Foreign demand for homes on the Costa del Sol was up 33pc in the first half of the year, according to figures from the notaries, reported by the regional authorities.

Elнas Bendodo, President of the regional Tourism body and the Provincial Council in Malaga province, has revealed that foreigners bought a total of 3,260 homes on the Costa del Sol in the first six months of the year, 812 more than the same period last year, based on the number of deeds witnessed by notaries in the province.

The biggest group of buyers, as always, was the British, who snapped up 630 homes, followed by the Swedes (377), Belgians (288), Norwegians (281), Russians (251) and the French (200). So the British continue to lead foreign demand, despite all the planning scandals and the fall in the value of the pound. It just goes to show, the British really love Spain. The Germans are not even in the top five.

Bendodo presented the figures during the presentation, at the World Travel Market (WTM) fair in London, of a recent initiative called 'Living Costa del Sol' - a joint venture between the regional tourist office and the local builders association (ACP) to promote residential tourism in the region.

Living Costa del Sol will have a stand at the next edition of A Place In The Sun, in March next year.

"This is a further sign of the commitment of the Provincial Council, the Costa del Sol, and the ACP to develop this project, of such great importance to the promotion of residential tourism," said Bendodo. Living Costa del Sol has its own section of the website run by the Costa del Sol tourist board www.visitcostadelsol.com/living.

It's interesting to see the local tourist office in Malaga giving some support to the holiday home business. Traditionally, as is still the case in other regions, the tourism business has seen the holiday-home sector as a threat to be stamped out as quickly as possible.

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