Poor old Michelle Obama got so much stick for coming to Marbella she probably wont come again but at least she has put Marbella property on the map,

Michelle Obama - Marbella loves you

‘It’s the extravagance of Michelle Obama’s trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama’s demonisation of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders.

‘Toning down the flash would humanise the Obamas and signify that they sympathise with the setbacks of the people they were elected to serve.’

Few details of the Spain expenditure are known. Purely personal parts will be paid for by Obama and friends.

 More…Me and my heavies: Michelle Obama goes walkabout in Marbella after ‘racist’ Spaniards gaff

Official portions of the trip will be picked up by the taxpayer, including transport on the Air Force version of a 757, which would cost around $146,000 (£91,900) for the round trip (not including four to five days’ ground time), and her mandatory Secret Service detail.At an estimated 70 agents – at the $273-a-day federal per diem for five days, that’s just over £60,000 for Secret Service room and board. That’s a grand total of £150,000 – and that’s just for starters.

 A bevy of bodyguards surrounds the U.S. First Lady and youngest daughter as they take a stroll on the Costa del Sol

 Michelle Obama is all smiles as she walks past typical tourist attractions in southern Spain

Today Mrs Obama was seen strolling around the shops of Marbella’s old town, accompanied by burly Secret Service agents as hundreds of locals sought to catch a glimpse of her in the Costa del Sol resort.

Wearing black trousers, a black and white top and dark sunglasses, the 46-year-old walked through Marbella’s cobbled streets, nipping into a number of shops before having dinner in an Andalusian restaurant.

Mrs Obama arrived by plane at Malaga airport yesterday morning and was driven in a 14-car convoy to her hotel She told owner Ricardo Arranz she had come to ‘relax and unwind’.

The hotel is nestled in the hills overlooking Marbella, and at 6.30pm she and nine-year-old Sasha were driven to the historic centre for their shopping trip.

The holiday came just as the Obama administration faced an embarrassing diplomatic blunder and was forced to pull a warning about racism in Spain.

Staff at the US State Department removed the contentious advice to travellers, which included the phrase ‘racist prejudices could lead to the arrest of Afro-Americans who travel to Spain,’ from its website on Monday.

Locals and British expats and holidaymakers crammed the streets or leaned out from balconies to get th

 New York Daily News columnist Andrea Tantaros accused Michelle Obama of extravagance

They had a reservation for 14 people at the Buenaventura Plaza restaurant, reportedly eating lobster with rice and oysters followed by a Spanish bread pudding called torrijas.

The party enjoyed red wine with the main course and a local sweet white wine with dessert before retiring to the hotel at 10pm.

Today Mrs Obama and her youngest daughter were due to visit the city of Granada, taking in the spectacular Alhambra Palace, the 16th century Granada Cathedral, and the pretty Albaicin neighbourhood, famous for its narrow winding streets and small squares.

After four days on the Costa del Sol they are expected to visit King Juan Charles and Queen Sofia at their summer palace on the island of Majorca.

Around 250 Spanish police officers and military personnel are protecting the Obamas during the trip, with another 68 Secret Service agents over from the US.

President Barack Obama, who turned 49 on Wednesday, is not expected to join them in Spain, and oldest daughter Malia, 12, is at a summer camp in the US.

Mr Obama celebrated his birthday with friends in his Chicago hometown, including TV host Oprah Winfrey, shortly after receiving well-wishing phonecalls from his wife and daughters.

As the presidential motorcade pulled closer to his house in Hyde Park, neighbours lined the street to welcome him home with waves and signs, including ‘Happy 49th Birthday President Barack Obama’ and ‘Happy Birthday Mr President.’

As well as Oprah, Mr Obama was joined by longtime friends Eric Whitaker, Marty Nesbitt and Valerie Jarrett, also a senior White House adviser and fellow Chicagoan.

 Mr Obama’s birthday – though a year short of the milestone 5-0 – also was viewed in this election year as a prime fundraising opportunity for Democrats, who fear losing their hold on both houses of Congress come November.

E-mails, house parties and other forms of outreach sought to capitalise on Obama’s big day.

Mrs Obama even joined the act, asking supporters to sign an e-mail birthday card being distributed by Organising for America, Obama’s political organisation. More than 1.2 million people had signed it as of Wednesday morning.

All in all it’s  sad day when the first lady cant come to Marbella and enjoy herself and least she put property Costa del Sol on the map.

