Depending on one’s point of view, the Honey Route at the Costa del Sol is either the one bees take to find the best pollen that eventually produces the famous honey of the region or the stretch of coast that offers investors prime Spanish real estate.
Starting with the humble bees of the Malaga province, the Honey Museum in Colmenar is a great family attraction that entertains as well as educates. The Museo de la Miel, as it is officially called, is not just dedicated to praise and promote honey products from the region but is also a place where the environmental importance of bees in the process of pollination of plants is of paramount interest.
This charming museum demonstrates to visitors how honey production changed from antiquity to present day. Young and older visitors will be shown how the beekeeper extracts honey from his charges and how the consumption of is beneficial for our health. Colmenar is located some 30 km distance out of Malaga. The area is rich in cultural heritage and there are many fine churches such as the Church of Santo Cristo de Cabrilla and the Church of La Encarnation for example that make a day trip worthwhile.
Buying a property in the Malaga province has never been affordable than at the present time. Both new built and resale homes are heavily discounted and until the end of the year there are still various government tax incentives in place that make a purchase far cheaper than at any other time. The exceptionally low interest rate prevalent in Spain at the moment and the generous mortgage packages offered with new built property that is bank-owned, mean that buyers from overseas should grab this opportunity with both hands.
Spain has never lost in popularity as a holiday destination. Owning a property in resorts like Marbella, Fuengirola or Estepona, all up-market addresses at the Costa del Sol, makes perfect sense in a market that has seen a huge increase in long-term rental potential as well as holiday rentals.
Bees may take a different view, since much of the 1980s and 1990s development boom destroyed their natural habitat; since then the Spanish government has put the breaks on many projects that encroached too far on nature reserves and national parks, but with so many new homes on the market that have yet to find a buyer there will be no need for new developments for quite some time to come.
Spain has experienced record numbers of visitors for the second year running, a trend that has begun to have a positive impact on the property market, since self-catering private villas and apartments are back in increased demand.
Banks desperate to shed some of their surplus housing stock are offering new built property with generous 100% mortgages to sweeten the deal. The great advantage of owning a home in Marbella, Estepona or Fuengirola for example is that one can have the best of both worlds: a beach life with water sports and skiing in winter in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which are less than a 2 hour drive away.
The City of Granada is one of Spain’s most visited locations and regularly attracts several hundred thousand tourists per year. Its close proximity to the Costa del Sol’s resorts and the ski resorts of the Sierra Nevada make Granada a prime location for property bargain hunters. Long-term rental yields are very good here, as Granada is home to one of Spain’s most respected universities; its large student population needs accommodation not just during term time.
It is very much dependent on personal taste, if one prefers a rural property or a resort home. The Honey Route for property in Marbella probably covers the Golden Mile and Puerto Banus, where the impressive marina lures hundreds of thousands of visitors every year to the cafes, bars, clubs and restaurants.
Here Marbella’s property is at its most expensive; next runner up is probably the Old Town of Marbella, where holiday rental yields are very high and historic properties come with impressive price tags.
As the bee flies, property further inland becomes cheaper, with the hill towns being both popular with expats and very affordable at the present time.