Spain paradise lost, two part ITV series next week

Been seeing a lot of adverts on TV for a two part mini series called "Spain paradise lost" on ITV. At first lance with the loony in dark glasses looking for a cheap property and mention of The Costa Del Sol, I though it was going to be just another hype and loony program.

Going by the press release on the ITV web site, it might be half decent. If they deliver what they promise in the TV write up, it should cover a fairly balanced view (we live in hope with any UK TV media coverage)

It covers a lot of ground over the two weeks. One couple who had never run a bar and moved over to Spain to own and run one. Only to have the beer turn up and have no idea on how to connect the barrels up. Others who have had builders go bust half way through building their developments along with families living in illegal builds, unable to sell.

Its not only stories from the Costa Del Sol, but also Almeria and the Costa Blanca Spain

The ITV press release on Spain Paradise Lost part one to be shown on Wednesday, 17 June 2009, 9:00PM - 10:00PM or 10pm - 11pm our time

Spain is the land of year-round sunshine, endless beaches and where life is all about living. It's a favourite destination for the British living abroad.

Over a million Britons now call Spain home, escaping the foul weather and the daily grind in the UK, for a life in the sun.

But Spain hasn’t turned out like the pictures in the glossy brochures for everyone.

In this new two-part series for ITV1 we see that, for some Britons, life in Spain is a dream come true, while for others the dream has become a nightmare.

In episode one the series shows how the property crash in Spain has been a financial and personal disaster for some, including Wally Tynan, who says: “I wish to God I'd never heard of Spain,” and the Segal family who have lost their dream family home. We also see that there are some Britons who still aspire to a life in the Spanish sun.

The British love affair with Spain helped to fuel a building boom that has dramatically transformed the Spanish coastline in the last ten years.

At its peak almost a million homes were built each year, and with cheap prices and limitless credit, it seemed everyone could make their dream of owning a slice of paradise come true.

But last year the Spanish property market crashed. Developers folded, house prices plummeted, interest rates soared and owners were left in negative equity, unable to pay their mortgages. For some Brits in Spain this has meant financial and personal catastrophe.

Just ten minutes from the sea on the Costa Blanca is the La Zenia Elite development. Wally Tynan and his wife fell in love with the plans they were shown.

Wally tells the programme: “We loved the show-house we saw, we absolutely loved it. We spoke to the neighbours, they said, ’This is wonderful, you will not go wrong buying one of these properties’.”

Two years ago, Nigel and Jackie Hinson sold up in the UK to buy their dream home on the Costa Blanca. They also chose a property on the same development.

Nigel says: “I've always, from a small child, wanted to live by the sea. At the beginning it was everything that we wanted.”

His wife Jackie tells the programme: “Each phase was supposed to have beautiful tropical gardens and lovely swimming pools.”

During the property boom buyers bought off plan and sometimes paid the developer in full before their house was built.

Wally and Nigel and their wives moved into La Zenia Elite when their apartments were barely complete.

When the Spanish property crash came the developers disappeared and the construction crews packed up their tools and left.

Although some buyers had moved in, parts of the development remain unfinished.
Phase one and its landscaping are complete, which is where Nigel and Jackie live. But from their home they also have a panoramic view of phase three’s abandoned remains.

Phase two, where Wally lives, has been left as a building site. Wally shows the programme the live wires than run across the development and high voltage cables that have been taped together.

Nigel Hinson reveals that when his son, who was serving with the Army in Basra, came to visit the first thing he said was: “Dad, I thought I'd left Basra.”

And if living in ‘Spanish Basra’ wasn’t bad enough above ground, what bubbles beneath poses an even great threat. When it rains the roads become rivers, the pumping station overflows and raw sewage pumps out.

Every time the sewers erupt Wally takes it upon himself to clear up the road in front of his house.

Wally describes how he deals with the sewage: “I get a big broom and a shovel and I dispose of it. I'm on my third broom now. Horrible job.”

For two years now, La Zenia Elite has been a living nightmare for owners like Wally and Nigel.

