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Published on Leave a comment on Calatrava’s Opera House in Valencia and its Façade Problem

The performing arts center and opera house of Valencia was designed by the prominent architect Santiago Calatrava, who also created New York's World Trade Center Transportation Hub, scheduled to open in 2015, as well as many other international projects. His work is known for its airy, curved designs Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències in Valencia Spain1 300x200 - Calatrava's Opera House in Valencia and its Façade Problemthat suggest a symbiosis between architecture and sculpture. It has also proven controversial in recent years because of ballooning budgets and technical glitches.

The Palau, which cost 478 million euros to build, opened eight years ago. A recent analysis by the Construction Technology Institute (Aidico) concluded that there is a "generalized failure of the ceramic covering's adherence" on 60 percent of the surface. The Valencian government commissioned this report after a section of the mosaic fell off on December 26, forcing the opera house to shut down and cancel performances.
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Published on 1 Comment on Andalucía’s Anti-eviction Law Suspended by Court

Spain’s Constitutional Court has suspended - provisionally - the law passed by the Junta de Andalucía in October to prevent families with limited financial resources being evicted from their homes.

46353 1251686 foto 1 300x225 - Andalucía’s Anti-eviction Law Suspended by CourtThe law, described as a measure to ensure the social function of a property, allowed the authority to temporarily expropriate the use of a property repossessed by a bank so that its original owners could still live in it.

The Constitutional Court has admitted the central government appeal against the law designed by the Junta de Andalucía to ease home evictions by temporarily expropriating the use of houses seized by banks and allowing their owners to continue living in them.

The Andalusian law was passed on October 1st and revoked a previous decree on the same matter which had been passed in April and was also the subject of an appeal on grounds of it being unconstitutional.
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Published on 3 Comments on Luxurious Flat for Sale in Ibiza, Balearic Islands

Jean Nouvel´s New Flats, In Las Boas Building, Marina Botafoch, Ibiza, Balearic Islands
2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Swimming-pool, 1st Row from the Sea, Brand New, Luxury property

Las Boas is the most emblematic building of the island of Ibiza, located in the best area of the Marina Botafoch. Designed by architect Jean Nouvel, it offers a unique living experience with panoramic views of the old town of Ibiza, Formentera and the sea. The luxury flats designed and individually finished are unique. The building has the balconies of different colours and that is what makes it so original. Las Boas building has 179 homes from 80 to 300 m2 and 1-5 bedrooms. Beautiful gardens surround the building with a lake-size swimming pool. It also has an underground garage, a spa, a gym and a private club for residents. The flats have air conditioning, domotic and alarm system. It is a gated community with 24 hr. Security. Prices from 347. 000€ up to 1. 113. 000€. This flat, which is in the second floor, has 127 m2 built with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, a beautiful kitchen, a living room and a spacious terrace of 40 m2.

The price is 400,000 €.

Click on the following link in order to see more information about this property: spainhouses.net

3574676 1237839 foto26296215 - Luxurious Flat for Sale in Ibiza, Balearic Islands
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Published on Leave a comment on Spanish Architecture: Abrante Lookout, Canary Islands

From the architect (Jose Luis Bermejo Martín). On January 2, 2013, a unique work which will become an iconic tourist landmark opened on the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands), the Abrante Lookout, northeast of the island, in the municipality of Agulo. The chosen site is located on top of the Abrante cliff, 620 m above sea level, on the edge of an impressive cliff with a vertical drop of 200 meters, a challenge to the construction of the project, and a challenge to the visitor.

The site presents ideal conditions to locate a lookout in which multiple services are offered, and is a resting place for pedestrians. The peculiarity of this lookout is the seven meter cantilever above the void, with the floor and walls made of structural glass, bound with a metal structure at the top and supported on reinforced concrete beams. It was built on the same site as the previous lookout, where a simple stone wall served as a parapet, giving a greater sense of vertigo.

Abrante Lookout0 1024x768 - Spanish Architecture: Abrante Lookout, Canary Islands

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Published on 1 Comment on Bad news for home sales in Spain, despite the fall in prices

Just a day after Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said that the housing market was beginning to touch bottom in a recovery that is gathering pace, the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Tuesday announced that home sales plunged in November of last year to their second-lowest level since the crisis began around the start of 2008.

46353 1245080 foto 1 300x200 - Bad news for home sales in Spain, despite the fall in pricesThe INE said housing transactions in the month shrank by 15.7 percent to 21,847, a figure only above that of April 2012, which coincided with that year’s Easter holidays and therefore had fewer working days.

Despite an accumulated fall in prices since the highs set in 2007 of around 40 percent after a decade-long boom that suddenly burst, house sales have fallen for the last seven straight months. In the first 11 months of last year, home sales dropped 2.1 percent.

Demand is being restrained by a jobless rate of just under 26 percent and by falling wages as Spain strives to restore its competitiveness and export its way out of the crisis. Banks have also tightened lending conditions.
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