Nikki Beach White Party

Confirmation that Marbella is the best place on the planet came with the news that America’s First Lady and her younger daughter, Sasha, nine, will spend four days in the seaside resort, staying at the five star Villa Padierna based in Los Flamingos Golf Resort. This Hotel was known as the Ritz Carlton until for legal reason they were no longer able to use the name.

Officially President Barack Obama will not be making the trip, nor would the couple’s elder daughter Malia, 12, who is going to an American summer camp. However don’t be surprised if the President shows up here in Marbella even though its been denied by the White House who released an official statement released by the White House read: “The First Lady will travel to Spain next week for a private, mother-daughter trip with longtime family friends. President Obama will not be joining this trip.”

Sources quoted in the Spanish media said the Obama party had booked 30 rooms at the resort, which start at 250 euros for a standard double, rising to between 2,200 and 5000 euros for a private villa within the gardens.

For us living in Marbella we know this Hotel very well but lets face it its not even Marbella, its in bloody Estepona.

Anyway it’s a big PR boost for Marbella and Costa del Sol property

So truth time how many of you have lived in Marbella and you still haven’t made the effort to learn Spanish and with the modern advances of the internet there really isn’t any excuse.

Fiona Gonzales of Teach Yourself Spanish

So for those of you who want to teach yourself Spanish and take the ball by the horns so to speak I came across this fantastic website click Teach Yourself Spanish to see for yourself. Now being a guy its hard not to be impressed with such a stunning lady as Fiona Gonzales and if I was going to get some advice on how to learn Spanish Id defo be getting it from her but that’s all as she is head over heal in love with her fella (lucky guy) so we will have to stick to Spanish.

For those of you who want to give Fiona a swerve but want easy Spanish lessons then get online find that Spanish course and starting mixing with the local Spanish who are wonderful people by the way.

Sir Sean Connery was facing a fresh probe into alleged financial irregularities today after a judge widened his investigation into the former 007.

Connery, 79, and second wife Micheline Roquebrune, 81, are already being investigated over the sale of a seaside Marbella property they owned in the millionaires’ playground of Marbella in southern Spain.

Sean Connery In Marbella Property Probe?

Today it emerged judge Ricardo Puyol also wants to quiz the pair over a separate multi-million pound land sale in Malaga six years ago.

Investigators believe a property firm linked to Connery and his wife may have failed to pay tax on the sale of development rights to land it owned on the outskirts of the city.

Local newspaper Sur  published a report by police and tax authorities alleging that the company omitted to pay £1.4m in corporation tax.

Puyol is said to have ordered a formal request for the former James Bond and his wife to appear before him to give evidence.

The request is expected to be made through a rogatory letter to authorities in the Bahamas where the couple have their official residence.

Sur said Spanish authorities were keen to quiz Connery as soon as possible because the alleged tax irregularities will become spent on July 25.

The Scot does not figure as a director of Montelagares, the Spanish firm reportedly identified in court papers as the company behind the July 2004 land sale linked to Connery.

But a lawyer at the Madrid law firm he has used is named as a former director.

The firm, Diaz-Bastien & Truan, is also under investigation over the sale of Connery’s beachside mansion in Marbella, Casa Malibu, and the subsequent reclassification of the land.

It is thought to have represented the former 007 in the sale of the house.

 Exclusive: Police previously raided a property firm in Marbella, Spain in a probe into the sale of a house in the millionaire’s playground

Police raided their offices in Marbella and Madrid in May in an operation codenamed Goldfinger after the 1964 Bond film, and seized 30,000 documents.

The extension of the Connery probe comes less than a month after the Scot was reportedly ordered to pay £2.75m to a court investigating the sale of Casa Malibu.

Connery, knighted in 2000, and his wife were given 30 days to pay the deposit as a bond against possible future compensation.

Judge Ricardo Puyol is investigating alleged irregularities in the reclassification of the land after the actor sold it for a reported £5.5 million in 1998. In 2004 and 2005 a four-storey block of 72 luxury flats was built on the land, apparently despite a 1986 planning regulation which said only five homes could be constructed on it.

Spain’s Court of Audit is said to have estimated the Spanish taxman was owed £2.25m over the sale of the house. Neither Connery or his wife have been arrested or charged with any offence.

The couple bought Casa Malibu after their wedding in 1975 and lived there until the late 90s.

They entertained stars including Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Omar Sharif and George Best in the magnificent whitewashed villa.

