Hidden, real Spain is what they’re after. Somewhere authentically Spanish, devoid of mass tourism with little or no appeal for other UK buyers.

Ironically, as most people now have this same attitude, what ends up happening is that, instead of moving into ‘real’ Spain, homebuyers end up creating and living in foreigners’ ghettoes. The locals simply leave – they sell at a profit and happily buy in a modern urbanisation.

With so many Brits now living in Spain, it’s almost impossible to find a part of the country where you won’t bump into us. Still, the dream of finding that genuinely Spanish piece of real estate in an undiscovered idyllic town persists.

Finding that rambling, rustic, uneven surfaced property with panoramic views out over Spain’s endless green landscape – one that’s just waiting to be transformed into your version of Iberian chic – is all part of the challenge; part of the dream.

Featured Location – Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura, located just 100km from mainland Africa, is the second largest of the Canary Islands. Unlike other crowded, noisy, resort-ridden Spanish hotspots, Fuerteventura remains a relatively undiscovered paradise. Of its 150 spectacular sandy beaches, many of them are sparsely populated and some seldom visited at all.

It’s on the same latitude as Florida and Mexico and has similar weather conditions – warm, dry and sunny all year long. Temperatures range from a comfortable 17°C in January to cosy 25°C in August. Water temperatures remain warm all year long.

Apart from the beaches, this semi-desert island doesn’t really have much to recommend in the way of tourist amenities or attractions. Thankfully there’s no mass tourism or mega resorts (yet).

It does however, have its fair share of day-trippers from the more touristy resorts on Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. Fuerteventura also attracts a large windsurfing crowd, with excellent conditions and many international competitions being held throughout the year.

The two main resort towns on the island are Caleta del Fuste and Corralejo.

Landscape
Fuerteventura, meaning ”immense luck” is the second largest of the Canary Islands. This desert by the sea stretches for 98km north to south.

The landscape is similar to that of Morocco and the Western Sahara Desert – barren, arid and with sparse rainfall. Inland, this rocky-desert landscape consists of gentle sloping hills with idyllic yet simple flat-roofed whitewashed Spanish villages. 


Beaches
Apart from its surreal desert-like, isolated Spanish landscape, Fuerteventura’s only claim to fame is its beaches, which are often described as the best in Europe.

Fuerteventura is home to over 50kms of stunning white and golden stretches of sand, bathed by crystal clear warm turquoise waters. It’s a wind and wave surfer’s paradise and also a popular spot for big Game Fishing and scuba diving.

If you’re looking for a place away from the masses, where you can enjoy endless blue skies and warm temperatures in peace and quiet, then Fuerteventura might well be worth a visit.

Fuerteventura Property for Sale
Here’s some of the latest developments on the island…

Mirador de Lobos Golf, Corralejo, Fuerteventura
Mirador de Lobos is a unique development divided into 150 high quality semi-detached villas and duplexes.
Property Type: Villa
Number of Beds: 3
Number of Baths: 2
Interior Area: 118 m2
Exterior Area: 300 m2
Price in Euros: €330.000
Price in Pounds: £237.009

Montaña Roja Residencial, Corralejo, Fuerteventura
This stunning, exclusive development of 75 high-quality semi-detached villas, is located in the Parque Natural area of Corralejo.

Property Type: Town House
Number of Beds: 3
Number of Baths: 3
Interior Area: 120 m2
Exterior Area: 66 m2
Price in Euros: €245.000
Price in Pounds: £175.961

Las Palmeras, Corralejo, Fuerteventura
Las Palmeras is the 4th Phase of an incredibly popular development of high quality 2 and 3 bedroom apartments.

Property Type: Apartment
Number of Beds: 2
Number of Baths: 1
Interior Area: 68 m2
Exterior Area: n/a m2
Price in Euros: €162.176
Price in Pounds: £116.476

According to Kyero.com (Spain’s leading property portal) the coming years will see less and less golf developments being constructed as pressure from environmental groups increases. So, for anyone looking for that luxury villa set amidst endless lush green fairways, the advice is to buy as soon as possible before there’s no properties left.

As pressure increases and the authorities eventually give in to the various environmental groups, we’ll see less and less golf properties and developments throughout Spain and the Canary Islands.

