Supermarkets to stay open longer in the Canaries

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

In a bid to bring Spain’s and the Canary Islands services up to those found in other European countries supermarket will be open longer. Many visitors are surprised to find supermarkets closed in the middle of the day. Business is being lost as is customers satisfaction. In a bid to improve this the Spanish government wants to change legislation to oblige regional governments to let supermarkets stay open longer and ease the opening of new supermarkets. The Finance ministry wants weekly opening hours to rise from 72 hours to 84. Many national holidays also block opening hours for businesses, this to is hoped to change. This change will have the biggest impact on large supermarkets and department stores with shopping areas of over 300m2. Small businesses are already free to chose their opening times. This is hoped to contribute to Spain’s overall service levels to visitors from overseas and locals alike.

Posted in Canary Island property news | Comments Off

Canary Islands mobile phone service to improve

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

The mobile phone company of Vodafone is set to improve its internet and voice services. Just having connected to a high speed underwater cable broad band internet speeds will soar. The WACS fibre optic in Gran Canaria was where the first connection was made and Vodafone will now link the rest of its Canary Island service to this. The new link allows data to move at a speed of 5.2 terabytes per second. Bosses of the company are confident that they can now compete on an even keel with the leading mobile company of Telefonica.

Posted in Canary Island property news | Comments Off

El Hierro going green

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

The most Western Canarian island of El Hiero is setting its sites on going 100% green. The island is set to install  a wind turbine based system towards the end of 2011. This will start it on course to be the worlds only inhabited land mass that is totally self sufficient and green.
At the moment islanders are dependent on a weekly delivery of diesel to power its generators. Natural resources are scarce except for sea, sun and wind. The current global problems with pollution, warming and soaring fuel prices have prompted the local community to seek its own solutions.
The unique features the island has going for it is unlimited water, wind and high cliffs. The island mayor ‘Tomas Pardon’ has sought out a cutting edge solution that could answer all their problems.
The amazing plan is to use wind power to pump water from a large water tank at sea level to a much larger tank placed in the crater of a volcano some 2,300 feet up. The upper tank of water will act a a huger power reserve. Like a battery. Whenever electricity is needed gates in the upper tank will be open and the water running down hill back to the lower reservoir will power turbines. These turbines produce the islands electricity. The pipes are camouflaged to fit in to the environment. The falling water will drive six hydraulic water turbines. To come away from the current fossil fuel situation constant power is needed to prevent blackouts. This is why the reservoir solution is so brilliant. Normal wind turbines only supply electricity when the wind blows. No wind no electricity. Adding the reservoir into the loop means the excess wind power is effectively stored in the form of water at the top. If more power is needed simply letting more water flow back down supplies it.
The power plant should produce 48 gigawatts per hour. The first phase will save the island 6,000 tones of diesel per annum. Total sufficiency is aimed at by 2015.
Future phases include changing every car on the island to electric. These will then be able to use the abundance of free electricity. The car batteries will be supplied by the same company building the current hydroeolic system, Gorona del Viento. The island sustainability councilman said that when both systems go online the system will be beyond green, it will be like ‘galaxies colliding’.

Posted in El Hierro | Tagged | Comments Off

Property news for Fuerteventura

Posted on April 5, 2011 by admin

Ever changing property markets of late need to be kept abreast of. If you own or are thinking of making an investment on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura then it is a very good idea to keep updated.

There is a great source of Fuerteventura property news available on the freedom4sale website. They have been keeping an archive going for the last ten years. Not only news but many other categories of information to help you from start to finish of any property purchase or sale.

Posted in fuerteventura property | Tagged | Leave a comment

Lanzarote property news

Posted on April 5, 2011 by admin

If you are looking to buy property in Lanzarote or already own one then you need to stay ahead of the local news. Freedom4sale has its own regularly updated property news archive whereby you can see the latest news and older archived articles.

Not only will you find a Lanzarote property news archive but also a whole host of other property related information for all the Canary Islands.

All of the advice and articles you could ever need are to be found. These have been brought together over the last ten years the website has live.

If there is something your are looking for but cannot find feel free to contact the freedom team for some unbiased advice.

Posted in lanzarote property | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ryaniar now flies from Northern island to South Tenerife

Posted on April 5, 2011 by admin
New Ryanair route to Tenerife

New Ryanair route to Tenerife

Ryanair is adding yet another scheduled flight to the Canary Islands. From the 19th of April you will be able to book flights from Derry in Ireland to Tenerife’s Southern airport. In total there will now be sixteen Ryanair routes to the Canaries every week. This is very welcome news to both visitors and local business people alike.

Posted in tenerife property | Tagged | Leave a comment

Early summer Canary Island property magazine now available

Posted on April 5, 2011 by admin
Canary island property magazine issue 63

Canary island property magazine issue 63

Issue 63 of the Canary Islands only specialist property magazine is now available to order or download via the www.freedom4sale.com website.

