Skip to content

Published on Leave a comment on Architecture: Modern House by Roberto Ercilla and Miguel Ángel Campo

The house, located in Uleta (Basque Country) Spain, and completed in 2002 is surrounded by a high fence. Most of the house is top lit via a series of rooflights set in a sawtooth roof. On the ground floor there are large glazed windows looking over the terrace but generally the house is inward facing.

The interior it is light and white, full of Modernist simplicity with a touch of heroism, but on the outside it appears demure, toned down using simple timber cladding.

The architects see this as a critique of the unsatisfactory nature of the luxury housing round about, but a case could be made that the design provides a penetrating insight into a sense of unease about the site and the neighbours.

A modern house1 - Architecture: Modern House by Roberto Ercilla and Miguel Ángel Campo
...continue reading "Architecture: Modern House by Roberto Ercilla and Miguel Ángel Campo"

1

Published on 1 Comment on Coast holiday rentals under control

The parliamentary bill to change the rules governing rented accommodation (full name: Ley de Medidas de Flexibilización y Fomento del Mercado de Alquiler de Viviendas) has sparked controversy within the country’s all-important tourism industry.

Flats2 300x225 - Coast holiday rentals under controlThe law will oblige private owners who rent out their properties for short periods of time to meet a series of requirements as well as to comply with the special tourism apartment regulations still to be established by the Junta de Andalucía.

While waiting for the regional authority to draw up this law, and for the central government to define exactly what it considers to be a holiday property, thousands of individual owners have been left wondering what regulations will apply to them.

The potential changes do not just affect a handful of people, but an important sector of the tourism industry. According to the annual financial report produced by La Caixa in 2012, the number of tourists staying in non-official holiday apartments on the Costa del Sol was three times greater than those choosing hotel accommodation. The report states that last year tourists spent 43.1 million nights in properties that are not registered as tourist accommodation, mainly because until now the urban letting law (LAU) has not made this compulsory.
...continue reading "Coast holiday rentals under control"

1

Published on 1 Comment on Great Opportunity: Home in Oliva, Valencia, for Less than 70.000 €!

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Garage and Storeroom, Built area 118m2, Area useful 98m2

In Oliva, Valencia province, this brand new apartment comes directly from the bank stock and offers excellent financing conditions. Perfect location, only 3 km far away from the beach in a quiet area, perfect for families.

More info on the following link: spainhouses.net

986085 56895 3 - Great Opportunity: Home in Oliva, Valencia, for Less than 70.000 €!
...continue reading "Great Opportunity: Home in Oliva, Valencia, for Less than 70.000 €!"

Published on Leave a comment on Architecture in Spain: Casa Vicens by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona

Casa Vicens was Antoni Gaudí's first major commission in the city of Barcelona  (Cataluña) Combining Gothic and Mudéjar (or, Moorish) styles, Casa Vicens set the tone for Gaudí's later work. Many of Gaudi's trademarks are already present in Casa Vicens: bright colors, extensive tile work and elaborately decorated chimneys.

Casa Vicens also reflects Gaudí's love of nature. Plants that had to be destroyed to build Casa Vicens are incorporated into the building.

Casa Vicens was built as a private home for industrialist Manuel Vicens. The house was enlarged in 1925 by Joan Serra de Martínez. Casa Vicens was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

Currently, Casa Vicens is for sale with an asking price of 30 million euros.

Casa Vicens - Architecture in Spain: Casa Vicens by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona

...continue reading "Architecture in Spain: Casa Vicens by Antoni Gaudí, Barcelona"

2

Published on 2 Comments on Lawyers chase up British property owners in the UK to recover their unpaid community fees

A development of terraced houses on the beach front, with a swimming pool and spacious gardens. This sounds like a place in many people’s dreams, but for about 50 people who live in La Borboleta development in Manilva the maintenance of this residential complex is becoming a real nightmare.

Apartments 300x225 - Lawyers chase up British property owners in the UK to recover their unpaid community feesSo many people have failed to pay their community fees that, after already having had to cut back on the number of hours spent on maintenance work and gardening, the water supply could be cut off within a few days, says property administrator Rafael Mena.