Flats on the site are currently selling for around £2m which is more than a lot of Marbella Villas

Viva Espana

Property Costa del Sol in Marbella is extremely quiet at the moment but  who cares we  have our nation playing in a world cup final tomorrow and I will be watching it in the park lane bar in Nueva Andalucia cheering on my adopted country since 2002.

Logic dictates Spain should win in a canter with only Robben having a chance of making the Spanish X1 but as we know logic doesn’t always apply in Football.

However when players such as Fabregas, Navas, Pepe Reina, Silva and Marchena cant get in the team you know Spain have a great side and I can’t wait to watch Xabi and  Xavi hopefully turn on the style.

So as we say here in Spain Viva Espana

So I thought we would take a break from Marbella Villas and have a look at the unfair criticism our Mayor is currently getting.

The PSOE party of Marbella has revealed the cost the government has spent on the printing of the Mayor’s new “AM” magazine, without counting the cost of distribution.

Marbella

In the following six months, from July to December, 59,900 Euros will be spent on printing the new AM magazine, an amount which breaks down to 9983.33 Euros per month, according to figures released by PSOE’s secretary general Jose Bernal and secretary of communication of PSOE Andalusia, Francisco Conejo. And all this without even taking into account the cost of distribution.

Bernal further claims that the town’s Mayor, Angeles Muñoz, “is not concerned about the crisis, but merely for her image.” In the magazine “where her picture appears least it was counted 27 times.” All this while the city’s debt towards small and medium sized businesses and suppliers amounted to 23 million Euros. So what these Bozo’s who criticise the Mayor fail to grasp whilst she is no doubt into self promotion like all politicians she is also doing her best to continue to promote Marbella and in reality €60,000 against €23 Million is nothing but a drop in the ocean or would these lovely people like Mayor Jesus Gill back?

While most companies and institutions are adjusting their cost of advertising, Angeles Muñoz continues her campaign of waste so her critics would say. Her critics go further saying it’s with the sole purpose of promoting her image. In February this year, Angeles Muñoz together with the Councillor of Tourism, Jose Luis Hernandez visited New York as part of a “promotional” tour to emphasize the economic potential of Marbella. The trip which allegedly cost 21,000 Euros and again her critics say it is yet to show the fruits it has born. Opposition leaders question the effectiveness of the campaign as well as the declared costs.  Well they would wouldn’t they, our Mayor is doing the best to promote Marbella to the world when Marbella needs every penny of investment it can get and her detractors continue to criticise one of the few Mayor’s to stand up for her city with such vigor. Let’s put it another way she only needs to get one Millionaire to move to Marbella and the €100,000 that these idiots are complaining about would more than be made up in extra tax revenues and that’s before they start a business.

So if you don’t support this Mayor please tell me who would do a better job, I for one fully support her.

More than 100,000 high earners will be hit by a 10 per cent rise in capital gains tax. But will it have any impact on those looking to buy Marbella villas for sale?

But after a vigorous campaign by Tory Right-wingers, George Osborne watered down demands by the LibDems to hike the headline rate to match the 40 and 50 per cent rates of income tax.

Instead, he raised CGT from 18 per cent to 28 per cent from midnight for those with second homes and shares who pay the higher rate.

In a signal that he had listened to critics who told him he would end up losing money if he sent the rate soaring, however, he made clear that the Treasury would have lost money had he put the rate even a single point higher.

In another concession, officials said the increase will be reviewed after one year to make sure that it is actually raising money. That opens the door to a rate cut next year.

Basic rate taxpayers who have second homes or share portfolios will see no change in their CGT rate when they dispose of assets. For them, it remains at 18 per cent. 

The change in CGT is expected to raise £725million this year, but official documents show that only £125million of the gain comes from direct capital gains tax revenues. The other £600million is the result of increasing income tax revenues as fewer people dodge that tax by taking their income as capital gains.

Despite the Chancellor’s compromise, critics said the tax rise could lead to homeowners ‘flipping’ their homes in the same way as MPs did when fiddling their expenses. Property owners pay CGT only on their second homes, so if they switch homes before selling they could avoid the punishing payments.

David Kilshaw, of KPMG, said: ‘The desire to maximize the main residence reliefs will inevitably increase. There is a danger that “flipping” will be the game in town and the countryside.’

The Budget also kept the threshold at which the tax kicks in at £10,100 this year, and will rise in line with inflation in future years.

