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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Residential real estate market in SpainSpain is a nice place to live and to visit. In 2000 the country was put on 3rd place in the list of tourist preferences in the world with almost 50 million visitors*. Long ago have vanished away the fears of France and Germany that the entering of Spain into the European Union will lead to uncontrolled migration. The result of the EU membership was quite different - many people from Spain who have migrated earlier into richer European countries began to return to their homeland in the last 15 years. From being a source of illegal emigration Spain recently turned to be one of the primary goals of African illegal immigration in Europe. This is an additional evidence of the country attractiveness. Given the fact that the national economy developed at strong pace in the last years the real estate market became even more attractive for native population and foreign investors alike. In the big cities such as the capital city of Madrid or the province administrative center of Barcelona the average price of residential properties stands at $1000-1500 per sq.meter (1 sq.meter=10 sq.feet). For the luxurious properties in the most attractive areas the price may go beyond the mark of $5000 per sq.meter. In the less prestigious areas the prices may go below the level of $600/sq.meter. The exceptions are the towns along the French border in Northern Spain like San Sebastian. The average price of residential properties there can exceed $1500/sq.meter. On the other side of the market are the small towns in the Southern parts of the country where the average prices go below $400-500/sq.meter. As for many other middle-size European peripheral countries such as Italy or Poland the rule in Spain is that the regions situated closer to Germany are more developed. As a member of EU Spain has rather liberal legislature dealing with the property rights of foreigners. They have a right to buy and resell all kind of properties - residential, commercial or land. There is no limitation on the quantity of acquired properties. One of the most successful steps in the recent economic history of the country was considered to be a liberalization of the land market for foreigners. The result was that hundreds of thousands of foreign predominantly aged persons (mainly from Germany and United Kingdom) moved to the warmer climate of Spain for the whole year, buying houses on the sea coasts**. That turned to be an additional incentive for the local tourist and real estate industry, inviting each year millions of relatives wishing to enjoy their vacations with their parents and grand-parents. Acquiring property in Spain doesn't automatically give a permission to live permanently in the country if the buyer isn't a citizen of one of EU states. If there isn't a special agreement between the two states (Spain and the country of eventual buyer) the permission for permanent residence may be obtained by having a bank account in Spanish bank with not less than $150 000 and to have own business in Spain. Buying residential property is a reason of obtaining Spanish visa*** which can be prolonged in Spain for the buyer and the members of his/her family. This visa though doesn't give right to work in the country. * - On the first place is France with more than 70 million tourists followed by the USA (2000 annual report of World Tourist Organization). ** - It this respect the Mediterranean coast of Spain may be compared with Florida in the USA. *** - In fact that is the so called Schengen visa valid for almost all EU countries.
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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Spain.
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