Five British owners are responsible for the largest part of this debt, because between them they owe more than 25,000 euros. A debt recovery company in the United Kingdom is now looking for them so they can be brought before the courts.
...continue reading "Lawyers chase up British property owners in the UK to recover their unpaid community fees"

6

Published on 6 Comments on Great Opportunity: Flat for sale in Fuengirola (Málaga) for 150.000 €

3 bedrooms, Built area 138m2, Area useful 126m2, 2 parking spaces, Lumber room, Garden and swimming pool

Direct from bank, brand new apartment in a quiet area of Fuengirola, in the famous Costa del Sol (Málaga), just 10 minutes far away from the beach. Good financial conditions.

See more info in the following link: spainhouses.net

Flat in Fuengirola 01 - Great Opportunity: Flat for sale in Fuengirola (Málaga) for 150.000 €

...continue reading "Great Opportunity: Flat for sale in Fuengirola (Málaga) for 150.000 €"

Published on Leave a comment on A green wall by Capella Garcia Architecture in Barcelona

Since at least Babylonian times, hanging gardens of significant scale have been thought of as wondrous things. But beyond the spectacle of the garden itself, is the structure within which the garden is created. Capella Garcia Architecture have designed this hanging garden or, as they tend to be known these days, a green wall, to be around for some time. The garden especially when the planting is fully mature will be wondrous if not on the scale of the ancient mystical gardens. But I imagine that many, even without the plants, would be happy to sit and stare at the structure for a while.

Green wall products on the market tend to be cheap plastic affairs that can accommodate plants of a certain limited size. They tend to been used as a canvas in which different coloured, or structured plants are used as pixels to draw a large, if abstract design.

This project in Barcelona  (Spain) has a substantial galvanized steel frame creating eight levels which are accessed via a stair. It is altogether more substantial than the usual living wall described above, and with imaginative management could become a type of social garden where local residents could come together to tend it, exchanging flowers, produce, gossip and goodwill.

Architecture in Barcelona 01 - A green wall by Capella Garcia Architecture in Barcelona

...continue reading "A green wall by Capella Garcia Architecture in Barcelona"

Published on Leave a comment on Spain: a land of opportunities for overseas investors?

If we go to early 2.000, during the years before the housing bubble burst in 2007, in Spain were being built in the vicinity of the 700,000 homes year, with a large speculative component, driven by low interest rates and ever-rising property prices, what homeownership turned into a very interesting investment option.

As of August 2007, there was a slowdown in demand has meant that much of the housing stock built and not sold, has become a major burden on the balance sheet of banks and savings banks, main financing actors of the projects.

Currently a new scenario is opened for visionary overseas profitable hunters
From a investor point of view, there are three benefits this situation bring in.

• Large brand new finished housing stock with high quality construction level
• Deep prices repositioning
• Favorable financing conditions

First, according to the Ministry of Fomento in its report of January 2012 stated an excess of 676,038 new homes in our country available for sale, where Andalusia, Valencia and Catalonia represent over 50% of the total. ...continue reading "Spain: a land of opportunities for overseas investors?"

Published on Leave a comment on Great Opportunity: Home in Cadiz for Less than 85,000 €!

3 bedrooms, Built area 116m2, Second Hand, Asset from banking Stock, Good financing conditions

Situated in the lovely white town of Arcos de la Frontera, Cadiz, the home is surrounded by a quiet and peaceful area; ideal to enjoy life in a town of Southern Spain, just 45 minutes by car from Cadiz city. It is also perfect for nature lovers, as the region is perfect to go hiking.

See more info clicking on the following link: spainhouses.net

986119 56895 7 - Great Opportunity: Home in Cadiz for Less than 85,000 €!
...continue reading "Great Opportunity: Home in Cadiz for Less than 85,000 €!"

Published on Leave a comment on The Non Program Pavilion, Salobreña, Granada

This pavilion, located in Salobreña (Granada), does not have a specific use but it is carefully designed to fit into its surrounding landscape in a specific way.

Jesús Torres of García architects, who is Spanish, but who is currently living in Paris, was inspired by Oscar Niemeyer’s approach to building in harmony with nature.

On one side the building is clad with timber slats, whilst on the other it is apparently clad in landscape and sky. Of course this is just the reflection of its surroundings in the mirrored glass, but it was the intention to produce this illusion. It works in part at least, because of the minimal detailing to the glazing.

Inside the pavilion is open and flexible providing the perfect environment for exhibitions and other small scale events.

The building is very powerful in its own modest way.

The Non Program Pavilion - The Non Program Pavilion, Salobreña, Granada
...continue reading "The Non Program Pavilion, Salobreña, Granada"