The Chancellor also offered an olive branch to business, extending the CGT exemptions for entrepreneurs. Businessmen who own 5 per cent or more of their company were allowed to dodge CGT on the first £2million they earned in their careers.

They will now be entitled to £5million of tax-free gains.

Former Cabinet ministers John Redwood and Lord Forsyth, who had opposed plans to raise the headline rate to 40 per cent, applauded the Chancellor’s compromise but said it may still not raise much revenue which does beg the question why put the tax up in the first place.

So will this effect people buying property in Marbella, personally I very much doubt it as it will just be less money for those who already have it. it anything it might push them to come and live in Marbella

Just thought it would be good to talk about something else rather than Marbella Villas and no better subject is how good a Mayor is Ángeles Muñoz? It goes without saying she is brilliant and easily the best Mayor we have had since before Jesus Gill. I have not had the great pleasure in meeting here but I love the way she seems to fight for the Marbella cause this is perfectly illustrated when she thinks money defrauded from the town in the Malaya case should be returned home to Marbella Ayuntamineto.

Angeles Munoz - Mayor of Marbella

The Partido Popular Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, announced on Friday that she would do all she could to ensure that the money defrauded out of the municipality in the Malaya case is returned to the municipal coffers.

She said it came as a ‘hard blow’ to hear that the Anti-corruption Prosector considered that the amount defrauded from the Town Hall was only 4.1 million €. She considers the sum was far greater than that.

The Prosecutor is calling for fines totalling 1.126 billion against the accused in the case, and Muñoz considers that money should be used to compensate the town.

She said it would be ‘absolutely unjust and intolerable’ if the money from the fines goes to the State. ‘The Malaya case cannot become a grand business for the Government’, she said.

This is only one example of our wonderful Mayor fighting for Marbella.  She has been leading the way in getting the PGOU plan agreed and passed by the Junta de Andalucía and the brains behind the wonderful exclusive Marbella tourist website, the best website I have seen ever.

Lets all hope she is the real deal and history remembers her as Ángeles Muñoz the Great and not another Jesus Gill.

Property in Marbella has had many problems over the year so with the PGOU there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for some of the 16,500 properties within the Marbella municipality that were built but never got their first occupancy licences. Although bought in good faith, often with mortgages, owners have waited years to see if their homes would ever become regularised.

Property in Marbella

Luckily for some, a few property developers are already working with the town hall to reach solutions for the many thousands of homes that were built without the relevant paperwork. The first to receive their licences are almost 300 owners within the La Reserva de Marbella in Las Chapas, east of Marbella. Some of the blocks in the development were without licences, leading to problems in recent years with utility providers, mortgage lenders and other institutions.

The planning situation has improved and steps are being taken to legalise properties affected by planning irregularities, which should give a boost to the recovering conveyancing market and confidence to prospective buyers in what has been one of Spain’s property hotspots for many years.

However, success in gaining licences will leave a bitter after taste for some. Marbella’s town hall is seeking compensation from developers that flouted existing planning laws, but where developers are bankrupt, there are fears that costs will fall upon residents.

In addition, with the legalisation of property comes the obligation to pay local property taxes, and these could in theory be back-dated to the first date of occupation, giving some a hefty bill.

This has to represent a good start on hopefully the first of many homes to be legalised under the all new PGOU

The town hall says that compensation from developers and urbanisations can also be in terms of donating land for public use and maintaining areas as public green spaces and parks.

If you need any advice or help concerning property in Marbella why not give us a call.

Great overview of the market from Spanish Hot Properties on there blog and with there permission we have decided to post it on this blog.

An up-to-date report as of 1 June 2010 on how the worldwide economic crisis affected the property for sale in Spain Market in Marbella, the London of Andalucia

By Nick Stuart, Managing Director of Spanish Hot Properties, Spain’s number one virtual and established Real Estate Agency

Marbella property in 2010

JUNE 2010

Whilst we are now out of recession with the possibility of actual price rises by the end of 2010 we need to go back to 2007 which was the real beginning of the Spanish real estate recession a good year before the critical events of September 2008 and the following months, the property market in Marbella was suffering severely, as throughout Spain and the rest of the world, especially in the lower end of the market, and especially with newly built properties.  

