November 3, 2025

AI Slop & the Erosion of Trust

I came across a black friday advert for a property portal this morning which featured an Ai generated person briefly talking. This made me realise that the only thing more dangerous for brands than ignoring Ai is using it in the wrong way. I couldnt help think: do you really have no humans in your company that could read our this 30 second message? None? […]

October 29, 2025

We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!

Spain’s real estate sector now employs 187,700 people, a record high that surpasses pre-2008 crisis levels. The workforce grew 14.1% over the past year, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE)’s Labour Force Survey for Q3 2025. This marks a significant milestone for the property market, which has dramatically expanded beyond its previous peak. Approximately 70% of real estate professionals in Spain are 49 years […]

October 28, 2025

Subject to Squatting

The sale of properties illegally occupied by squatters, known locally as okupas, is creating a distinct segment in Spain’s housing market. Data from Idealista for the third quarter of 2025 shows over 23,000 homes listed for sale that are currently squatter-occupied, representing 3% of the total residential properties listed on the portal (Idealista/news). Market Impact and Owner Capitulation The key characteristic of this market is […]

October 26, 2025

Rant: A Sea of Beige Promises

Estate Agents on the Costa del Sol, I have to talk to you. Not about the latest property tax, not about the danger of another bubble forming, but about a corner of your digital domain that has become a graveyard for originality: your “About Us” page. It is, frankly, an atrocity of template-driven banality. Every single one reads like it was churned out by a […]

October 26, 2025

LPA Podcast: How Sierra Blanca Estates is Redefining Luxury

In the latest episode of the LPA Podcast, host Sean Woolley, a committee member of the LPA, spoke with Carlos Rodríguez, CEO of Sierra Blanca Estates, about branded residences and how Marbella has become one of the key locations for this type of development. The discussion focused on how branded residences work, what makes them attractive to international buyers, and why this model is growing […]

October 25, 2025

Finally, Real Sales Prices: Spain’s Notaries Launch Portal penotariado.com

This is huge. Spain’s notaries have taken a significant step forward by launching penotariado.com, the Portal de la Vivienda del Notariado, a free and public platform that provides actual sales prices based on notarised deeds updated monthly with real notarial data. This is the website: https://penotariado.com/inmobiliario  You must register to use it, but access is free and instant. Before we get too excited, this is new, […]

October 24, 2025

Cataluña Considering Banning Second Home Purchases

Cataluña is considering restricting property purchases to primary residences in areas with high housing demand. This proposal, supported by local authorities including Barcelona City Council, aims to curb speculative buying and ensure housing availability for residents. A legal study commissioned by the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan (PEMB) suggests that such restrictions are legally feasible if applied exceptionally and with clear territorial and temporal limits. The […]

October 22, 2025

Cup Half-Full or Half-Empty? Spain’s Agents Say Full

It’s the kind of glass-half-full story that agents love to tell at the office, even if the coffee is lukewarm. 53% of Spanish real estate agencies are feeling optimistic, or maybe just hopeful, about home sales rising in the final quarter of 2025, according to Idealista, The portals’ sentiment survey Encuesta de Sensibilidad Inmobiliaria  survey paints a picture of cautious optimism, a stable market, steady […]

October 17, 2025

3 Million Foreign Workers and Counting

The number of foreign workers contributing to Social Security in Spain now totals about 3.1 million as of September. Official data shows this represents a growth of over 7% in the past year.More than 200,000 foreign workers have joined the system over the past 12 months, representing a 7.07% year-over-year increase. Official data shows that foreign workers make up 14% of all Social Security contributors […]

October 16, 2025

Another Blow for Spain’s Self-Employed

Being self-employed in Spain may suck even more next year… The Spanish government is preparing to raise the Social Security contributions for self-employed workers (autónomos). The increases would range between €11 and 206 per month starting next year. The percentage hikes vary depending on the self-employed person’s income, up to 35 % in some cases. The proposed hikes would affect the 490,717 foreigners who are […]