Instead of enjoying his retirement, Wally spends his days rendering, plastering and plumbing, in a desperate attempt to complete his home and protect his investment.

He says: “I wish to God I'd never heard of Spain. I wish to God I'd never come here,
and that’s my sincere thought, that I'd never ever seen the sky over Spain.
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“I never cease to regret the purchase of this place, ever, and I just have to accept that we have lost every penny that we invested in this property.”

British estate agent and auctioneer, Inez Rix, has watched the property story unfold on the Costa Del Sol.

She tells the programme: “The glut of development that’s gone on here is incredible. The coastline used to be littered with cranes. We used to call them the national bird of Spain, because there were just so many cranes and wherever you went there was building going on.

“If you had a pulse and a passport you got a mortgage, it was as simple as that. You didn’t need anything else. I think the banks were very irresponsible. They just were lending and giving out the money because they wanted the business.”
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Inez founded Direct Auctions, a last chance saloon for desperate owners facing repossession.

She tells the programme: “I have to be quite brutal with some vendors. I have to point out that there is an awful lot of property out there and, yes, theirs looks very pretty but so does the one next door and the one next door to that and the one down the road.”

One of the properties at auction today belongs to David Busby who bought an apartment as an investment during the property boom but now says it was the worst thing he’s ever done. David planned to pay the mortgage by renting his apartment to holidaymakers. But the Spanish building boom produced thousands of similar properties, flooding the market and making rentals less lucrative.

Now David’s only hope is to try and recoup some of his investment at auction. He tells the programme; “At this stage in our lives, very near to retirement, we will find the loss of that money very, very difficult for us. We run a pub restaurant which is quite hard work for people over a certain age and we were looking to retire from that business in our early sixties, but that doesn’t look like being the case now at all.”

The Spanish property crash has created bargains for buyers, but it's also left some people, who bought during the boom, close to ruin.

Phil and Nicki Segal, from Hampshire, moved to Spain seven years ago with their two young children and bought their ideal family home.

They tell the programme: “We were definitely going grow old here. The kids would have grown up here and been able to stay here in the future with their families. That’s why we wanted the five bedrooms, we wanted enough space for people to come and stay with us and enjoy being here”

“We were ecstatic when we first found the house. It was like a dream come true for us. It has a huge plot of land surrounded by trees and birds and it's very peaceful and tranquil - it was a dream come true. We saw our future here and we didn’t ever really see ourselves moving away.”

To buy their dream home, the Segals took out a huge mortgage. But when the recession hit, the banks suddenly doubled their interest rates and the Segals were faced with crippling repayments.

In order to pay the mortgage, they now run the house as a holiday rental and live in rented accommodation 10k away.

Nicki says: “When we took the decision to move out of here it felt like I was being kicked out kicking and screaming. I had to remove all my possessions and I felt very, very sad about it.”

While the crash has left many fighting to keep their Spanish dreams alive, it has opened the door for others to begin a new life in the sun.

Divorcee Mandy Vickerman has recently swapped Bradford for Marbella, and is hoping to capitalise on the falling property market.

She tells the programme: “It’s obviously the best time to buy. At the moment I'm going have a good look and get the best bargain I can for my money.”

“There are a lot of properties where people want to sell quickly, so sadly it's their misfortune but my gain. I'm hoping to find my ideal place, but it must be at a bargain price. Being a good Yorkshire lass, I like a good deal.”

However, even with the property crash Mandy can’t find the bargain she wants and decides to rent for the time being.

She tells the programme: “Well I decided to rent because I couldn’t find anything to buy and I think there's still plenty of time where the market’s going to change and even go down a bit more, so I'm absolutely in no hurry to buy at the moment.”

For some, the British love affair with Spain looks in no danger of fading.

And Spain Paradise Lost part two press release Wednesday, 24 June 2009, 9:00PM - 10:00PM 10pm - 11pm our time

Spain is the land of year-round sunshine, endless beaches and where life is all about living. It's a favourite destination for the British living abroad.

