British tourists and property-seekers are coming in ever-increasing number to the Iberian peninsula, but a Portuguese housing specialist has highlighted problems with Portuguese holiday regions that may leave Spain an even clearer favourite.

Portugal shares many of Spain’s climate and lifestyle perks in the eyes of UK investors and tourists, but property consultant Alentejo Home said that Portugal’s top destination, the Algarve, was no longer as desirable.

Owner of Alentejo Home, Bert Snijder, said that the Algarve region in southern Portugal was overdeveloped and "has gone sky high with prices", identifying a problematic phenomenon affecting many popular areas where development is not kept on check.

Advising property-seekers to look instead at the less high profile Alentejo region, further north up the coast, Mr Snijder indicated new trends which could affect property purchase across the Iberian peninsula.

Neighbouring country Spain receives over 50 million visitors per year, making the risks of overdevelopment a key concern and demanding the constant emergence of new less developed areas hoping to channel new property investment.

The Costa Azahar region in the east of Spain is an example of up and coming Iberian property prospects, perhaps similar to those of Alentejo.

Mr Snijder hailed the frequency of cheap flights as a spur to opening up new regions, saying that many in Alentejo were "flying in on Friday evening and back Sunday evening and having a good weekend here in our nice climate", a trend which also follows for new Spanish resorts.

Costa Azahar visitors are brought to and from the region by frequent flights from the UK to close-by airports just to the south in Valencia and slightly north in Reus.