A British family who have lived on the Costa del Sol for the last five years have been able to make the step up from renting to owning a property in 2008, it has emerged.

Tracey Stratton-Smith and Richard Choo got on to the Spanish property ladder for the first time when they bought a four-bedroom villa close to Marbella for €690,000 (£525,000), reports Easier.

With a bit of help from Duchy Estates, the couple - who are from Polperro and London respectively - managed to purchase a property they are particularly happy they were able to find.

Commenting on their new home, Ms Stratton-Smith remarked: “The French architect had opted for 600 mm-thick walls and at nine years old the property had had plenty of time to settle so anything structural that was going to fail would have already done so.”

She added that the West Hampstead couple who owned the villa before had looked after it well, meaning no major renovation work was needed.

A number of Briton are attracted to living in the Costa del Sol, with the 300-plus days of sunshine every year playing a part in many people’s decisions to relocate from the UK.

Spain is still a dream destination for many British people looking to purchase overseas property, it has been claimed.

According to southern Spanish newspaper Sur, many UK buyers are undeterred by recent negative publicity surrounding foreign property investment and view Spain as one of the most desirable places in the world to own a home.

Sur made these comments after attending the recent Homebuyers and Property Investors Exhibition at the ExCel centre in London, where many Britons spoke to the newspaper about their hopes of moving to Spain or buying a second home on the southern Costas.

Rebekah Lowe of Livingstone Estates told Sur that although some professional investors may be tempted by emerging markets where prices are lower, people looking to buy a property for their own use will continue to be attracted to Spain.

“Spain is for living in and people will always want Spanish properties,” she commented.

According to a recent report from Spanish property website Kyero.com, coastal regions such as the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol remain “at the fore of the public psyche” for UK people hoping to move abroad.

Suggestions that the European house price boom is over are a “bit over the top”, according to an industry expert.

In reaction to Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) research that said slowing house prices across Europe meant it was the end of an era of substantial growth, Association of International Property Professionals (AIPP) chief executive Paul Owen indicated this was too negative a theory.

“It is a bit apocalyptic to talk about the boom being over because prices have slowed,” he commented.

There are still people out there who would like to buy overseas property, it is just a case of them waiting to see what is going to happen to the economy in the coming months, he added.

Mr Owen also highlighted emigration statistics, saying that there are still a high number of Britons looking to leave the UK on a full-time basis.

AIPP is the industry body for the world’s property sector.

The company that developed Manchester’s Trafford Centre shopping complex is to try and recreate the plans on the Costa del Sol.

Peel Holdings has been given the go ahead to build a shopping mall similar in design to the one in north-west England, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Torremolinos will be the location for the 80-acre site, which is said to cost £500 million to construct.

Lindsey Ashworth, who is set to lead the project, told the newspaper: “While there will obviously be a flavour of the original Trafford Centre, the major difference is, because it’s in a warm climate, it can be outward-facing.”

The company representative added that bars and restaurants around the complex will have terracing, while some will be constructed around a lake.

Millions of Britons head to the Costa del Sol for their holidays every year, while many decide to purchase property in this part of Spain.

Thousands of tourists are expected to flock to the Spanish city of Valencia next month to witness the spectacular Las Fallas festival and take part in the celebrations.

Each year hundreds of papier-mache figures mounted over wooden frames are burnt as part of a pagan ritual that pays tribute to the coming of the spring solstice.

 As well as bonfires and exciting pyrotechnics, the event will also feature colourful parades and lively regional music, with an impressive fireworks display over the Turia River rounding off the festivities.

The atmosphere of the festival is designed to symbolise flowering gardens and the arrival of spring, which signals a change in the weather and brings locals and tourists alike out into the streets.

Those with rental properties in Spain will be looking to benefit from an increase in visitor numbers when the festival, which continues to grow in popularity each year, takes place between March 15th and 19th.