Over a million Britons now call Spain home, escaping the foul weather and the daily grind in the UK for a life in the sun.

But Spain hasn’t turned out like the pictures in the glossy brochures for everyone.

In this new two-part series for ITV1 we see that for some Britons life in Spain is a dream come true, while for others the dream has become a nightmare.

In programme two we meet the Brits who face having their homes demolished, the couple who discover the harsh reality of running a bar in Spain, and the hairdresser from Huddersfield who aspires to the high life in the sun.

Benidorm on the Costa Blanca is a long time favourite with the British for package holidays and fun in the sun.

For one couple it is the location for their new life in Spain. Joe and Jane Evans from Oxford recently became the proud owners of a British bar in the seaside resort.

After packing in their jobs as a lorry driver and supermarket worker, Joe and Jane re-mortgaged their home in England to buy The Rusty Nail.

Jane tells the programme: “We wanted to move to Spain to spend more time together. The children were growing up, doing their own thing, it was time for us to see if our dream would work.”

Joe and Jane bought their bar through Lucy Ferenczy, a small business specialist who sells commercial property to Briton’s moving to Spain.

Lucy explains: “Most of my clients want a business that has nothing to do
with their career or their life back home. Starting a business over here is the same as starting a business back in England “

She adds a warning: “If anything it's going be more difficult because you’ve got a language barrier, you don’t understand the administration.

Plenty of people have unrealistic expectations. I honestly don’t know what happens to them when they come here, I really don’t. They tend to leave their brains on the plane.”

Since opening the bar Joe and Jane have had more than a few teething problems.

Joe reveals: “We had no experience whatsoever of running a bar. The first day the beer arrived - we didn’t know which end of the barrel to put the pipes on, or how to pull a pint!”

A weak pound has meant fewer holidaymakers and Joe and Jane have been struggling to get customers through the door.
Joe tells the programme: “The worst day we’ve had so far is when we made just three Euros in a day.

Jane adds: “When you’ve taken three Euros and you’ve been sat here from nine o’clock in the morning until half past ten at night, it was panic really -.I don’t think we’re living the dream at the moment.

“We don’t go out anywhere. We have a treat once a week out of our tips - maybe we’ll go and have a hotdog or a burger or maybe we’ll go on the seafront and have an ice cream or something. That’s our treat for the week.”

For many Britons who bought homes in Spain, the stakes are even higher.
Nestled in the mountains of Almeria, one hour from the coast, lies the traditional farming village of Cantoria.
Here in a picturesque valley 19 British families thought they’d found their perfect Spanish idyll.

During Spain’s property boom it became common practise to build on rustic or green belt land, with the expectation that planning permission would be obtained from local town halls at a later date.

But recently the powerful Regional Government has stepped in to crack down on this practise. It is threatening to demolish up to 5,000 homes in the area, built without proper permission, including those in Cantoria.

After retiring from the Army, Bruce Hobday and his wife Mary moved to Cantoria in 2006.

Bruce tells the programme: “Part of the dream was to just go on an adventure before we got too old. To relax, go off to the coast for a day, play boules with the old folks down in the village.”

Pat Harrison and her husband Jim moved to Cantoria in 2005, but within a year Jim fell ill. He had a stroke and seemed to make a recovery but was then diagnosed with cancer and died six months later.
Pat says: “I miss his company. I’ve been very, very fortunate, I’ve got very good neighbours, they’ve been brilliant, but I still miss him, and at the end of the night I still have to go into the house on my own.”

After Jim died, Pat found out that the home they’d bought had been built on rustic land and was illegal.

Pat tells the programme: “I can’t sell the house to go back to England.
I can’t even go to a smaller house for myself because I’m here alone.
It means I’ve just got to stop here. I’ve no more money left.

“I feel as though everything has been taken way from me. That’s what has shattered me more than anything, because I’m left here alone”

George and Judith Morris from Wales retired here in 2005. They bought their dream villa and settled in to enjoy their retirement.

