with the most blue flags, and the southernmost of these provinces, Alicante, always holds the most in the Comunidad Valenciana.

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HOW long does it take to find a buyer for a residential property in Spain?

According to industry experts, the average is around five months, but that depends partly upon where it is. Demand is much higher in city centres and inner suburbs, for example; a home for sale in Madrid will typically only take about three months to shift.

These data, for the year 2022, come from Solvía, the estate agency arm of Banco Sabadell, which was bought out by Swedish firm Intrum at the end of last year.

The Solvia Market View figures show little change over time, so the standard nationwide five months in 2022 is not due to any major surge or fall in demand.

Some unique features of Spanish property buyers

Unlike in many countries, the typical 'first-time buyer home' is not necessarily going to be snapped up in an instant. National Statistics Institute (INE) figures released last year show that the usual profile of someone buying their first property is much older than in, for example, northern Europe or North America – usually in their 40s, often with a long-term partner or spouse and dependant children.

This is because the trend in Spain is to wait until they can afford their 'forever home' – one that they do not expect to ever sell. The concept of 'buying small' to 'gain a foot on the property ladder', then progressing in size, is far less common among first-time buyers in Spain.

Around 65% of Spain's residents live in flats or apartments rather than houses – the second-highest proportion in Europe after Latvia (66.2%) - and well over three-quarters, nearly eight in 10, own their homes rather than renting.

Rental properties are more likely to be seasonal – for the summer, and based on urbanisations with swimming pools or right next to a beach – or in large cities where young adults, normally in couples, have had to move to for their jobs.

That does not necessarily mean you should forget about renting your home instead of selling it if it is in another area, or you need long-term tenants. Future buyers may well decide to rent for a while until they find the home they definitely want, or to make sure they like the area before committing. Also, those whose income is sufficient to pay rent but not enough to save for a sizeable deposit may not be candidates for buying, or perhaps they prefer not to own their home so as not to have to worry about maintenance and repairs.

Given how only a third of Spanish residents live in houses, even villages have large numbers of flats, not just big towns and cities, and these are often very spacious and can be even more expensive and luxurious than a house.

Another key aspect of the Spanish homebuying market is that, according to research, the overwhelming majority seek properties within the town they grew up in, where their families live, or even in the same neighbourhood; those who cannot find what they want will typically look as close to their local area as they can, perhaps the very next town or village.

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THIS year's Princess of Asturias Arts Award winner has already been announced after her name was put forward by Spain's most famous living film director.

Hollywood legend Meryl Streep will be presented with the national Spanish answer to a Nobel Prize this autumn after she was chosen from a shortlist of 44 candidates from 20 countries.

Known for her lead rôles as the scary magazine boss in The Devil Wears Prada, the mum of the bride in Mamma Mia and as the Danish coffee plantation owner in the film version of Karen Blixen's autobiographical novel Out of Africa, Ms Streep has won just about every award in existence – several times.

But you can only ever earn a Princess of Asturias Award once – and it helps if Pedro Almodóvar votes for you.

The prolific cult director also won the Arts prize in 2006, but back then, it was the Prince of Asturias Award.

Since June 2014, there has been no such person as the Prince of Asturias; until then, this was King Juan Carlos I's son Felipe, who became King Felipe VI after his father abdicated nine years ago.

And Felipe VI and his wife, Queen Letizia, have two daughters – their eldest, Leonor, is Princess of Asturias and first in line to the throne.

Her namesake awards are presented in the autumn, at around the time of her birthday – October 31 – and this year she will be celebrating her 18^th either just before or just after the ceremony.

But award recipients are announced throughout the year, so they have plenty of time to work on their acceptance speeches.

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A WOMAN gave birth in the middle of a crowded bar in Valencia on Friday – with the help of an off-duty midwife who just happened to be having a drink there.

Emergency services said the new mum, 28, was in a café in the Cánovas neighbourhood when, at exactly 21.40, her waters broke.

It took just 16 minutes for the baby to fully emerge, meaning by the time the ambulance arrived, she was already holding the newborn.

And she turned out to have chosen the right bar for a drink that evening, since one of the other customers was a midwife.

As well as ringing emergency services, the mother had called a friend who is a doctor by profession and lived nearby.

She had managed to make it to her car parked just outside by then, and finished giving birth on the back seat.

Local Police got there just at the end, before the ambulance, and were seen putting on surgical gloves to help in the process.

Officers also asked the bar staff for towels to wrap the baby in.

Once paramedics arrived, all they had to do was cut the umbilical cord and take the mother and infant to the city's La Fe Hospital, where both are said to be doing well.

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