With an increasing demand for golf properties and falling numbers of available properties, they’re set to become even more exclusive – investors who buy now should expect to make significant returns through rental yields and/or property appreciation.

Effects on the environment
“Developing a golf course entails the clearing of vegetation, cutting forests and creating artificial landscapes, which lead to land erosion and block the soil’s ability to retain water” – Click here for the full article.

Golf courses use up an amazing amount of water and the bigger the course the more they consume. According to The World Wide Fund For Nature (http://www.wwf.org.uk/) “each average golf course uses up as much water as a medium sized town with about 12,000 inhabitants”.

Southern Spain (Andalucia) is one of Spain’s most popular golfing destinations, yet every year for the past four years the region has been plagued by droughts. This is where Spain’s water crisis is at it’s worst.

But it’s not the only area. Some parts of Spain simply don’t have enough water. On Lanzarote, where the landscape is very dry and largely volcanic, de-salination plants have had to be introduced.

Development issues
Many people believe that the need for more golf courses is simply an excuse by greedy developers to build more and more properties.

Overdevelopment has been one of the main causes of Spain’s recent property crisis. Hungry developers simply built too many properties and now they’re seeing many of them go unsold. Property values have dropped. With this decrease, some unfortunate investors have gone into negative equity.

With mass development all over Spain’s popular costal resorts, buying into a golf development is perhaps the only way you can still get guaranteed views of lush green landscapes as opposed to more apartment blocks, a motorway, nightclubs, or even a high-rise building.

Investing in Golf Properties
Although owning your own luxury golf villa, set amidst lush green fairways, under endless blues skies is indeed appealing, it would be careless or short-sighted, not to realise the negative impact these courses do have on the environment.

That said, golf courses provides countless hours of enjoyment for both young and old, all throughout the country and contribute significantly to Spain’s tourism industry.

Any advice for environmentally friendly investors would simply be to choose an already built golf development – thereby limiting further damage.

Golf Hot Spots (Fuerteventura)
Devoid of anything green, this surreal desert landscape has taken off as one of the Canary Island’s most unlikely, yet popular golf locations. Check out the following link for available properties from Montana Roja – Fuerteventura Property for Sale.

It’s the type of high-class new development you’d expect from the Canary Island’s leading real estate agent and property developer – Montaña Roja real estate.

Not only does it have excellent investment potential, this area is a fantastic place to live where the residents can enjoy a very high quality of life.

Mirador de Lobos Golf
Mirador de Lobos is located in the north of the island in the stunningly beautiful Parque Natural area of Corralejo. The development consists of 150 top quality semi-detached villas and duplexes, all of which are surrounded by a private golf course.

All properties come fully equipped with 3 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a guest room, a spacious lounge/dining room and a separate kitchen. They all have a private garden and a massive roof terrace where you can sit out all day long (all year round), enjoying the balmy climate and endless hours of sunshine.

Being of such high quality, it’s no wonder Mirador de Lobos is in such big demand. Anyone interested is advised to move fast as properties are expected to sell extremely fast.

Investing in Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura is an almost desert-like paradise island with some of the most amazing beaches in Europe – endless stretches of untouched fine golden sand with crystal clear clean blue waters – that are perfect for swimming and surfing all year round.

Located just 100 kms off the west coast of Africa, this surfer’s paradise has become a Mecca for both wind and wave surfing; many international surfing events are held here every year.

Like the other Canary Islands, Fuerteventura has a perfect year round climate. It gets over three thousand hours of sunshine a year.

This is one of the factors that makes the Canary Islands such an attractive investment option, as you can rent out whatever property you own at tourist prices all year round.

Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary Islands. It has, until quite recently, been one of the lesser developed but is quickly catching up, mainly because of its surfing potential, fantastic beaches, stunning desert landscape, excellent (year round) rental potential and good value for money properties.

It’s very popular with both English and Irish investors and also with homebuyers looking for an alternative to the more crowded and “touristy” Canary Islands like Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

That said, the island has undergone significant beneficial growth recently in an attempt to meet the demands of growing numbers of investors, developers and tourists. There are already a number of top quality new development schemes finished. The authorities have also greatly improved the infrastructure on the island.