The full colour glossy magazine is broken down into sections for each of the four main Canary Islands. There is a section for Lanzarote property, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria signified by colours.

This issue kicks off with a foreword summarizing the current state of property in the Canaries and the trend of movement in a slight upward direction. Property news features what is happening in the world of property and property related issues. Then several good articles go over subjects like the Spanish Notary system, letting your overseas property, repossessed apartments and villas and whether or not now is the time to buy.

You can download your own pdf version of our Canary Island property magazine here.

Posted in Canary Island property magazine | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Property sales in terms of supply, demand and urgency.

Posted on February 28, 2011 by admin

Normally prices are driven by supply and demand. More supply and less demand means lower prices, conversely more demand and less supply will drive prices higher. However in the property market there is an added ingredient, that of ‘urgency’. If a house owner has no urgency to sell their property then the amount of demand or supply can have little effect on the price they set for the house in question. In the Canary Islands where many owners buy property as a second or holiday home this can quite often be the case. Their home in the sun may have been bought with spare cash, the mortgage may be very low so market fluctuations and bank rates have no effect. In this scenario overseas property prices will not respond as quickly to recessions, property booms are a different thing.

Under the above set of premises the prices of properties in the Canary islands at the onset of the recession did not move. The supply increased the demand dropped but urgency was not an issue. Owners had an economic buffer zone. Now we are well into the slow down and money is tight not just overseas but at home things are changing. The urgency factor is starting to kick in. Owners that could afford to just pay a small mortgage or receive no income when their apartment in Lanzarote was empty do not have the same financial luxury. Money is tight and all assets need to be utilised to their fullest.

Mid way through the recession many properties were tentatively put on the market at ideal prices. As difficulties ground on that apartment for sale in Puerto del Carmen had to have its price lowered. Things got no better, urgency increased and prices continued to lower. Demand was at an all time low, supply was through the ceiling and urgency was right there with it. Market forces were in place and the amount of money property in Lanzarote could once fetch was a thing of the past.

The current market has now shown improvements. Confidence is settling back in and tourist numbers are rising, especially on the back of problems in other destinations.

As always economies cycle. The rise and fall and sometimes even plummet.  Trends show rises are slower than the falls and every recession hears cries of the end of the world is here. Things always recover and that is what they are doing now. Nothing new. Life goes on and the good times will return again.

Posted in Apartment for sale in Puerto del Carmen, property for sale in Puerto del Carmen | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Distressed property sales in Playa Blanca

Posted on February 28, 2011 by admin

The Playa Blanca area of Lanzarote has plenty of room and therefore lots of space fo  fpr new developments. In recent years this became the favorite area for property development on the island. The demand was great for new builds from affordable apartments to mid ranged houses right up to the most luxurious of villas.

The infrastructure and facilities could easily support the growth. There is a ferry port to Fuerteventura and rumors, that have now come true, of a golf course out by Faro Park and Shangrilla. Building went ahead and many people vastly improved their standard of living both full time and for holiday homes. Many developers having completed successful developments moved onto larger and more ambitious ones.

Then came the economic slow down or recession. At first this was seen as a glitch, then a bump in the road and then a big black hole. Statistics and property pundits alike see the recession as finally waning but for many the improvements are too little too late. Huge loans need repaying faster, banks are doing all they can but their pockets are not bottomless. Sales are needed and prices are falling, rapidly.

The new turn ‘distressed sale’ has been used a lot. People on the brink of repossession are having to face facts and pitch prices at a level that gains a very interest from an insecure buyers market. For buyers that have some funds now really is a great time to buy. Property for sale in Playa Blanca has a wide selection of all kinds of builds at prices equal to those over five years ago.

Banks are having to sell of repossessed properties at super low prices and tourist numbers are on the up. Again investment buying is a viable proposition. Mortgages are low. The Canary Islands is moving up the tourist ladder because of problems in other European destinations and the time to buy in Playa Blanca has returned.

Posted in Property for sale in Playa Blanca | Tagged | Leave a comment

Warmest Canary Island weather in 50 years

Posted on February 9, 2011 by admin

The UK had the coldest winter since records began. The recession is hard to take but the British weather is not about to get sympathetic.

Weather in the Canaries decided to offer some relief. Not that is would ever give offense and become too hot. Just clear blue skies warm breezes and a balmy 21 to 28 degree centigrade temperature.

Flights are cheap and the living is easy. No other European country even comes close.

Light winds in Winter and stronger cooling breezes in Summer make for one of the worlds very best year round climates. Where else in the world would you find almost all the houses not needing heating or air conditioning?

Tempted?? Buy yourself a bargain Canary Island property and basque in the sunshine all year round.

Posted in Canary Island weather | Tagged | Leave a comment