Spain goes eco-friendly
July 27th, 2006
With water shortages and global warming becoming a cause celeb with politicians and in the media these days, the environment is creeping up the agenda in most countries. In Spain, where post-Franco bureaucracy and the importance of tourism and economic growth previously overshadowed any thought of environmental impact, things are suddenly starting to go green.
In an unprecedented move, last week the President of the Junta de Andalucia, Manuel Chaves, proposed paying 2.3 million euros for the Algarrobico Hotel, in the Cabo de Gata Nature park, to demolish it. He described the partially constructed hotel as a symbol of how the coastline is being destroyed, and pledged to return the beach to its original state, despite the potential damage to the local tourist industry and the jobs it would have provided.
The term ‘eco-friendly’ is rapidly ditching its ‘added extra’ status in Spain, and is starting to be seen as a necessary requirement in a country that depends on the tourists choosing to visit it – instead of new competition from countries like Croatia – to bolster its economy.
But with eco-friendly not necessarily meaning cheap in terms of initial outlay, would people be prepared to pay any more for a property with genuinely green credentials?
Simon Ducker, of eco-friendly property developers Jones & Nash, says, “There has been a quite dramatic increase in people wanting to live a greener lifestyle. By buying eco-friendly the house will be warm and comfortable and have small, or no, utility bills and our houses are designed to breathe and are optimally situated to make the most of the sun, thereby ensuring a healthy living atmosphere.”
In 2005 alone, 55.5 million people arrived in Spain to enjoy the sun, sangría and siestas, the largest number in over five years, and 16 million of them came from Britain, by far the largest single source nation.
The balancing act between pleasing the influx of holidaymakers, who obviously put a strain on the scant resources, while attempting to provide residents with a continual supply of water and electricity, has led to some inevitable problems.
In the same week Chaves struck a blow for the environment, it was revealed in the press over here that there are close to an estimated 500,000 illegal boreholes siphoning off Spain’s underground water supply, and has led to the loss of enough water to provide for around 58 million people a year. They accuse farmers of buying the water on the black market to irrigate crops and developers of using it to keep golf courses green.
The news comes on the back of the existing controversy over the government’s plans to re-route the Ebro, Spain’s longest river, with 1,000 kilometres of pipeline. The National Hydrological Plan (NHP) will essentially be taking water away from the fertile north east of the country, and ploughing it into the arid, drought-prone inland and coastal regions, something the EU has deemed illegal and refuses to fund.
That Spain is addressing the problem at all, however, is a sign that things are moving forward. The economy is robust, property prices are rising – now sustaining the unspoilt beaches and natural beauty that attracts the thousands of Brits each year is the real test for Spain.
Story from World of Property
