As of the 1st June 2013 a new law comes into force regarding Energy Efficiency Certificates in Tenerife. If you are marketing your property for sale or letting a property you need to be in possession of a new Energy Efficiency Certificate. These have been part of a property sale in the UK for quite some time now, but have just been passed as law here in Spain. Personally, I can understand the...

If you’re buying a property in Tenerife, you’re definitely going to need a bank account, yes. The thing is, although the actual buying process has to be followed, but it doesn’t always follow the same order of steps. What I mean by that is that you might be told that you need to open an account before you sign a contract…that’s not a bad thing and it's not wrong either but in my opinion,...

Barranco del Infierno translates into Hell's Gorge in English.  The popular tourist destination is situated in the town of Adeje Tenerife. In a similar way to visitors to Mt Teide, the amount of visitors to Barranco del Infierno is strictly limited, in this way it preserves the natural environment for future generations. There is a popular hiking trail through the gorge which ends up at the...

The other day I wrote about the differences at Christmas between the UK and here in Tenerife.  Yesterday I was at a party in Icod de Los Vinos where I was chatting with my father-in-law.  During our conversation I found that things were a little different in his younger years here when Halloween came about. Here in Tenerife, Halloween is called All Saints Day...in the Roman Catholic...

The other day we were asked to take details and photos of an old Canarian villa house in Chío. The property itself needs quite a bit of work...well, that depends on how you want to live actually, anyway, I digress. When we opened up the doors downstairs under the main living area, as it is at the moment, we found an amazing sight. Old barrels... a couple of wine containers with wicker...

1. Indecision At the end of last year we had a client that was very keen to buy a property from us, it was ideal for him in every way ... but he was very indecisive. He was particularly indecisive about how he was going to work out whether or not the property was good value for money for him. Up to this point he had made offers on 4 different properties with other agents over a 10...

Here's a question for you...do you know what is the worst selling item in the whole of Tenerife and in fact, probably in the whole of the Canary Islands?...the answer - indicator bulbs. The thing is, they are hardly ever used and so rarely wear out - it's a great idea for saving money, but not so good when you're trying to second guess where the driver approaching your entry to the roundabout is...

Should the real estate industry in the Canary Islands should be regulated? I'm concerned about the Real Estate industry here in Tenerife and when I say concerned, I'm really concerned. I'm not worried about the market itself, that's doing well at the moment - what worries me are some of the agents and some of the people within the industry. As the property market eases and the crisis seems...

So, you've had your holiday home here a while now, you've had good times and glad times, maybe a few sad times but now the time has come that you want to sell your property in Tenerife. I've written before about the taxes and fees you'll need to pay as a seller, if you haven't seen those, you can find them on my website easily enough, but in this article I'm going to give you a few pointers...

20 facts about Tenerife that will impress your friends The Canary Islands is an archipelago, which means a group or chain of islands but, did you know that the Canary Islands has its own archipelago? Generally, the Canary Islands are attributed with 7 islands 1 - Tenerife, 2- Gran Canaria, 3 - El Hierro, 4 - La Palma, 5 - La Gomera, 6 - Fuerteventura, 7 - Lanzarote but just to the north of Lanzarote...

There are many reasons why you may want to retire to Tenerife, one will almost certainly be the good weather. It is said that Tenerife has one of the best climates in the world; in fact some people call it the island of Eternal Spring, which is a very good description for it.  The summers are warm, but not scorching and the winters are substantially cooler, but never freezing. In fact most...

We very often get questions about the state of the hospitals in Tenerife and the general healthcare system, so here are some details to consider. A lot of people who consider living in Tenerife are concerned about the healthcare system and the hospitals in Tenerife. Although I am thankfully not a frequent patient, I have been a frequent visitor to a number of establishments over the...

Loads of people ask me during their search for properties for sale in Tenerife…”How much does it cost to run a property in Tenerife?” Of course the real answer is that it depends upon how big the property is, how often you or anyone else proposes to use it and even in which municipality the property is situated. I thought that I would give a couple of examples of the average ongoing running costs...

How much is my property worth in Tenerife? - A question that arises quite often in my world. If you've sold a property in the UK over recent years, you'll have heard of Zoopla. On this site and maybe some others do it now as well, there's data about how much the houses in your particular road sold for over the last few years - I've just looked at their website and seen that...

I'd like to point out that this article IS GOOD ADVICE but in no way replaces any legal or fiscal advice, so please don't take it as such. Rates and laws change all the time and you should seek that information from your legal and fiscal advisers.  At times life can seem unfair...especially at the end of the year. No, I don't mean that you don't get the presents that you want...

Buying property abroad can be a daunting experience, so although I have a full run down of the buying procedure in Tenerife here for you to look through, I've replicated the same tips that I gave in an interview with A Place In The Sun in 2014, so here are my top tips for buying property in Tenerife. Always use a lawyer. Many estate agents will say that they will handle the paperwork for you -...

