Spanish Costa Brava Welcomes Russians

The local community in Platja D'Aro, north of Barcelona in Spain, welcome Russian tourists who are buying up second homes there. The rich visitors are providing a much needed boost to the local economy.

Published

2 months ago

Categories

World, Lifestyle

Topics

Europe, Travel & Tourism, Housing

Places

Russia, Spain, Barcelona

Transcript

SCRIPT: Sergey and Larisa are Russian. They've come from Siberia searching for a dream home on the Spanish Costa Brava, north of Barcelona. This one's on sale for 3.5 million euros. Spread over 700 square meters, it has a big living room and six bedrooms. But the sauna's a bit small for Larissa's taste. Money would appear to be no object as they look for a bolthole to escape the worst Russia can throw at them. SOUND BITE 1 - Larisa Maslova, Russian buyer (in Russian, 27 secs): "We're from Novosibirsk, in Siberia. In winter it is very cold and it's very harsh from November to March. It's horrible, with temperatures as cold as minus 40 in Siberia. You have much better weather here, that's why we are looking for a house." Spain is very popular with Russian tourists. In 2012 for the first time more than a million came to visit - up 40 percent in a year. Like Sergey and Larisa, more and more are deciding to buy a second home here. In Platja d'Aro, a resort of 10,000 people, the number of Russians has tripled since 2004 and now stand at 575. SOUND BITE 2 - Juan Santiago, property developer in Platja d'Aro (in Spanish, 12 secs): "Right now 90 percent of the sales in and around Platja d'Aro are to Russian-speakers, whether they're from Russia, Kazakhstan or Ukraine. The good thing is they don't need a bodyguard or chauffeur. They can go for a walk alone. It's totally safe." It may be safe but a recent money-laundering scandal involving the Russian mafia and a local politician caused shockwaves in the neighbouring district of Lloret de Mar. Nevertheless, these new neighbours with seemingly unlimited spending power are more than welcome in a country where the property market is stagnant and the unemployment rate is over 26 percent. VOXPOP 1 (in Spanish, Female, 10 secs): "It has a big impact on our town's economy because they boost business. And of course the property market because they usually buy luxury homes." VOXPOP 2 (in Spanish, Male, 5 secs): "As long as there's money coming into our town it's good, it's good for the economy." VOXPOP 3 (in Spanish, Female10 secs): "All the ones I know are very friendly, they don't cause any problems. I wish there were more coming to invest here in the town." The Russian certainly seem to have the seal of approval in Platja d'Aro. And who knows, if a mooted government scheme to offer residency to foreigners who buy homes worth more than 160,000 euros goes ahead - there may be many more visitors from the east in years to come /// ------------------------------------