This is undoubtedly the stress-free option (so long as money isn’t short). Buy on a resort and you won’t have to worry about cleaning the communal pool, watering the garden, maintaining the roads or finding rental guests.

Depending on the resort you choose, of course, you are likely to be living among a wide range of foreign owners as well as Spanish. There will be social and sports activities onsite, often including beach clubs, golf courses, tennis courts, gyms and spas.

The downsides include the expensive management and maintenance fees, the somewhat artificial nature of some resorts, the control over how you can decorate your home outside, the fact that many of your neighbours may be an endless churn of holidaymakers.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

50 years ago, the vast majority of Spaniards lived in villages and small towns. From the 1970s to the 1990s more than 10 million moved provinces. Many of the younger people moved to the coasts looking for better paid work in the tourist trade while millions more moved to the cities.

Since then, however, in the south and east especially, expats from Britain, northern Europe and even further afield have arrived seeking a new lifestyle and reviving village life. Schools have reopened, village fiestas begun again and local people have cashed in on old properties and land.

In the northern provinces, there are still entire abandoned villages for sale, while in Andalusia the picturesque “white villages” have been great favourites among British buyers.

If you choose to live in a small town, whether on the coast or the interior, you will have a huge choice. You could live in a town like Torrevieja, in Alicante, with a large British population that has created its own institutions such as weekend car boot sales, and started the same clubs and societies as at ‘home’. Or you could opt for a town in the interior with hardly any foreign residents – but with rich traditions and fiestas based around the Catholic faith or the rural way of life. You might not find much English spoken, but will be able to immerse themselves more fully in one of the world’s great languages and civilisations.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

Budget flights to Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca and so many Spanish cities have made the idea of a weekend bolthole very appealing.

While city apartments are often highly expensive, and cities can be polluted and noisy, Spain has invested heavily in those things that bring in tourists, such as transport infrastructure, museums, the arts and culture.

Compared to many countries’ cities, Spain’s are clean, safe and well-managed, with extremely good shopping both in street markets and high-end international brands. And of course, the café culture in tapas bars and street cafés is unsurpassed.

The rental potential for a property in the city can be very tempting too.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

Most overseas buyers come for the seaside. It isn’t just the chance to swim in it, the coastal strip also has the facilities and infrastructure – airports, golf courses, nightlife, international schools, attractive property, English-speaking professionals – as well as cooling sea breezes and a ready-made expat social life.

Prices are, of course, more expensive, but you might not necessarily need a sea view and many of the seaside advantages can be had a few miles inland. Spain is blessed with two wonderful island groups, the Balearics in the Mediterranean and the Canaries further south off the North African coast (which makes them warm all year).

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

Spain has around 95 people per square kilometre. The UK has 265, Belgium 370 and the Netherlands nearly 500. So for new arrivals from northern Europe, Spain is bigger, emptier, hotter and far more mountainous. Go just a few miles inland from the coast and it’s not unusual to see farmers riding donkeys and shepherds tending flocks. This is the ‘campo’, the countryside. People are just as warm and friendly as on the coasts (maybe more so), but they are unlikely to speak English.

Living in the campo certainly has its attractions – the quiet, the space, the beauty both of the countryside and the farmhouses, and all at a much lower price than you would normally pay for British rural properties.

If looking to buy in the countryside you need to pay close attention to where utility supplies will come from and how easy access will be in weather extremes. Historically, there have been problems over planning and ownership of rural properties so always take extra care to get a good, experienced lawyer. Certainly, you should not use the same lawyer as the seller.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

The Canaries, sitting off the coast of Morocco, are warm, but not especially hot, all year. Buy here and you can get four seasons of enjoyment (or rental).

They are comprised of seven islands: Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. Each is different, some sandy, some more volcanic, others with vibrant nightlife and cheap holiday apartments, others quieter. Buying here requires careful consideration as each island is so different – it’s not like buying in the Costa del Sol, which has a bit of everything.

The Canary Islands may be known for their inexpensive, year-round holiday vibe, but they also have great natural beauty, deep gorges, banana plantations and Spain’s highest mountain.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza (and the tiny island of Formentera, off Ibiza) form the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.

On Mallorca, the madness of resorts like Magaluf sits alongside classy seaside villages and resorts where the Spanish royal family spends its summers and the likes of Richard Branson have homes. It has something for everyone, including the beautiful (and expensive) city of Palma, arty communities like Deià and Valldemossa along the northern coast and the more family-oriented resorts of the east coast. As well as villas and holiday apartments, beautiful and historic city-centre apartments and converted farmhouses in the interior are also popular.

Menorca is especially popular with British families. It is quieter, more easy-going and less expensive than its neighbours, but travelling there is less easy in winter.

No problems getting to Ibiza all year, where the party never stops. Although it may be known for its hedonistic lifestyle, Ibiza’s attractions also include rolling pine-covered hills and hidden coves. Property is among the most expensive in Spain.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

The south of Spain includes the well-known Costa del Sol in the middle, the less famous Costa Tropical to the east and Costa de la Luz running up to Portugal. With resorts like Almuñecar, Nerja, Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Mijas, Marbella and Estepona it is the classic Spanish property-buying destination.

The British are still the biggest buyers here, but there are also large numbers of Russians, Belgians, Germans and Scandinavians too, attracted by the unrivalled opportunities for fun, with golf and water sports for the energetic, along with great shopping and restaurants.

Hot in summer, warm in winter, open all year, if you want you can live here like in Essex or Rotterdam with sunshine; yet travel just a few miles inland and you’re straight back in old Spain, with its rough rural traditions and grand history in cities like Granada, Málaga, Córdoba, Seville, Jerez and Cádiz.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

Spain becomes more arid as you head south from the Costa Blanca, including an actual desert at Almanzora.

However, it is also a major agricultural supplier too, especially in Murcia in the northern section and inland to the south of Almeria city. South of Murcia, within Andalusia, Almeria was a relatively quiet and poor province until the tourists and new residents arrived, priced out of the neighbouring costas. In Murcia there are well-known resorts around the Mar Menor, in the north in what is called the Costa Cálida, and further south, Mojácar and Roquetas del Mar on the Costa Almería.

In the years up to the financial crisis these areas saw a major property construction boom.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain

South of Valencia the weather warms up all year and the most popular expat areas start. It has a climate judged by the World Health Organisation to be the healthiest in the world, with warmth all year but tempered by Mediterranean breezes.

Costa Blanca North is greener, more mountainous and with smaller, quieter resorts and expat-friendly towns like Dénia and Jávea. Inland, the Jalón Valley is popular with overseas buyers. When you move south of Benidorm the Costa Blanca South is flatter and dryer.

While it has suffered from overdevelopment, it is also cheaper to buy in resorts such as Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa. The historic city of Alicante sits south of Benidorm and the Costa Blanca’s beautiful interior includes oddities such as the palm forest of Elche. Year-round golf is a speciality.

Source. THE AIPP/RICS/RDE Guide to buying a property in Spain