Buying a property in Tenerife can be fraught…but mainly with the stress of not knowing what you’re doing - it’s not generally a regular occurrence for you to buy a property abroad. If you do it right and use a lawyer, then buying your dream home Tenerife go through as smoothly as can be but that’s just the first step. During the years that I have been selling property in Tenerife and lived...

Sometimes I hear directly from people or read blog or forum entries that estate agents in Tenerife or Spain in general, are paid too much. Granted, 5% of the sales price is more than three times the average commission rate charged by the estate agents in the UK - in fact there are some agents now charging as much as 6%. As I wrote in a recent article for this paper about the major differences between...

If ever you’ve been looking for a property for sale in Tenerife on the internet, you’re almost sure to have come across this problem in the past. There you are searching away…all the websites look the same…most of the properties you’re interested look very similar or even duplicated with different agents but the same photos but, after plenty of searching, you come across the...

Did you know that Tenerife has been a magnet for tourism since the 1880s? 32 years after the defeat of the British attack on Santa Cruz in 1848, where Lord Nelson was injured and lost his arm, visitors, even including British were being welcomed to enjoy their holidays here. So how has has Tenerife tourism changed its image over the years? Oh yes, in the 1880s they had hotels here and...

One of the most commonly mentioned reasons behind people living in Tenerife and Spain in general, is "the Spanish way of life", but what is the Spanish way of life? What does it entail and is it really any different to the way of life you lead at home? Working hours. Generally speaking, the day starts early for office and government workers here in Tenerife and on the peninsula of Spain. A...

Just a short video hoping to put to bed some of the negative things that people think about Tenerife. Yes, it's a bit tongue-in-cheek but I hope that it changes some people's thoughts and opinions of the island....

As Theresa May's Brexit deals have flopped over and over again, property investors are not losing sleep over it. Even though new homeowners are choosing to assume a wait-and-see attitude in the UK, experienced property buyers are still buying property outside of the UK. Tenerife in Spain is one of the real estate property hot spots attracting countless Brits and other nationalities.   ...

This story should start by using one of the lines of the famous 1964 hit song by the Animals - "House of the rising sun", as you'll no doubt know the line is..."There is a house in New Orleans", well in this case "There is a house in Los Cristianos".   The house I'm talking about would have once been one of the most central focal points of Los Cristianos...Casa de Peña or Casa...

In recent years property prices have been depressed in all areas of Spain, including the Canary Islands. Thanks mainly to the financial crisis and lack of lending from the banks, property purchases were limited to those that had funds to hand and as such, fewer buyers meant a reduction in prices.Now the crisis is over...or at least for most of the world, prices are picking...

10 years after the brakes were put on the rising prices...how is the Spanish market, especially the Tenerife property market? During the Spanish property boom, prices went through the roof but abruptly came to a screeching halt in 2007 when the ceiling fell in on the property market - I hope you liked the use of the carefully chosen property oriented words there. Prices crashed throughout...

The Brexit referendum was on June 23rd 2016 and since then I think that the worry of Brexit that affected the number of UK buyers looking to buy a property in Tenerife has subsided quite a bit since then. There are undoubtedly a number of potential buyers still pondering the pros and cons of what Brexit might bring, so I thought that now we know a little more...or at least we've had time to think about...

Have you ever, during your lifetime...just felt that you should have done something a while ago, but now feel that it's too late and maybe you've missed the boat? I wasn't in Tenerife 25 years ago, but I very often wonder that if I was, would I have bought property or would I have thought it was too expensive at that time. When I hear or see what some of my sellers paid 25 years ago for the...

Since the law on apartments to rent and the illegal lettings has been enforced over the last 8 years or so, it's become more and more difficult to decide if buying a property on a legally rentable complex, to provide an income, is actually a good idea. The laws on short term rental are extremely complex...in fact, some of them are still being changed and decided upon as this article goes to...

The government can knock down your home legally whenever they want.  This has come about over the past few years from stories of properties having been built illegally and were therefore knocked down. The thing is that the developers more than likely paid the local town councillors who then paid other relevant people and "building permission" was given. I'm not saying that...

All I want for Christmas… November 1st 1994 and Mariah Carey released the lead single from her 4th album – “All I want for Christmas is you”. With sales of over 14 million copies, this song is Mariah Carey’s biggest International hit and is apparently the 11th best-selling single of all time and is reported to have earned over $50 million in royalties. OK, so what…I hear you...

OK, I can be wrong ... just ask my wife. The vote for a Bremain result was fully expected to win the day but after all was said and done "team Brexit" was declared the winner. If you've been watching the British news and are keeping tabs on the Internet, you'll be well aware of what's happened and, in many people's eyes...well 48% of the UK, the massive...

