Summer Festival Entre Naranjos

The Entre Naranjos summer festival, on the 19th, the 20th and 21th of July in the Entre Naranjos urbanization, Orihuela Costa. From 9 in the morning till 6 in the evening market stall with local products, music, various food and drink stall with specialities from all over the area.

Entre Naranjos belongs to the Orihuela Costa area and therefore the townhall of Orihuela offers a free bus service. The buses will depart from the Ayuntamiento Orihuela Costa at 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00 and 15:00 hours. To book your seat on bus please contact Stefan Pokroppa at the Playa Flamenca City Hall.

Don´t miss out on this summer event in the south of Spain!

Text: Taco Albertsma from ByTheSea estate agents, the address for your place under the Spanish sun.

Seaview from Costa Hispania

New for sale for 139.000,-€ + purchase cost.

A nice 2 bedroom duplex in a lovely urbanization with nice community swimming pool with well kept green zone. Located in the urbanization Costa Hispania, Gran Alicante on the Costa Blanca.The duplex has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom with bathtub upstairs and a toilet downstairs. Downstairs there is a lounge-dining room with open kitchen, a terrace, the toilet and the open staircase to the first floor.

More info on www.bythesea.es

Your own property in Spain

Which cost you have to take in account when you are an owner of a property in Spain?

Just like in every country also in Spain you will have to pay monthly cost like water, electricity and taxes. We of ByTheSea housing and services get a lot of questions from clients asking us to make a calculation of the monthly and yearly cost that they can expect as owner of a house in Spain.

ByTheSea can help you with setting up a direct debit with for instance the water company, provide you with a quote of one of the insurance company´s that we work with and our solicitor can assist you with the annual tax return. We arrange tax return for both residents as home owners that only use their house as a second home.

In you want to make an appointment you can always send us an e-mail on info@bythesea.es.

•    Payment of the community fees:
This payment is usually done each year or half year, the easiest way to pay this to set up a direct debit for this. The amount is somewhat between 300,-€ and 550,-€ per year. This amount varies per urbanization depending of, for example, the amount of gardens, street lights and swimming pools.
•    Electricity bill:
In Spain the electricity is paid for each 2 or 3 months, this depending on the region. The best way to pay the electric bill is to give the electricity company a direct debit.
•    Water bill:
The water company will send you an invoice each 2 or 3 months, this depending on the region. The water in the cost area of Spain is a little bit more expensive than in most countries, this due to the low rainfall. The easiest way is to set up a direct debit for the water company.
•    Home and content insurance:
Obligatory for each house in Spain a home insurance, the cost depend on the size, the area and the construction. An average price is for a duplex with 2 bedrooms near Alicante is 250,-€ per year. A content insurance, depending on your wishes, the size, etc. will be around 200,-€ per year

TAXES, LOCAL AND STATE:
•    I.B.I. (Impuestos sobre Bienes Inmuebles):
Counicil taxes, to pay each year in September/October. The amount depends on the county where the house is and the value of the house. For this payment the easiest is a direct debit.
An average price for a duplex 2 bedroom house near Alicante is around 250,-€ per year,
•    Renta non-residentes (Tax for non residents):
As a home owner of a second home in Spain you will have to pay wealth and income tax over this house to the Spanish tax office. The amount that you will have to pay depends on the value of the house. This tax is due to be paid each year before the 31th of December.
•    Fiscale representation:
As a home owner of a second home in Spain it is advisable to contract a Spanish solicitor as your fiscal representative in Spain. He will then calculate your yearly tax and arrange the payments on your behalf and will be available for any other difficulties that you might have on this subject. The cost of this service is 139,20€ per year.
•    Monthly property check of your Spanish property:
Advisable for every homeowner that is not using his house all around. This service secures you of someone checking your property monthly using a checklist reporting all damages, advisable repairs and further things out of order. Beside that, all window will opened for ventilation, all taps will opened to check their condition and to flush the drainage system, lights bulbs will be checked and the air conditioner will be switched on to see if it is still cooling.
When damage is noticed a report will be send with an solution or advise and when needed with a breakdown of the expected repair cost included in the report. When the damage is something that is covered by the home insurance in most cases the company taking out the property check can act on your behalf. When you ask the company to act on your behalf or to supervise repair works normally the working hours will be invoiced to you, the fee is mostly between 17,-€ and 25,-€ per hour. The cost for a monthly check are mostly calculated per year and the price will be around 250,-€ a year depeding on the size and the location of the property.
On the Costa Blanca a company that offeres this service is ByTheSea housing & services.

Puerto de Alicante

A few months ago the magazine International Living published its ‘Quality of Life Index’ for 2008. It assessed one hundred and ninety-two countries to find the answer to the question, ‘What’s the best country to live in?’ It looked at the economy, culture, health care, safety, democratic freedoms, infrastructure and the environment.

Six of the top ten countries are member states of the European Union. They include Spain and the Netherlands: Spain at number nine, and the Netherlands at number ten.

So according to International Living, life is a little better in Spain than in the Netherlands. But the difference is small.

Speech by Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at a lunch meeting with the Nueva Economía Fórum in Madrid. Read it all.
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Photo: Adriano Agulló