Being in the relatively early stages of development, Fuerteventura has got excellent potential, both as a place to live and as a place to invest. There are still some great bargains to be had.

Montaña Roja
Montaña Roja are in the advantageous position of working both as a property developer and a real estate agent. This means they can offer their clients some of the most competitive prices on the market. By cutting out the middleman, they can pass on savings to the client.

Being one of the most well established and influential agents on the Canary Islands, they’re directly involved in most of the residential property developments here.

Amongst them, the staff at Montaña Roja speak many languages, so whatever nationality you are, they’re sure to be able to communicate with you and give impartial advice about any aspect of buying, investing, renting or selling on Fuerteventura.

They’ll also make every possible effort to find a property fits both you needs and budget.
For more information contact them directly…

Contact details
Montaña Roja
Gestión Inmobiliaria Montaña Roja. S.L.
C/. Nuestra Sra del Carmen, 40
35660 Corralejo
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain
Sales Office New Developments
Phone: 00 34 928 537 301
Phone: 00 34 928 866 337
Fax: 00 34 928 867 614
Email: info@Montañaroja.com

Property for sale in the Canary Islands
Casa Quest is an information site providing local area information, property and investment related articles, links to legal advice and information about mortgages and finance. It also gives you access to a massive range of available properties throughout the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.

Set up since 2003, the website’s main aim is simply to make buying and selling property in the Canary Islands easier.

Canary Island Highlights
The Canary Islands have it all – beaches, nature, climate, nightlife, outdoors sports, culture, history, tradition, spectacular landscapes, nature, restaurants, wildlife and more.

No visit to the islands would be complete without seeing at least one of the following…

Mount Teide (Tenerife)
Mount Teide, Spain’s highest mountain peak, rises to a staggering 3.718 metres high. Nowhere on the island can you escape its ever-present gaze. It’s pronounced teid – e. In 1954 it was declared a national park.

This natural paradise experiences some extreme weather conditions. In winter you’re likely to find snow and possibly gale force winds, whereas in summer, temperatures can reach a sweltering 40C!

There are regular guided tours to the natural park and if you’re feeling energetic, you can actually climb to the top (with an experienced guide of course).

Caldera de Taburiente (La Palma)
La Caldera attracts nature lovers and trekkers from all over the globe.

It really is an awesome sight – definitely one of the most impressive on the island. This massive crater was formed over the years by several powerful volcanic eruptions. Its rugged mountain peaks (often shrouded in mist) contrast dramatically with the lush green vegetation that surrounds the crater. Well worth a visit!

Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma)
Roque de los Muchachos has an International Astrophysical Observatory, which was opened in 1985.

The Canary Islands have amazingly clear skies and this area is one of the best places on the planet for stargazing. Once a year, all the lights on the island are turned off at the same time to make certain observations possible.

The observatory has six telescopes in total, including the famous “Herschel” telescope, named after William Herschel.

This is a spectacular location, even if you’re not into astronomy. Don’t miss it if you get the chance.

La Isla de Los Lobos (Fuerteventura)
This tiny island is located between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Volcanic in origin, it’s a paradise for nature lover’s and perfect for hiking and swimming.

Los Lobos is a perfect daytrip location. To get here just take the ferry from Corralejo – it’s just 2kms away. There’s a very peaceful nature reserve on the island with amazing views back to Fuerteventura.

Playa de las Americas (Tenerife)
Play de Las Americas is one of the hottest nightspots in the Canary Islands and one of Tenerife’s largest attractions. A Mecca for northern European tourists, it was built back in the 1960’s and still draws large numbers of part-goers every year.

It’s particularly popular with the British. Lined with row upon row of English bars and fish & chip outlets, it’s like a home away from home.

Although it’s now perhaps lacking in terms of indigenous Canarian culture, who cares! Las Americas is all about going out, meeting new people and having a good time.

Using Casaquest
Just click on your chosen island and you’ll instantly have access to a huge range of properties with descriptions, locations, photos and prices.

It’s simple.

Investing in a new country, setting up home in a new country can be daunting. It’s a major step both financially and emotionally. Getting the right advice and choosing the right estate agent is essential.

