Good morning,

This is an up to date information on the Coronavirus in Spain from a local point of view and not from the news in the U.K. If there is one thing I learnt from Brexit is to never trust the media. Since Brexit referendum June 2016, much fake news, distorted news was given to the neighbouring countries, in large part via the U.K. media.

I am receiving daily questions in relation to property prices, sellers points of view and the financial situation of the Spanish in the country. The Spanish property market is unlike any most of you have ever known. Unlike the British market which depends largely on permanent homes (except for specific areas) and local earnings, this market depends largely on second-homes or permanent moves. I am of course speaking in relation to the sales along the coast of Spain, which is the area you are all looking into at present.

The owners of the properties in the area are no longer solely Spanish, they are European, British, US Citizens, Russians, etc and as a majority are wealthy business people. The local owned properties by the Spanish people are their main homes, others are wealthy owners as second-homes from the main towns such as Valencia, Madrid but if the crash of 2008 did not make them sell I can assure you that very few will feel the desperate need to do so now. Spanish people are resilient and believe in handing down property through generations. They are intelligent individuals with connections as this country is built on a Catholic system and a noble one and they help each other out. As a rule the Spanish people do not expect the Government to offer them any financial hand-out and react to resolve any issues within their circular of connections. Even I being of British parents, born in Spain but having prooved my worth in this country as a business woman have been offered assistance if needed during this attack on our health.

During the 2008 crisis what we majority saw were people who had stretched themselves financially as the banks allowed them to do so. A controlled ethic regulation by the Government has ceased that from happening since this crash and if you own property in Spain, a large amount of this property has been funded by yourself and the interest rates offered to Spanish locals are now fixed and low as opposed to fluctuating loans which could increase in the future as they did in 2010 with the Euribor.

The sellers who usually negotiated on a percentage larger than the 10% are those who due to ill-health wish to return to their home country and the tendency is due to family pull. By then, most of these sellers have made a gain on their home purchase so the loss is usually minimum. Most of these clients purchased their homes prior to 2000 during the peseta period or just after before the increase in prices. As sellers they also usually provide a key to the real estate agencies and move prior to any sale into their new accommodation in the U.K., they very rarely negotiate much further than the 10% from the asking price.

Some of you may not agree with me on the above, that is your prerogative, but unlike you I have lived and raised in this country during the crash of the 1990´s as a daughter of a self-employed British businessman who moved to Spain during Franco era and who had this first born child out of Europe. I saw first hand what that crisis did and it is for this reason that I entered the banking world in Spain. Best to know them from the inside in order to work them out once in Business. That crisis of the 1990´s affected most of Europe, then I have lived through the crash of 2008 and I am in no way at all scared of this Corona virus influence as from my point of view too many people in high places own properties all over the world and they will not see their properties devalued. This is a World issue, not a Spanish issue.

From the office in the Costa Blanca we continue to work, all staff are working and from the 23rd April the restrictions are lifted gradually until the 10th May. From the 10th of May most will return to work, there will be some restrictions on some areas of work but the tourism is returning and the hotels are re-opening dispite the foreign news. When I refer to foreign news I refer to those local based British owned newspapers who are trying to keep their newspapers going by scaring and distorting their news all over facebook. If anyone wishes to know exactly what is happening in Spain, I ask you to google BOE latest Spanish news and use Google translate, that information is from the Government and the only reliable source.

Enjoy your day and here for you when you need us.

Kindest regards,

Johanna Whittaker, CEO and Managing Director, Compare Properties Spain.