More Recent Developments:
Unlike other Spanish coastal areas there
have been little land available for new building for at least 10 years and
the real estate offer is mainly resale properties.
The Truth: In the Moraira area
there has never been a bubble to burst.
That statement may seem a strange considering the current negative press
about Spanish property bubbles, crashes and the economic crisis. No doubt about it, if Spanish real estate values
have not yet bottomed then they don't have far to go.
Comparative property values in Moraira have
actually been falling since 2004. This was due to fierce competition
from other areas, where prices were much lower in the first place and then
"went through the roof".
Moraira prices have now stabilized. The Spanish property "silly season" is over, off-plan
investors are left with blistered fingers and new construction has ground
to a halt.
Commonsense now prevails!
Buyers choose Moraira area because their intention is to acquire a holiday
home - to keep and enjoy long-term and not for short term gain!
The
recent boom, the bubble and the inevitable crash were caused by the
availability of countless new properties.
There have been very few new
properties built in Moraira for 10 years.
These few have been extremely expensive
and way beyond the average budget because Moraira effectively ran out of
land 10 years ago and huge areas were permanently designated as
green-belt.
Nearly all properties for sale are
resale.
Most Moraira properties for sale are aged between
10 and
30 years and for many years buyers of second homes have been renovating and
extending older properties - some have even been demolished to reclaim the
plot.
You will never see Moraira property
advertised on TV!
The recent boom was driven by low-interest loans and off-plan
so-called "opportunities". There was massive investment in TV and press advertising,
which only the developers can afford, but there have been no new developments in
Moraira.
Moraira sellers use an estate agent,
such as Moraira-HOMEFINDERS.
Most have owned their property for 10 years or more and, if they have to
reduce, then the price reflects pre-boom values and they have to accept a
little less profit than they were expecting.
Otherwise they just don't sell.
The result is, and always has been, a stable market with excellent
long-term appreciation.
If you are looking for a bargain,
a "steal" or properties at repossession prices then Moraira is not the place
to look.
Best to try a websites that specializes in
Below Market Value Spanish Property.
The Bank of England has maintained the base rate at
0.5% in an attempted to resolve Britain's
slowing economy.
Whether this low rate cut was the prime cause or not, the value of the
£sterling has fallen against the Euro.
How
will this affect Moraira Area property values?
Strangely
enough it will make little difference and there would be no price
increase in most cases.
It has to be
understood that the Moraira area real estate offer is mainly resale and most
property is sold by British people who intend to repatriate the funds.
Our prices are quoted in Euros, but that is only for simplicity, and any
sale is affected by the offer to buy and the eventual Private Contract.
Say, for
example, that the price was set at 350,000 Euros when £sterling was 1.48. In
this case the vendors would have received £236,486.
Providing that their intention was to repatriate the funds to the UK and
they were still quite happy with this amount then the actual Euro price
would have fallen to 260,135 at 1.10 Euros to £1.
Furthermore
Spanish law permits a property sale in any currency and a bank account can
be opened with a Spanish bank in any currency.
In the case in question the vendor would simply open an account in £sterling
especially for the sale.
The buyer would then pay for the property with a certified cheque drawn on a
UK bank, a copy of this cheque would be included in the Escritura and both
buyer and seller would state the Euros equivalent for the purpose of the
sale.
This certified cheque would then be paid into the vendors Spanish account
and transferred to the UK.
Alternatively, the vendor could actually receive the certified cheque and
carry it back to the UK.
Even in the
case where there was a Spanish mortgage, a £sterling amount could be paid to
the vendor.
Moraira
has been cited as "the San Tropez of the of the Spanish Mediterranean".
As a Moraira resident for 36 years I believe that this is just being kind to
the town on the French Riviera.
Both can date their origins back to
pre-history but present-day Moraira is an almost perfect model of good
planning and an example to other Spanish coastal and rural areas where, sad
to say, things have gone horribly wrong.
Of course it cannot be said that the
Moraira planners never, ever got things wrong and just two multi-storey
apartment blocks bear witness to their folly.
However "Pili and Mili", as they are
know locally, do tend to blend into the background of the Moraira headland,
whilst they look down upon the Avenida del Portet development - where not a
single property is worth less than 1.5 million Euros!
Pili and Mili were built in the late
60's and since then there has been a height restriction of just two storeys
everywhere except the Moraira town centre where it was 4 floors.
Even this was considered to be too high and has been reduced.
I first glimpsed Moraira in the Spring
of 1971 from the top of the hill in Teulada.
My first impressions still remain: A wide valley, gently sloping down
from the surrounding foot-hills with bright green vineyards broken by darker
green pine forests and just the odd red roof in site.
These days, large areas of vineyards still remain but with lots more red roofs.
Fortunately there are also a lot more trees but few are pines, as the Moraira landscapers
have tended to favour palms, jacarandas, false peppers, bananas, cypresses
etc.
For hundreds of years Moraira existed
as a small fishing hamlet and very little remains except the castle and the
parish church. Now both have restored and the latter considerably enlarged.
Moraira marina was constructed over the old harbour but the fishermen have a
a number subsidised moorings and a covered auction slab, where the catch is
publicly sold every morning.
Most of the available land, apart from
the Moraira village centre, was built on during the 80's and 90's.
During this period a serious rift developed between the communities of
Moraira and Teulada.
Moraira claimed that the income
generated from building licences etc. was mostly being spent on Teulada town
and
Moraira's infrastructure was being neglected.
The "Amigos de Moraira" association was
formed but little could be achieved at town hall level because the Moraira
community was composed mainly of foreign residents (British, German
and Dutch) who were not permitted to vote at local election.
