Sun, 8 November 2009
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There is one subject which crops up in conversations between expats everywhere in Spain: property.
In Barcelona, where I live, the question is always: have you found anything? Can you afford to buy it?
It is a reflection of the scarcity of decent flats and the barmy prices they ask here.
I imagine the situation is much the same, or even worse, in other large cities, like Madrid, San Sebastian and even Valencia.
Down south or on any of the Costas, the conversation goes slightly differently: 'Is it legal?' 'Does it having building permission?' 'Will I have to tear it down a month after moving in because of some strange building regulation, the vendor oh-so-conveniently forgot to tell us about?'
But though the concerns are different, the subject is the same.
And it can cause strains between friends, for those who cannot afford to get on that much-sought-after ladder, let their lucky friends know it in the subtlest of ways.
They might joke at first about the friends with the sparkling new flat being 'pijos' (posh)but this soon turns to something more like out-and-out jealousy.
And, of course, it makes those who have been able to buy somewhere reluctant to raise the subject.
Of course property can provoke the same reactions in every country.
But the difference, perhaps, in Spain is that with rocketing prices it is ever-harder to buy a place, so the gulf divides.
And merely owning a place, however, dull and minute, becomes a rather strange expat badge of pride.
It says: 'We came here and managed to make it work and look, here is the proof.'
To those who have not bought a flat, or don't want to, it might mean nothing.
But there are plenty who do want a place of their own and know it will be struggle to get one.
Graham Keeley
Editor
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