Canaryproperty.com’s latest blog displays contact details and information from all the top agents in The Canary Islands, some of which are listed below…

Canary Homes Online; Cardenas Real Estate; Carmen Villazan; Casa Quest; Costa Sol Tenerife; Crossley Morfit & Lennox; Delta Metropolitan; Dream Home Okey; Fuerteventura Properties; Home Sweet Home; Homes of Tenerife; Horizon Property Group. Click here for full details…

Featured Agent – Tierra del Fuego
Tenerife based Tierra de Fuego have a reputation for building in the most scenic and desirable parts of the island. They’ve been around since 1996 and have become an icon for quality and excellence. They build and promote luxury villas in the south of Tenerife.

Featured Island – Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura is the closest Canary Island to the African mainland. It has the same barren/desert-like landscape as the Western Sahara Desert and some of the best beaches in Europe. There’s just 100km separating the ‘Punta de la Entallada’ from Cape Juby in Morroco.

Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary Islands and gets an astonishing 3000 hours of sunshine a year. The climate is more or less the same as Florida and Mexico, which are on the same latitude.

Fuerteventura is the oldest of the Canary Islands. It’s strange shapes and outlines come from various episodes in its volcanic past. Fuerteventura’s last eruption took place over 7,000 years ago so nowadays chances of mass volcanic eruptions disrupting your beach time are pretty slim.

The neighbouring island of Lanzarote is where to go to see some volcanic activity. It’s surreal reddish Mars-like landscape is fascinating – well worth a visit and just a short ferry ride away.

From Fuerteventura, you can also take a trip to the tiny island of Los Lobos. Located halfway between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, this popular little island is volcanic by nature and perfect for hiking and swimming. It’s the perfect getaway during the busy summer months.

Apart from the beach, there’s plenty of other things to do and see on the island. Some of the other attractions inviting you to discover different aspects of the Island’s landscape and culture include the Betancuria Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography and Tefia Craft Village.

Water sports
Fuerteventura is a wind, wave and kite surfer’s paradise.
This where they hold the P.W.A world windsurfing speed and slalom event. Every year hundreds of surfers come to witness this adrenaline-fuelled event, held in the south of the island at Sotavento. Scuba diving and snorkelling are also very popular here, with great visibility and warm, cosy waters all year round.

Beaches
Fuerteventura unquestionably has the best beaches in the Canary Islands. It’s home to many enormous sand dunes and some spectacular stretches of fine golden sandy beach with warm pristine turquoise waters.

There are over 150 beaches here, many of them remaining isolated all throughout the year. Even during the busy summer months, you’ll be able to find a secluded spot for yourself.

Even though it can often get very windy on the island, the Dunes of Corralejo for example, you’ll always be able to find a sheltered spot on the east coast. Morro Jable is normally very calm.

With all this, it’s no wonder Fuerteventura’s beaches are regarded as being the most impressive in Europe.

With many new developments for sale at very good prices, buying property in Fuerteventura provides almost guaranteed returns on investment.

Montaña Roja Estate Agents have a wide range of re-sale, new development and off plan property for sale all over the island. They sell apartments, penthouses, villas, bungalows, townhouses, country houses and fincas.

Fuerteventura Island
Fuerteventura boasts over 285 kms of stunning unspoilt coastline and some of the world’s most amazing beaches.

It’s a paradise for water sports lover’s, windsurfers in particular, as there are constant coastal winds. The island has some of the best surfing, windsurfing and kite surfing facilities available in Europe. It’s also a diver’s paradise, with some unbelievable diving conditions in crystal clear warm blue waters.

Fuerteventura has a perfect year round warm climate similar to that found in Mexico and Florida. Temperatures range from 17°C in January to 25°C in August; it’s rarely too hot and never too cold.

Inland on Fuerteventura, you’ll find some excellent climbing and hiking routes. This surreal desert-like landscape boasts some spectacular mountain scenery with a wide range of outdoor sports opportunities.

Being the least developed of the Canary Islands, property in Fuerteventura is considerably cheaper than on the other islands. You can still find some fantastic bargains from the many properties available.

Investment areas on Fuerteventura
Two of the most popular places to live and invest on the island are Corralejo and Caleta de Fuste.

