A place in the Sun?

By now, my readers will know all about holiday letting in Southsea, but do you dream of foreign climes? 

Was escaping Brexit all it was cracked up to be?

I returned from Spain this week so will take a look at my host in that country. I have a dear friend, who I shared my schooldays with. We will call her Jane. Jane was a remainer, through and through, and had always planned to end her days on Continental Europe. Her plans were foreshortened when Brexit was declared and she and her husband left the UK at the earliest opportunity to secure their residency in warmer weather.

Their purchase was subject to some constraints. They traded in their terraced house in Bristol and set off to find somewhere within 2 hours of an airport, big enough for B&B and in a part of Spain away from the coast. A great property presented itself in Andalusia, close to some popular tourist spots but in an authentically 'Spanish' town away from the beer-swilling coastal resorts.

Jane's town has a provincial attitude to business. She successfully schmoozed the Mayor and achieved her licence to run her B&B within 3 months, instead of the usual 9. Jane refuses to cook for her guests and sends them forth to spend their holiday money in the local town. She urges them to mention the B&B when ordering so that word gets out that her guests are spending locally. The Spanish attitude is one of give-and-take which generates repeat business. Jane is obliged to ingratiate herself whenever possible and, as a result, has made many good friends in both the local and expat. communities. It sounds like the ideal life, just like on TV show 'A Place in the Sun'.

However, the revenue generated by selling a room has remained stubbornly around £25 pppn. This is a challenging price point to achieve, even in Spain. Jane's competition is a very ordinary Hostel, there are no Hotels in town. As a result of this she has closed for the Winter season (her peaks are Spring and Autumn). When the difference between making a few Euros and not is determined by whether or not they use the heater for a few hours it is simply not worth her while trading in Winter.

The Spanish Government were less generous than the UK in terms of support during Covid. Jane had to close for the duration and, because she B&B's from her own home she could not get help as it isn't technically a business in Spain. In the meantime the terraced house that she left behind (unlike her Spanish place) has increased in value by 50%, precluding a move back to the UK even if that was the plan. The guests that have made it through the door are as un-used to inflated prices as the rest of us here. As a result they are grumpier and more demanding, this is a universal guest problem that we have been suffering as well but it is the market that determines the viability of the property, more than anything else. Tourism has been a race to the bottom on price since lockdown and there will be properties that are casualties. Let's hope that Jane can re-open soon and the guests start coming back with a smile and open pockets to keep her life in Spain going well.