Saturday, August 15, 2009

I do not have a complex!!!

Rojales centre

The holiday season is in full swing here though that makes it sound better than it is. Most businesses are very quiet and we look at some and wonder if they will ride the storm. Of course there are quite a few factors that effect the number of people who come to our particular corner of paradise. We are after all not truly a "holiday" destination, not in terms of what many of the Brits want anyway. The Madrilènes still flock here,Guardamar is traditionally a favourite with the folks from Madrid.
Although a number of owners and agents try to market this area, most especially Los Palacios as a destination in truth its a residential area at its heart. Yes many apartments here have been bought for holiday homes but those who bought are normally looking for something a little less commercialized. Coming back every year they can become very much part of the community. Local businesses have geared themselves to this type of repeat business to some extent. This year many of this group have either been out less or not at all, a number have lost there holiday homes since the recession. Then we have the holidaymaker who rents a property for a couple of weeks. We have a number of professional holiday lets near us. We have often heard the cry of "there's nothing here, its all spanish" for people arriving at a let. I cannot help but feel sorry for those who are sold the idea that this is a an area geared to the Brits vacation needs. Looking through a few websites yesterday I saw more than one ad that said, and I quote "Apartment is on the Los Palacios Complex and there is a community pool" naughty naughty! As anyone will know who spends time or lives here Los Palacios is most definitely not a holiday complex, it is an area where new properties have been built over the last 6 or 7 years. The pool, thank goodness, is run by the local council and is municipal not community owned. There are a number of community of Owners in the area but they could not legally collectedly own the pool as they are separate entities. The Lifeguards at the pool have the right to prevent anyone without a pass from using the pool. Passes are only given to those on the padron (residents)or those who have prove of ownership of a property in Formentera del Segura. Both can get passes for the whole family. This pass is for all the sports facilities in the town. We are fortunate in that we do not pay an entry fee,many towns do charge, costs for pool come out of the rates.
What I am trying to say, and forgive the ramble, is this, WE ARE NOT A HOLIDAY COMPLEX. The reason I think its worth making this point is this: Raise the expectations on a destination which it cannot live up to and your on a loser all the way. We have lived in many places that where popular with holidaymakers, over sell is a killer. This area has such a lot going for it there is no need for inaccurate advertising. It does nobody any good at all.
The picture with this Blog shows Rojales Centre yesterday at 10.00 in the evening
NB. A Complex: A set or group of interconnecting Buildings

2 comments:

Brindy said...

Not what you would call buzzing!

Anonymous said...

Does this mean that Los Palacios is a bad place to live in? Is it far from the beach? No public transport available there?

I was approached by an agent offering cheap housing there and promising all facilities at a walking distance. Sounds strange to me after what I have read in you blog.

Please advise if I should go on with this property (wanna buy it for summer holidays with kid).

Thanks in advance!

Katherine
vendea@yandex.ru