Much to your collective disappointment, I know, but I am not about to embark on an “A” level “Compare and Contrast” exegesis on the works of the 17th Century poet and theologian, John Milton. No, my task is all the more secular. I want to add my thoughts to the debate that seems to be raging in the UK media about hard hit expats who are “struggling in the sun” in Spain.

Let me start by declaring my hand – for the last seven years I have lived on Spain’s Costa del Sol – which is the strip between broadly Nerja to Gibraltar - where there is a mix of some exceptional and some ugly. I am involved in the property business. I believe that the future is more than bright for those looking to make a lifestyle or investment purchase on the Costa del Sol and have launched a new style property agency, “Domus3Sixty”, to deliver certainty, value and integrity to our clients keen to take advantage of this market.

We cannot hide from the fact that the Costa del Sol has had its fair share of property disasters but learning the lesson of history is what evolution is all about. The last couple of years has seen the weeding out of the scam artists and dodgy dealers and I believe we have now all but seen the back of the worst excesses of the manifest greed that dogged a property purchase here – particularly an off plan purchase.

The victims of such scams include the poor, soon to be retired, chap who purchased at the “Manilva Beach” development west of Estepona, as featured in the recently shown ITV1 “Paradise Lost”. There’s no doubt about it - he’s been diddled. He was, I suspect, the victim of a well known operator whose commissions were eye wateringly high and whose business practice was – in addition to receiving chunky commissions from the developer - to deduct further sums from the deposits paid by buying clients before passing on the much reduced balance to the developer. In this way a modestly priced property was sold at a hugely inflated price often with the assistance of a “tame” valuer who would ensure that the property was approved for a high loan to value mortgage thereby passing the burden squarely onto the shoulders of the buyer with little or no hope of the property ever being worth the valuation. Watching the owner as he squirmed at a local auction as his lot was withdrawn for lack of bids was horrid.

Whilst on the subject of mortgages, the much reported increases in the prevailing mortgage rate are, or in fact were, not an exclusively Spanish phenomenon of “La Crisis”. Over the last year we have seen high Euribor rates. In July 2008 being nearly 6% and then tumbling since early New Year, down to current lows of circa 1.5%.

Spanish mortgages are, contrary to popular myth, still available to those non-residents who borrowing “case” stacks up, at typically 1% or thereabouts above the Euribor rate. I understand that the same cannot be said of UK lenders who are resolutely sticking to a rate which is pitched at around 6% plus! A thought may be to consider taking borrowings in Euros to reduce the exchange rate risk.

Every article, TV or radio show about Spain broad brushes the coastal strip with constant references to the “Costas”. This does a disservice to Spain and its extraordinarily diverse and varied populations. To dismiss the entire region from Barcelona to Cadiz – well over 1000 kms - that’s 621 miles or further than London to Vienna – with one general expression at best shows convenience and at worst plain ignorance.

What are the “Costas”? Well, they may be a chain of London Coffee Shops or the Greek guy who carefully dices “meat” at the kebab shop on Putney High Street. In fact they are a series of spectacular and unique coastal regions that include, in alphabetical order – and this is not all of them – the Costa Almeria, Costa Blanca, Costa Calida, Costa de la Luz and Costa del Sol.

So if you have a beef with the Costa Blanca – say the “Costa Blanca” and please don’t generalize: it’s confusing – or is it designed to confuse?

As a lawyer the mantra for the majority of my life in practice in London was giving weight to the concept and delivery of a wholly “independent” professional advice. Without it the parties to a transaction would always be concerned that, because of a series of precedents, their transaction may be subsequently called into question – and possibly overturned - for “unfairness” or tainted by “undue influence”.

Also featured in “Paradise Lost” was an Irish gentleman who had purchased a few years ago on an incomplete development on, I believe, the Costa Blanca. He was seen struggling to finish a variety of building work as the developer, who had sold him a property, had abandoned the site after going bust. This poor man was at the end of his tether. The only question to ask is why? Why had he been allowed to complete at all on a purchase at this development that was patently incomplete. The drainage was a mess –a health hazard – and the external render was non-existent. Surely he could have expected more from his advisors?

Closer to home there’s good news in Marbella, concerning the forthcoming PGOU (Plan General de Ordenación Urbana) or Town General Plan. The Mayor has continued to resist the demolition of any inhabited homes on the basis that they will, by and large, all be legalized in exchange for substantial compensations from the developers, under the new PGOU.

On Friday 12th June the latest version of the new PGOU was delivered to the Town Hall. It features regularization of 18,000 properties. Around 500 inhabited homes on three developments have been excluded from this clean up. 300 of these properties are at the infamous Banana Beach development which was built on the intended site of Marbella’s rail station. There also seems to be a desire to rid the Costa del Sol’s jewel of the eyesore of “skeletons”- concrete shells - often three or more storeys high - which were built, unlicensed and abandoned.

Yes the Sterling to Euro rate is down – today at 1.18 – low but not as far down as it has been. Sterling’s buying power is gradually strengthening against the Euro.

It’s undeniable that those whose pensions are sent to Spain in Sterling have suffered most and they have seen their buying power whittled away. However, I have not met one of our "Silver" neighbours who has failed to end a whinge about the value of the Euro with the oft repeated "I'd rather have nothing here than be suffering in the cold of the UK". In my experience, there's no legacy of regret, it’s a regrettable and hopefully short lived economic reality which is difficult to stomach, but they are a resolute lot and nothing can usually dissuade them from their preferred course - take my own Mother - trust me you wouldn’t want to take her on!

© Mark FR Wilkins 2009 (Marbella)