But last year there was a terrible surprise in the post.

George tells the programme: “The Chief Prosecutor was looking for the demolition of our houses because they were built on rustic land which made them all illegal and all the paperwork we had for the house didn’t mean anything “

Judith adds: “You think to yourself, we’ve been here three years and all of a sudden it just drops out of the sky that they’re going bulldoze your house down. It's all our years work and, and money and dreams and happiness and sadness. It's everything rolled into one, just wiped out.”

The threat of the bulldozer is real. - last year Briton’s Len and Helen Prior had to watch as their £350,000 villa was torn down. The demolition sent a shockwave through the ex-pat community.

Living under the threat of demolition has completely changed life for the British families in Cantoria, But as the programme reveals – they aren’t going down without a fight.

Despite the horror stories, some people still find Spain irresistible.

There may be housing problems in some parts of Spain, but in prosperous Marbella, for those that can afford it, life is very good.

The fabulous life style and the fabulous wealth that fuel the resort are about to lure one more Briton to its golden shores.

Huddersfield hairdresser Robert Calvin has decided to open a boutique salon in Marbella. He plans to conquer the Costa del Sol with a potent mix of business nous and Northern charm.

He says: “I prefer to be the bad boy of hairdressing really. I enjoy my lady clients. It's all about that chemistry. There's a lot of sexual sort of, you know, sensual feeling and it's important.”

Robert thinks he's ready to cut it with the big boys in Marbella.

He tells the programme: “Marbella is a very, very fashionable place to go. It's very sexy and a lot of quality people live there.”

Robert’s launch day has arrives. His salon is ready, his staff have flown in from England and he has managed to fill his books with new clients.

And it looks like the well heeled women of Marbella have no problem meeting Robert’s designer prices.

Back in Cantoria it’s all become too much for George and Judith – they have decided to return to Wales and will have to come out of retirement and return to work.

George tells the programme: “I never thought 10 years ago when I retired I’d be looking for work in 10 years time.”

Meanwhile in Benidorm time is running out for Joe and Jane. A tell tale sign has appeared in the window.

Joe reveals: “The bar is up for sale. This was the dream, to come to Spain, run a business, have nobody telling us what time we had to start work, finish work. Unfortunately there's just not enough business to support us.”

With no idea how long it will take to sell the bar, the couple are resorting to desperate measures to make ends meet.

Joe has had to take a job. For the next 2 weeks he will be part of Spain’s revolving door. He's moving other Brits back to the UK and bringing over newcomers about to embark on a new life in the sun.

As Joe leaves Jane he reveals: “We’ve been married 26 years and we’ve never been apart - never been apart in 26 years.”

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It should make a good couple of weeks viewing. But it will also be interesting to see if there is any biased towards living in Spain.

__________________

And it proves there is proof to the joke.

How can you tell an estate agent is lying.

Their lips are moving

It must be next week when they show the illegal houses over here, which some estate agents were knowingly selling to people.

For anyone reading this comment who is not a member on here, click on the following link
http://www.thespainforum.com/f146/

And you will get some idea of the problems encountered by one little unheard of village over here

Last night did show some true cases where people had been caught out for the wrong reasons. Its too easy to believe that buying into a dream over here, will bring you big rewards.

Wally for example. All he wanted was to retire over here and look at how he has ended up in his late years of life. You cant help but feel sorry for him and like many over here he is a genuine case of things going wrong and not one who brought to make a quick buck.

Some of the people were saying that they had made their decision about buying an apartment within a few hours and payed their deposits there and then, so they would not miss out on it. The sheer amount of apartments that were being built, you miss one there would be another 50 the same being built a month or two later. You only have to go round some of the British enclaves to see this or the coastal resorts.

The woman who was making silly offers on houses. That goes on a lot over here. One of our neighbours has a house up for sale and got offer of €100K less than the advertised price. It does happen and from time to time people are desperate through unfortunate circumstances and accept the silly money.

