A different kind of housing crisis...

There are some 3.4 million empty homes in Spain, the consequence of the construction boom and subsequent economic crash. Nearly one-in-five homes in Andalucia are empty reflecting the scale of Spain's crisis - not just that the Spanish economy crashed but that the buyers, a fifth of who were ex-pats, simply vanished.

The result of this is that property is pretty cheap in Spain - prices have fallen:

Andalucian properties are going at 73% of their 2007 value and the Comunidad Valenciana is seeing houses sell for 68% of 2007 prices; the third and eighth highest on the list, respectively.

Not so Cataluña. Prices have dropped to 55% of their 2007 level for the Catalans, despite that overall reduction in the number of empty properties.

Any bets that some of those pension pots newly liberated by the UK government will end up buying these homes?

....