British people with homes in Spain may be interested to learn that the government is planning to increase the level of English language teaching in the country’s schools.

Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has revealed that, under new education proposals, 15 per cent of all classes will be taught in English within four years’ time, according to Typically Spanish.

Recognising that the language often referred to in Iberia as “the language of Shakespeare” is becoming increasingly important in the global economy, the prime minister said that the development of English lessons would enable Spanish students to compete on the world stage.

Unveiling his plans at an event in Madrid, Mr Zapatero stated that 12,000 native English teachers will be employed in Spain under the new system, while 20,000 Spanish people who currently teach the language will take courses in an English-speaking country to improve their knowledge.

He added that the extra teaching would benefit children from modest backgrounds who cannot afford to develop their language skills in other ways.

“There are families who can easily pay for their children to travel or study abroad, but our priority is for those who cannot,” Mr Zapatero explained.

According to figures released by the Junta de Andalucia last year, 22.8 per cent of children attending school in Marbella are of non-Spanish nationality.

Ski resorts in Spain are becoming more popular with winter holidaymakers while maintaining their competitive prices, it has been claimed.

According to Homes Worldwide, Spain’s ski resorts were largely “ignored by anyone outside the country” until recently, but are now gaining a reputation as some of the best skiing locations in Europe.

In addition, resorts such as those in the Sierra Nevada have a unique selling point which other popular skiing destinations such as France and Switzerland cannot compete with - their proximity to the Costa del Sol means that holidaymakers can take to the slopes and then sunbathe on the beach a couple of hours later.

The website stated: “If you are thinking of investing in a Spanish property, perhaps its time to consider the slopes as well as the costas.”

Property owners may not have to make this choice, however, as the relatively short distance from the Sierra Nevada National Park to Costa del Sol locations such as Malaga and Velez-Malaga allows people to enjoy the best of both worlds - winter snow and summer sun.

Foreign buyers now account for one in seven properties sold in Malaga province, according to figures recently reported by southern Spanish newspaper Sur.

People living in Castellon province are currently preparing for the beginning of one of the region’s biggest festivals this weekend.

The Magdalena festival celebrates the birth of the city of Castellon de la Plana some 700 years ago and runs from Saturday February 23rd until March 2nd, Communitat Valenciana reports.

Commemorating the moment when the inhabitants of the nearby mountainous area Cerro de la Magdalena descended onto the flatlands to found the city, the festival consists of a series of traditional celebrations, including a dramatic firecracker display known as the mascleta.

Visitors to Castellon during the fiesta can also look forward to the Galania, in which the queen of the festivities is honoured by the crowd.

The inclusion of pop bands and modern entertainment groups adds a contemporary edge to the proceedings.

Property owners and tourists from all over Castellon province, including Benicarlo, Vinaroz and Peniscola, are sure to enjoy “the magic of light, fun and tradition” at the Magdalena festival, according to Communitat Valenciana.

John Knight’s Cold Cuts exhibition, an artistic display of food recipes from around the world, is showing at the Castellon Contemporary Art Space until April 27th.

A growing number of British companies are recruiting expatriates living in southern Spain, it has emerged.

Due to a shortage of candidates in the domestic market, many firms are looking further afield to fill their vacancies, with technological advances meaning that workers do not need to be based in the same country as their employer to do their job.

PersonnelToday.com reports that telemarketing company Sense On Hold recently added ten British people living in Spain to its workforce. The new employees will not even have to travel back to the UK for initial training, as all elements of the job can be conducted online.

Recruitment expert Steve Mosser told the website: “The idea behind recruiting expats is that it doesn’t matter where you are to do this job, as long as you fill certain criteria.”

This arrangement means that British property owners on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca could enjoy all the benefits of living in Spain while working for a company based in their home country.

Property website BuyAssociation recently stated that many of the UK’s first-time homebuyers are looking to get on the property ladder in Spain because of the country’s more relaxed buying process.