20 June 2008
The government in Andalusia is reported to have passed legislation to regulate the construction of new houses around golf courses in the region.
However, experts believe that the move is only a temporary one that will have limited long-term effects, particularly as the sport is growing in popularity in Spain.
Mark Roulston, editor of The Olive Press, commented "[I] think these regulations will have no impact whatsoever on golf course development long term … There will be an element of strictness now but the developers are powerful, with a lot of money."
Andalusia already has 118 courses - one-third of those in the country - with nine new ones opened in the past four years.
Spain may be a particularly attractive place to buy property now or in the near future as prices have dipped, with estimates from Spanish Property Insight suggesting that the value of houses may fall by around 2.8 per cent in 2008.
