Over the last half century the Spanish property market has been through two cycles of boom and bust. From 1985 to 1991, prices nearly tripled. Between 1992 and 1996, they remained somewhat stable and then from 1996 to 2008, prices saw another significant surge before they fell dramatically until around 2015 before the market stabilised and eventually began to recover into the market we see today. As the market recovered following each dip, a combination of changes to building regulations, planning rules and commercial pressures brought about distinct changes in the way in which developments and individual properties were planned and constructed. On the coastal areas this has resulted in three generations of properties each with distinct characteristics.
1st Generation - late 70’s to early 90’s
The building practices of this era were basic. While the central reinforced concrete floors and pillar structure which is still at the core of buildings today become prevalent the finishing quality was relatively poor. There was no use of thermal or acoustic insulation. The properties all had wooden single-glazed windows and wooden doors, both of which were often poorly fitted. For instance, when I recently removed the architrave surrounding the inside of a front door of a property built in the early '80s, I discovered daylight visible around the frame. In the same property, curtains flutter in the wind even when the windows are closed.
As was the tradition with older Spanish properties, windows tended to be relatively small to keep out the hot sunlight and most properties had iron bars called “rejas” fitted over the windows for security. It was common to find electrical cabling that is all the same colour, regardless of whether it’s live or neutral and cheap steel pipe work in place of copper that was obviously prone to rust. Almost every property has the same floor tiles and there was very little variation in the tiling of bathrooms or kitchens
However while the build quality was basic these properties are now around 40 years old. Most will have been completely refurbished and many will have been extended or had layouts changed over the years. If they haven’t been replumbed and rewired already they will certainly need to be but that would be an obvious part of a complete refit and modernisation.
From a development perspective, in this era, building land along the coast was abundant and, with little infrastructure surrounding it, it was very cheap. As a result town halls tended to allow a low density of building within their town plans and builders were generous with the sizes of properties. Individual villas tend to be built on large plots and developments of apartments and attached properties typically have large communal areas. Being first on the scene, developments of this era are often in prime positions along the coast; close to the beach or taking advantage of stunning views.
2nd Generation - late 90’s to late 2000’s
The scale of the second building boom was immense. Spain was constructing more homes than Germany, France, and Italy combined. At its peak, around 500,000 to 650,000 new homes were built annually. Between 1997 and 2006, Spain’s total housing stock increased by 25%, from around 20 million to 25 million homes.
The second generation of holiday homes shared many similarities with their predecessors, particularly in the use of concrete frames for the main structures. However, several significant changes in building practices emerged. As prime locations near the beach and other attractions became scarce, builders began developing properties further inland. The rising cost of land, especially in areas with improved infrastructure from the '80s building boom, led developers to allocate smaller plots to each property. The growing population increased the demand for local services, prompting authorities to allow higher density in residential areas, keeping populations focused and reducing the area that services would need to cover. Large plots became rarer and densely packed neighbourhoods more common. In some cases builders turned to building on cheaper rustic land that was not designated for property development, using bribes to change land status. Many town halls prioritised revenue from building licences and property taxes (as well as under-the-table payments) over proper town planning.
Although some building quality improvements were noted, they were often cosmetic. The white sprayed exterior was replaced with lower-maintenance renders, and a wider variety of property designs, shapes, and sizes appeared. Wooden windows gave way to aluminium double glazing, which, while not highly insulating, was appealing in sales materials. Builders began offering diverse tile options for floors, bathrooms, and kitchens. Additionally, pre-installation for air-conditioning became standard, and there were significant upgrades to wiring and plumbing.
3rd Generation - Post Crisis
Major changes were made to building regulations in 2006 however, as they only applied to licences granted after the changes came into force, little effect was seen before the economic crisis hit and only really began to be seen when the building market started to recover in the mid 2010’s. These changes brought with them the most significant improvements to building standards seen to date with some huge improvements to building qualities. In the next chapter, when discussing new-build properties, I will describe these changes in far more detail; however, in brief, properties from this era have thermal and acoustic insulation, much better quality fixtures and fittings, including effective double glazing and improved electrical installations.
As we saw in the last chapter there was also a shift in the market as it became more buyer-focused. Builders have to work harder to compete and now offer more to buyers as standard, including landscaping of gardens, terraces and other details which previously would have been optional extras, if offered at all.
The target markets also changed focus. While the majority of buyers in the pre-crisis era had come from the United Kingdom, now buyers were increasingly found in Scandinavia and Northern European countries such as Denmark, Holland and Belgium. This combined with technical advancements such as infra-red filtering glass brought about a complete change in architectural designs. Post-crisis properties have a more minimalist, modern design with large windows and interiors full of natural light.