Tom Powell
WHILE other Costa del Sol resorts saw property value drop by up to 70% in the crisis, stubborn La Cala de Mijas remained almost unchanged.
And now the ‘recession-proof’ resort is leading Mijas Costa’s property market recovery – thanks in part to a whole lot of wooden planks.
The new coastal boardwalk, officially opened last October, has become a huge hit, almost too popular on sunny weekends with cyclists, joggers and dog-walkers all vying for space.
“It’s been a massive draw,” explains Andrew Partridge, of La Cala Sales and Rentals.
“But we’ve also got to thank the huge investment from the town hall for driving the market.”
La Cala is certainly going places. A new roundabout and slip-road is under construction, while it counts on some of Mijas’ best schools and medical facilities too.
“People buying property want to do so in an area where it is clear the town hall is investing,” adds Partridge.
Originally from Oxford, he has been working as an estate agent for 20 years in southern Spain, setting up the La Cala office seven years ago, and as a result has been through the good and the bad.
But La Cala stayed strong throughout the crisis, there was always demand simply because the area was never overdeveloped.
In short, the village never got greedy, and is now reaping the rewards, he insists.
He has already had a ‘healthy’ number of sales this year and there are ‘plenty more on the way’.
A lot of this is being helped by the rising value of the pound and the strong UK economy, which is bringing a lot more British buyers back into the market.
Amazing how all these British Agents have been working in Spain for decades. Never read of any who came out and reinvented themselves from being an Electrician or worse.
Like those Presenters on Place in the Sun where twenty something’s come on and tell us they have been buying and selling Spanish property for decades. You couldn’t make it up, well they can. Chuckle.