Eventually these no-Spanish residents
were allowed to vote and in 1999 the Citizens of Moraira Party
managed to win a working majority.
Since that date Teulada has worked a miracle of reconstruction and both
sides have been re-untied as Teulada and Moraira-Teulada.
Practically every single rubbish
container is underground and all refuse is carefully re-cycled.
The new sewage processing plant went
into service during 2006 and every street is being dug up to install the pipe
network.
The Moraira roads do not have one
single traffic-light but the traffic remain fluid due to a series of
roundabouts, not the cheapest option, and each has a unique decorative
theme.
The old main street (c/ Dr Calatalud)
becomes a pedestrian precinct during the summer months and fiestas and
connects to a series of plazas and palm-lined avenues.
This whole central area becomes a haven for strollers among the tables set
outside by the local restaurants and the festival atmosphere is rounded off
by the evening market of handicraft stalls and pavement artists.
The Teulada-Moraira administration has
comprised at least 4 non-Spanish councillors for 2 full terms of 4 years.
Together with their Spanish colleagues and numerous volunteer groups they
have toiled to make Moraira-Teulada a better place to live.
Very little building land now
remains in Moraira.
Urban Corruption does not, and cannot,
exist because there are virtually no urbanisations to corrupt.
In fact the problem is
quite the reverse because it is really a case of finding the finance for
improvements without the usual income from developers building licences.
Roads - The RN332
provincial highway passes within 1 klm. of Teulada town and it is a further
6 klms. to Moraira Village.
Motorway - The AP-7
Motorway Interchange Nº 63 (Calpe, Benissa and Teulada) is 3 klms from Teulada.
Airports -
Alicante (El
Altet) 90 klms from Teulada.
Valencia (Manises) 120 klms.
Railways - The railway
station at Teulada Town is served by the narrow-gauge service between Denia
and Alicante. There is no interchange into the national network at Denia and
at Alicante it is some distance across the city to the main-line station.
Bus Services -
La Unión
de Benissa provide an hourly service, Alicante to Valencia, for most of the
day, which stops at
the Teulada roundabout on the RN332 and the Bus Station at Bar Frau in
Benissa.
Both points provide an onward
service to anywhere in Europe.
Autobuses Ifach S.L.
provide a service from Calpe railway station, through the
town, along the coast to Moraira Village, up to Benitachell, through Teulada
Town to the railway station and along to the RN332 bus stop.
* Demographic
Development: According to the 2006 census the resident population is
12,745, of which 60.37% are of foreign nationality, which ranks 5th in
Spain for foreign residents. 23.25% are British nationals, 13.19% German and 10.46% other Europeans Non-Europeans account for 8.35%, mainly from Latin American.
The history of
Moraira-Teulada has been traced back almost to the beginning of the history of
civilised man.
Remains
of the first settlers (Upper Palaeolithic 15,000 to 20,000 BC) were
discovered in a Cave (Cova de la Cendra) on the Cap d´Or (the headland
that protects Moraira and El Portet beaches).
At
the Cova de Les Rates and El Morro de Castellar are rupestrian
paintings depicting life in the bronze age.
Much later there were Iberian settlers and ceramic remains have been discovered to support this on
the Cap d´Or where the lookout tower would have guarded the Bay of Moraira.
Later still the Moors
occupied the area and
left their mark on the culture and economy of the area. The signs of this
early society can be noticed the architecture, agriculture, irrigation systems and town planning. Many
Moraira-Teulada areas have been handed down from the Moorish era, e.g. Benimarco, Benimeit, Pouet
del Morro, Moravit, Tabaira, Alcassar etc.
The
Christian conqueror Jaime I expelled the Moors in the 13th century and then people from
Catalonia
and Aragon settled there, bringing with them the Valencian language. The Lords of Llúria, Serría and
Gandia founded the town of Teulada in 1386 and they were the owners. Later
ownership was handed over to the Barons of Ariza and Teulada and in the nineteenth century it was claimed by the
Spanish crown.
Moraira
was plagued by the attention of Barbary pirates during the 16th century,
the Town of Teulada
was fortified and a lookout tower (now restored) was built on the Cap d´Or.
It is said that Moraira was named after the heathen princess
"Ira, la Mora" (- hence "mora ira") and this could be
true.
The tale that her remains are buried under the old castle on Moraira
beach most certainly is not.
Moraira castle
has now been restored and is a historical museum.
The fact is that it was
planned by Juan Bautista Antonelli, during the reign of Felipe II to protect the
bay of Moraira from the Barbary invaders in the 16th century but, according to a
plaque at the entrance, it was not complete finished until 1742.
It is also known that it was
badly damaged by the British on July 20th 1801,
even though it was armed with four bronze cannons.
The
Moraira Tourist Office is located in Casa de la Por at the entrance to
Moraira and the Moraira/Teulada Road close to the Barclay Centre. Here you
will find virtually everything you need to know about Moraira.
The Moraira Tourist Office Website provides details of all current
local events but is only in Spanish.
Moraira
is part of the municipality of Teulada and the Town hall is in Teulada.The Teulada-Moraira Town Hall Website provides information for Moraira
residents and property owners and is in English, French, German and
Valenciano.
The
recent boom, the bubble and the inevitable crash were caused by the
availability of countless new properties.
However "Pili and Mili", as they are
know locally, do tend to blend into the background of the Moraira headland,
whilst they look down upon the Avenida del Portet development - where not a
single property is worth less than 1.5 million Euros!
The history of
Moraira-Teulada has been traced back almost to the beginning of the history of
civilised man.
Moraira
was plagued by the attention of Barbary pirates during the 16th century,
the Town of Teulada
was fortified and a lookout tower (now restored) was built on the Cap d´Or.