Corralejo
Corralejo is Fuerteventura’s main tourist resort. Apartments here start at as little as €53.000!

Once a small traditional Canarian fishing harbour, the town of Corralejo has expanded to become one of the island’s most popular resorts with a good infrastructure and full amenities for both holidaymakers and residents.

Although now a bustling tourist resort, Correlejo has managed to retain its authentic Canarian charm. The pretty town square is full of shops, restaurants and bars with original architecture and indigenous Canarian features.

Cuisine here tends to be quite international. You can choose from a wide range of restaurants, including traditional Spanish & Canarian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese Indian and more…

Corralejo’s nightlife is fairly low-key, especially when compared with say Playa de Los Americas, on Tenerife. There is however, free entertainment most evenings in the main square – normally live music, Canarian dancing and flamenco.

Caleta de Fuste
Caleta de Fuste is one of Fuerteventura’s most up and coming resorts. Located on the east coast of the island, it’s a modern resort with shops, restaurants, cafes and bars.

This is a popular area for families with kids. The gently sloping beaches are safe and the waters are calm and shallow. Sports enthusiasts can also practice scuba diving, snorkelling and windsurfing in this protected bay.

Every year more and more visitors are coming to Caleta de Fuste to invest and to live – The area has an amazing quality of life. Property prices are still low compared to the other islands and it has great rental potential – if you own a property here you can rent it out at “tourist prices” almost all year round.

Fuerteventura Property
The tourism industry in Fuerteventura is expanding rapidly, creating a huge demand for new properties.

The market now offers a wide variety of properties and a multitude of profit-making possibilities, including resale investments, new developments and buy to let purchases.

With an increasing number of English speaking agents on the island, buying property in Fuerteventura has never been easier.

Casa Quest has the largest and most varied selection of property for sale in Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria). The site is aimed at buyers, sellers and investors. It provides a wealth of information about the Spanish property market and the buying or selling process.

Sale options
When selling your property in the Canary Islands you can either go through an agent or sell it privately yourself.

Selling through an Estate Agent
An agent will normally charge you between 3% and 10% of the agreed return price for selling your property.

Depending on the value of the property, this can be a significant amount of money. For example, an apartment for sale at an asking price of 150,000 euros, would be subject to an Agents fee of 7,500 euros at 5% commission.

For this fee, most agents will advertise your property in press & magazine adverts as well as on their website.

Real estate agents in Spain generally take a very hands- on approach to the sale of your property. They’ll look after everything for you, from initial property search and market advice to arranging legal proceedings and conveyancing.

Selling privately
The obvious advantage with selling privately is that you don’t have to pay the agents any commission.

That said, you’ll have to do all your own advertising – you need to let potential buyers, who are looking for a property like yours, know that it’s available. Communicating back and forth with numerous would-be buyers can be quite time consuming. You’ll probably need to seek legal advice too (to be on the safe).

Selling your property through Casa Quest
Casa Quest offers a unique advertising opportunity. Instead of just putting your property on one agent’s website, it allows you to advertise to a wide audience across a network of establish and reputable web sites.

It’s one of the best ways to reach people looking for property for sale in the Canary Islands. Here are just some of the properties you’ll find on Casa Quest…

Tenerife

1 Bed Apartment in Golf del Sur
Good size apartment on popular complex, excellent for rentals all year round. Fully furnished, terrace, communal pool.
Price: €94.000 EUR
£ 62.700 GBP

Fuerteventura

1 Bed Apartment in Corralejo
Beautiful spacious 1 and 2 Bed apts. Close to the beach, sand dunes and harbour. Up to 100% mortgage available and guaranteed rental scheme.
Price: €120.000 EUR

Gran Canaria

4 Bed Villa in Maspalomas
Beautiful four-bedroom villa in a very quiet area of Maspalomas. Has the option of two separate large apartments – ideal for guests or as a large family home.
Price: €580.000 EUR

How it all began
Casa Quest is the brainchild of Dr Paul Johnson, a retired British medical practitioner. After living and working in Tenerife for ten years he saw the difficulties that can come with buying or selling a property in the Canary Islands.

With the help of Sorted Sites – leading local web development agency, Casa Quest was created. This unique and very complex site took several months to create. It’s now up and running since 2003.