In all IMO it was for once a very well put together program with very little bias being shown. OK it might not have done the Spanish real estate industry much good, or those trying to sell houses here.

But ask the expats who live over here full time if they ever want to return to UK and many will tell you not through choice.

Come on there must be others on here who have an opinion on last nights program or am I the only sad git posting

Anyone else notice that Mandy has been on another program about expats living in Spain
Think she was setting up a nail business a few years ago out here that never worked. Cant see her being on mastermind anytime soon though

Yes, I agree. Wally was not a typical invester. All he wanted to do was live there in peace and I really felt for him.

Isn't it funny how the male Estate Agent drove up in his UK plated Mercedes - umm, just a part time estate agent or another one not to be trusted who can't even legalise his motor ?

Anybody arrives in a non-Spanish registered car trying to sell me something gets shown the door!

Hope the DVLA took his reg down ... it's probably listed as SORN like so many are over here - I've got the reg number if they want it

The second series should show the real crux of the problem in Spain (and elsewhere). The corruption endemic in the authorities, promotors, lawyers, notaries and the estate agents that defrauded thousands of people out of their hard earned cash. Can't wait to see how that is portrayed.

PC

Its surprising how many people you talk to over here have a slight biased towards the first episode.

The property auctions when the woman running them made a comment about just how much she could make in a short period of time if all the houses sold. No doubt there will now be an influx of estate agents turning to property auctions as their next venture. It must ave done her company a world of good in free advertising as well going by the amount of people that have been on there since.

Comments on the lines of "look at these great views, nothing will be built there" or "this is the biggest kitchen I have seen". Simple BS, they tell you what they want you to hear and then smile as they bank their commissions.

Not all estate agents are as bad over here. One I know went under because he was only advertising legal properties on his books.

The people who purchased off plan without even seeing an area, let alone a show house, would the same people buy a car without seeing or test driving it.

I just hope the next episode shows the true corruption over here and does not make those caught up with illegal homes out to be incompetent idiots or not having done their research.

Hi
Let me state first that my car and van are both legal SPANISH vehicles
When I phoned dvla at Swansea about SORN I was told that it was a declaration that the car was not being used on the UK roads, when I asked if it could be used abroad if it was on sorn the lady said " I repeat that a sorn declaration states that the car can not be used on the UK roads as the tax paid is used for the upkeep of the uk highways". I know that is not that clear but my understanding is a sorn declared car CAN be used abroad. UNLESS ANYONE KNOWS BETTER>

But against that argument if you look at the laws of driving a car in Europe, it reads on the lines of "the car must have the legal requirements to be on the road in the country of origin", ie road tax and mot. If you try insuring a UK reg car over here, you get asked if it has MOT and road tax. Plus you also have the six month import limit.

At the same time if the cars not on UK roads, dvla cant touch you because they will only register UK registered cars to a UK address and not an address in another country.

My cars also on Spanish plates

Two points. It is not a LEGAL offence to drive without Road fund licence it is actually a tax offence and the police can not do anything but report you to the tax authorities. The second point is that when I enquired I was bringing my car to Spain intending to Register it here and was asking advice if I needed to send of the part of the document that said permanent export, and I was to;ld no as it would be taken from the computer. I asked the question that if I took my car around the world on a year holiday did I need to taX it if it never entered the UK in that time. The answer then in 2002 was no it could go on sorn.THE SPANISH POLICE SAY THAT THEY CAN IMPOUND A UK REG CAR FOR NO MOT BUT HAVE NO AUTHORITY OVER UK CAR TAX.

Autocolor. Are you an estate agent and do you do a Marilyn Monro dance each day because your feeling all gay and happy to be selling houses to people

Must not extract the urine out the first estate agent shown, he might be a straight bloke to deal with and not into batting for the wrong side.

It makes you wonder if those shown have any say in what is edited and shown about them or if they just sign a contract and agree that its at the editors discretion what gets shown.

I still think a lot of these types of program are designed to try and deter people from leaving the UK. Keep the sheep in a field and try to close the holes they use to escape.