Spain is one of the leading locations for British expats to emigrate too – in fact, it’s estimate that over 300,000 UK-born people now reside in the Spanish portion of the Iberian Peninsula. One might be forgiven for think that with Brexit that might all change. Luke Thomas of Abode2, speaks to Marc Pritchard of Taylor Wimpey about why that’s not the case.
Leading Spanish home builder Taylor Wimpey España reports that the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca remain firm favourites with foreign buyers, as figures from the Association of Spanish Land Registrars show that foreigners now account for almost 13% of Spanish property purchases. Overall, the Spanish property market continues to perform strongly, with local demand and foreign demand almost neck and neck.

“Foreign buyers play an important role in the Spanish property market. Right now, we're seeing both local demand and foreign buyer demand increase, which is excellent news for the health of the overall market,” says Marc Pritchard, Sales and Marketing Director of Taylor Wimpey España, “In terms of foreign buyers, new build homes in sunny, well-established coastal areas are some of the most sought after properties.”
In total, foreigners purchased some 17,338 properties in Spain in Q2 2018. Of those, 2,590 purchases were by British buyers. The next largest group of overseas buyers were the French, who purchased 1,315 Spanish homes. The figures show the importance of British buyers to the Spanish market – something which Spain is considering carefully in light of the UK's imminent departure from the EU, both from a property perspective and a tourism one.

Tourism numbers and foreigners buying Spanish property tend to be interlinked. After all, the more people who visit Spain and fall in love with its culture, cuisine, beaches and more, the more there are who yearn to own property there. In the first nine months of 2018, data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) shows that 66.2 million foreign tourists visited Spain, spending 2.5% more than in the same period of 2017.
In order to ensure that Spain continues to benefit from British interest, Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism Reyes Maroto has been meeting with top travel companies in order to ensure Britons can continue visiting Spain, regardless of the final terms of Brexit.

It certainly seems as though British holidaymakers are unfazed by the prospect of Brexit disrupting their travel plans. Toni Mayor, president of the Hosbec Costa Blanca hoteliers association, has reported stable bookings from British tourists for 2019, despite the current lack of certainty around travel arrangements after 29 March.
Explains Marc: “For both tourists and property buyers, Spain has much to offer. House prices here have risen faster than in the UK according to the latest TINSA data, meaning that Brits buying in Spain can enjoy superior potential for capital growth at present when compared to those buying in the UK.”

TINSA's figures show a 5.3% increase in property prices in the year to October 2018. Both major city locations and the Mediterranean coastline are faring well, according to TINSA, with rises of 8.5% and 6.0% respectively.