In August of 2016 we were asked if one of us would consider being filmed by A Place In The Sun as their Tenerife property expert. They obviously wanted the youngest and most handsome member of the Tenerife Property Group but unfortunately he wasn't available, so I went instead. The second Friday in January, the programme was aired and I got to see myself talking about the Tenerife property market…...

Here is  a list of 10 great things that you can do in Tenerife.  I found the list on the Daily Mirror webpage. The list is in order below, but to get more information about each one, you can click through to the Daily Mirror website here. Siam Park El Médano Mount Teide Carnival La Laguna Los Abrigos Garachico Los Gigantes Anaga Hills Wine I certainly don't...

Recently there has been loads of information released about the letting of property both legal and illegal.  The laws have been in place since 1995, but only when the crisis hit and the hotels realised that they were no longer full and that their main competition was actually private owners letting their apartments and villas, did the Canarian Government actually intervene and start enforcing...

Are the letting laws changing in Tenerife? At the end of 2014, there was a draft written that may well change the current short term letting laws in Tenerife. What you read here is still law until any changes have been made, but things may well progress over the next couple of months in 2015. Basically, the new law needs to be checked over by lawyers and will no doubt take longer than 2 or 3...

The dream of owning a second home in a foreign country Many people dream of moving to a hot climate when they retire and maybe some of the luckier ones dream of buying a property before they retire to use as a holiday home for themselves and their friends and family. The question is...is Tenerife the right place for you? There are many places in the world with sunny and warm climates, but rarely do...

At last, the Cabildo of Tenerife have given the go-ahead for the long awaited "Circuit Tenerife Island", the Formula 1 track in Tenerife that I wrote about a couple of years ago. The circuit will be situated close to the village of Atogo, about 2km away from the south airport which will afford great access to the track itself. Designed by TN y GPO engineers, the circuit will be extremely...

For those of you who have been following my Facebook Page, you'll all be up to date on the weather problems that we had this week, for those of you that are not yet connected, click this link to the Tenerife Property Group Facebook Page, where you'll find loads more pictures. This past week has been a cause for concern for everyone here in Tenerife. The island pretty much came to a standstill on...

If you come to Tenerife on holiday it's always worth at least one visit to the Los Cristianos Sunday market. The large open air market is fun to walk round with plenty of things going on to keep you entertained. It really can be a bit of a squash and walking around using wheelchairs, prams and buggies is not that easy but as most people are in a relaxed holiday mood, they are generally...

Here at Tenerife Property Group we often get asked if we have any properties available for rent to buy in Tenerife. The idea of rent to buy is a good one in principle, but when you start drilling down and getting more information, the idea remains a good one but it might not be exactly what you think. Many people want to make Tenerife their new permanent home, but how do you know where to live...

Hot news for any of you that have been considering illegal letting appeals.  Janet Anscombe has reported on her blog that the first of the illegal letting appeals have been heard in court. Before the court hearing the judge wanted to speak with Jose Escobedo who is currently leading a team of solicitors that are fighting the judgements and appealing in court on cases of illegal lettings....

Recently the weather has been bad.  When I say bad, it's not as bad as it has been in the UK of late but never-the-less, it has been a poor few weeks here in Tenerife. February and especially March are renowned for being the two main months of bad weather in Tenerife, and although I have been here for some years, it is still a shock to the system. This year hasn't been as bad as last year...

Living in Tenerife is great, arguably one of the best places to live in the world according to a journalist from the Guardian newspaper.  No matter what you love about a place, there can also be things that you…let's say…don't love so much.  I don't like to use the word 'hate' because that is really too strong a word, especially for a place that you love to live. Of the things I...

No, it's not what you think…honestly.  I was in one of the main shopping centres last Saturday in Santa Cruz and nipped to the toilet before our trip back. There were a couple of guys getting ready for a performance in the shopping centre.  The guys, called 'Murgas' dress up, sing and play trumpets and other instruments.  There are Murgas competitions as well, this is where you will find the...

In the build-up to the final of the Carnaval Queen 2013 a contestant has been badly burned by fire.  Saida Prieto, pictured below, suffered more than 40% burns to her body after an accident at the Carnival Queen contest. Saida, aged 25, was behind the scenes at the time of the fire and was seen frantically attempting to remove her costume.  The costume consisted of huge wings with...

El Cine in Los Cristianos Tenerife has been one of our favourites for years, in fact when my wife and I got married here in Tenerife in 2004, one night we came with all of our friends that had come over for the week of our wedding...a great night...!!! https://youtu.be/RClXDjcdNR8 Founded in 1987, El Cine Los Cristianos celebrated its 25 year anniversary last year and if you have ever been to...