In Costa del Sol, the market for new build “off plan” touristic properties peaked in 2004 and has been on a descending curve since then, reaching crisis proportions last year. Nationally, the demand for new homes hit its peak in mid-2007, according to national statistics, (with reliable statistics still lacking from the Government) the Bank of Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria estimates that at the end of 2008 there was a glut of between 800,000 and 1,400,000 new unsold homes in Spain (19/12/08, http://prensa. bbva. com), including the Coastal properties, with an estimated 24,000 living units on the Costa del Sol (Diario Sur Domingo, 04/01/09), which will take years to be absorbed.

The World Financial Meltdown, starting in mid-September 2008, changed the scenario

The rapid slowdown commencing in September 2008 began to affect buyers of Luxury properties not only in Marbella but globally. This had a very adverse effect as up until this point there was still a demand for luxury property even though the Spanish property recession had already begun back in 2007.

How much have prices dropped from their peak prices?

Properties most severely affected are the least expensive (under €700,000), comprising principally newly built properties but not excluding resales, in the less consolidated areas. They have gone down in price from their peak values in 2005-2006 (defined as real sales values, as compared with asking prices, of similar properties at their highest historical point) by generally 30% to 40%, but in some cases, even up to 50%.

As they say location is everything and properties in this price range achieving the best prices in a shorter selling period are located in better areas, and are usually resales, have descended in value from 15% to usually not more than 25%.

Real Estate priced from €700,000 to €2,000,000 have seen a 22%-27% decline from their peaks (again, less so in the best areas) while those priced at up to €3. 000. 000 have suffered a lesser drop of 15%-20%. In the higher price brackets: fewer properties are for sale and although owners may be receptive to reasonable offers, in general they have the financial wherewithal to “hold out” if necessary. There are and will be some very good buys as, in some cases, even very wealthy owners simply want to “move on”. Very special “one of a kind” properties, with unique characteristics, qualities and location, have not been substantially affected by the crisis, provided their asking prices are sensible and now things are leveling off.

The pricing of Marbella property by their owners, in most price categories, is now far more realistic than in the past. This process has been complicated, as usual, by some agents who tell owners what they want to hear, rather than explaining the realities of the market. Most sellers, however, have already sharply reduced their original asking prices, but many potential buyers do not take this into consideration when they place an offer.

What is selling? 

In the quality resale market it is not so much about over-supply but more a factor of how badly and how quickly does the seller need to get out that is driving the market. The reality is today we have far less so called distressed owners than we did in 2009 “

There have obviously been sales since last September, but generally at substantially reduced prices, with the notable exception of truly unique properties which cannot be easily reproduced, or which a buyer has not wanted to risk losing by delaying. Many potential buyers think that vendors will drop their already reduced prices an additional 25% to 50%, without careful analysis of either the current market, intrinsic value, historical value, reproduction cost, or comparable sales being made right now. The result is that such offers simply throw a bucket of cold water on most sellers, and do not engage their interest to negotiate.

Other sales have been made between reasonable buyers (looking for a very good deal), and reasonable sellers, (looking to make a sale and move on, often to another property).   Further sales are being made by those willing to trade up or down.   These types of sales will continue throughout this difficult period.

Quick Overview of 2009

For me Kristina Szekely called the market exactly right in an article she wrote in late 2009 when she asked the question are we at the bottom of the market and she basically said were pretty close to it but if you wait to be sure that we have hit rock bottom then your choice will be limited. That is the reality of 2009 with the best properties and most distressed sales been taken from the market and in 2010 the amount of choice is much less even though you probably can still buy at 2009 prices.

Experiences of 2010 and the future for the rest of the year

The serious buyer is out there striking a deal but unfortunately we have a serious problem with unrealistic buyer and before too long 2010 will have passed them away. As stated earlier in the report we now have less choice than we did in 2009 which makes buying much harder to come to terms with and there is also the reality that the best deals are certainly not seeing a Spanish Hot Properties website and are being sent out to those people who are in a position to buy and who have already registered there interest. On properties above €700,000 we expect to see price rises as early as October this year and probably 6 months to 12 months later for properties under that figure. One other factor that the recession has done to the international property market in Costa del Sol has changed the focus of the international property buyer with a lot of working class Irish and UK citizens returning home and more middle class UK citizens deciding to come and live in Spain and in the main they are coming to Marbella whereas before the large percentage of these Internationals were based in Mijas Costa so much so that the registered number made 47% of the total population for the Municipality of Mijas and in reality it was probably closer to 65% but that is now changing.

So overall cream always rises to the top and Marbella is set to come out of this recession stronger than even and your Marbella property buyers on a tight budget has 4 months to buy or probably miss the boat for a considerable amount of time.