2023-11-27 10:52:00
Costa Brava, Costa del Sol, Canaries, Balearic Islands,… These names evoke holiday destinations for thousands of Belgians who will spend at least one week there in their life. But more and more often, these names evoke a life project, a destination for a new life project. According to the latest figures from Spanish notaries, more than 35,000 Belgians own property in Spain. A figure that has been constantly evolving in recent years.
Kevin Centorame is one of these Belgians expatriated in Spain. He opened a real estate agency there in August 2015 and knows the “Belgian” market well. “90% of my customers are Belgian,” he smiles. There are so many Belgians who buy a holiday home or who come to settle down that I can make a living from it. The rest of my clientele are French or other nationalities looking for a vacation home.”
Kevin Centorame is a real estate agent in the Alicante region. ©DRCrisis or not, there are always more multi-owners: 1.19 million Belgians have a second residence!
For his part, it was the sun that attracted him to Orihuela Costa, near Torrevieja, in the province of Alicante. “Initially, my in-laws had a vacation home nearby, and we came there several times a year. It was harder and harder to leave, and we wanted to change our lives. What appealed to us was the quality of life, the sun, the tranquility.”
According to him, the health and then economic crisis have changed things. “Since Covid, there has been an explosion in the number of Belgians arriving to change their lives. What has also changed is the profile. There are many pensioners who come to live in the sun, but also young professionals who come for the climate.”
The purchasing power is obviously not the same. “Pensioners can afford to go to a restaurant three or four times a week, this is not possible in Belgium…”
For his part, Bruno has decided to prepare for his pension, even though he has a little more than four years left before the legal retirement age. “I bought an apartment in May 2021, and the goal is to live there all year round in 4 to 5 years,” he confirms. I had been thinking regarding it for a long time, telling myself that I am not an owner in Belgium and that I wanted the sun. Initially, I wanted to buy in Andalusia because friends have an apartment near Marbella. But the research was complicated during Covid and everything passed under my nose. By chance I found an advert from a Belgian who was selling her apartment near Alicante. By chance, I knew the real estate agent through football, and things happened very quickly. I have no regrets since then, it’s a different life when I’m there. I already know around a hundred people there, many of them Belgian. There are Belgian restaurants, bars, and even butchers.”
200,000 Belgians have a second residence abroad: Spain remains the Belgians’ favorite El Dorado, but Italy is also a hit. Bruno bought an apartment to live there following his pension. ©DR
He himself observed that there are more and more Belgians in the region. “In 2021, there were around 10,000 Belgians on the Costa Blanca, today it is almost 15,000,” he explains. The quality of life is second to none, and many English people have sold their property with Brexit. I myself bought from the English. In terms of purchasing power, it’s day and night. You can go to a three-course restaurant for €15 per person at lunchtime. The first time I did my shopping, I had a really full shopping cart for €78, I thought they had forgotten to scan items (laughs).”
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