Well its the time of year again that the child comes out in everyone again... No, its not Christmas again it's carnival time...!!! Every year Carnaval brings the sights and sounds of something different and this year of course is no different, this year Carnaval is paying homage to Bollywood.  Said to be the second best carnaval in the world...in fact second only to Rio De Janeiro. Dressing...

At last…there is a guachinche in Los Cristianos. In all honesty, and I hope that the owners don't take offence, but it's not a 100% true guachinche. I'll explain, a guachinche was originally a room within a house that served food to accompany the wine that had been grown by the vineyard. The general rule was that once the wine that had been reserved for sale through the guachinche as opposed for sale...

As I said in my previous post about the forest fires in Tenerife, I would report on the latest news. Fire fighters are still battling hard to control the outbreak and although the fires near Vilaflor were reportedly contained last night, just short of 700 metres from the towns football stadium, fires further west are still reported as being out of control. Residents of Guía de Isora have been...

A forest fire has been raging in the hills of Tenerife since yesterday (15th July) afternoon.  The fire started at approximately 1500 hours yesterday in the areas of Ifonche, Tijoco Alto and Tejina and was moving westward late last night.  Winds have changed overnight and now the fire is spreading eastwards past Adeje on to Arona and towards Villaflor. Thick...

Recently 16 Spanish banks have been downgraded by Moodys, one of the big 3 credit ratings agencies, and both savers and borrowers both in the UK and in Spain are showing concern about what might happen if their particular bank goes bankrupt itself. Let’s start with the UK first and then things will become clear for savings in Spanish Banks.  In the UK, there is the Financial Services...

Short term rental - Holiday letting law in Tenerife. Edit: As of December 2014, there has been a draft law written that may well change things later in 2015, click the link to find out about the possible changes to the short term letting laws in Tenerife. Subject to "Ley 7/1995", the short term commercial letting of property i.e. holiday letting, in the Canary Islands is illegal, unless the complex...

Subject to "Ley 7/1995", the short term commercial letting of property i.e. holiday letting, in the Canary Islands is illegal, unless the complex in which the property to be let is situated, was originally defined as a touristic complex.  This would have been when the original statutes were written for the complex or if the licence was later requested and approved. This means that if the property...

Gofio is a very typical food from the Canary Islands, it can even be dated back to the Guanches, the aboriginals of the Canary Islands, who would have made it from barley and certain ferns and eaten it as a staple in their diet. It is made by grinding roasted wheat and other grains into a powder similar to flour.  It is brown in colour and people have used it here in Tenerife for many years for...

For anyone who lives permanently in Tenerife, you will be well aware that there are loads of things to do, especially outside in the fresh air. How about outside in the fresh 'smokey' air, with the smell of freshly cooked meat, fish and vegetables drifting in the air. Most municipalities of Tenerife offer BBQ areas, ready made, all you need to do is bring your charcoal, food, drink and some matches...

Many people ask what is a Calima, the answer is simple, it is a dust storm carrying sand from the Sahara.  In fact I remember years ago when I was a teenager, we lived in the south east of England and the weather people said that we were going to be coated in dust from the Sahara desert.  At that time, I thought it was fascinating to know that the sand has travelled all the way from Africa to land on...

Apart from the obvious, go-kart racing, there isn't a great opportunity to see any motorsport in Tenerife.  There are the frequent car enthusiast and classic car get-togethers, plenty of Fernando Alonso Formula 1 fans that meet in the bars at Sunday lunchtimes, or maybe a little earlier..., to watch the Formula one racing. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA For motor racing fans that would like to be up...

The port of Los Cristianos is to get a massive revamp in coming months with spending said to be in the region of €500.000.  According to the Spanish newspaper El Día; having reached an agreement with the Port Authority of Santa Cruz and various cruise companies, November will see the new-look Los Cristianos port host its first luxury cruiser. The first ship, called Sea Cloud, is...

Tom Dyckhoff, a journalist for the Guardian newspaper, has suggested that Santa Cruz de Tenerife is one of the top 5 places to live in the world if you have had enough of the UK and want to go to where the grass is greener. Clearly he makes 4 other suggestions before mentioning Santa Cruz, but to be fair none of his choices are actually numbered, so I think he probably meant to put it in...

You wouldn't think that dangerous sports would have anything much to do with the island of eternal spring, but here in Tenerife there are plenty of adrenalin hunters. Very often, when driving along the TF1 motorway on the way past Adeje, paragliders can be seen floating down from the mountains above and you can see them coming down and landing the other side of the motorway.  I took some...

As estate agents we are very often asked “How is the property market in Tenerife?” or even worse “When is the market going to get back to normal?” When asked “How is the market in Tenerife?” the normal response is “it depends if you’re looking to sell, buy, rent or invest”.  The market is full of distressed sales and bank repossessions at the moment, so if you are an investor,...