Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Just the oldies are left

In the years before the economic crisis, the population of Alicante province grew as thousands sought a home in the sun. Many northern Europeans came along with those who found work in the thriving economy. They could not build homes fast enough to accommodate the rise in population.

Since then the trend has reversed and last year, 24,621 left against 21,011 who arrived. Of those that left, 3,100 were Spaniards, 10,628 were from other European countries.

As you might expect, many of those leaving are young people seeking employment elsewhere which means the demographics of the province are changing. Of the 1,855,270 who live here, 20% are foreigners and 19% of the population are over 65. The fact is that older people put a greater strain on the health care system.

The continued decline in the population also means that selling your home is not going to get easier anytime soon. Added to which, it is still difficult to obtain a mortgage from the ailing banks making it tough for those who want to buy. The house next door to us, which had been on the market for over a year, has now been rented out to a young Spanish couple. Whilst renting out your property can bring a lot of problems, at least you see some income to offset the running costs.


No comments: