New motorway and airport links to the south-eastern corner of Andalucia mean the Costa de la Luz is starting to attract property hunters. When the high speed AVE train becomes connected to Huelva from Seville and the proposed International Airport for Huelva is in place, indicators suggest that by 2010 the area could experience a similar rise in tourism and property prices as the Costa del Sol.

While the Costa de la Luz has been growing steadily over the past few years into what is now a second home and tourist hotspot, according to the Golf Federation of Andalucia, the province of Huelva on the Costa de la Luz is the fastest growing golf tourist destination in the region, with the number of rounds played increasing by an average of 16.2 per cent over the last 12 years in comparison with 7.8 per cent for the Costa del Sol. Indications of a future boom have already begun to see property prices creeping up, but in provinces like Jerez prices are still about 20 to 40 per cent less than nearby Seville.

The managing director of Titan Properties, Andrew Benitz, comments, "When we set up Titan Properties three years ago, Huelva province wasn't regularly languishing across the pages of property and travel magazines, but we predicted that it would be a success story for the future and thankfully we were right.  Infrastructure, facilities and residential development have come on in leaps and bounds, all under the watchful and environmentally conscious eye of the local authorities."

Regarding hotels it is hard to believe that just two years ago there were only 300 hotel beds along the coastline from El Rompido to Punta Umbria, a stretch of about 20 kilometres. By the end of 2006 there will be no less than 5,000 hotel beds. Brand new hotels include the five star El Rompido Golf & Beach Resort built by the Set Hotel Group and the luxury hotel chain El Fuerte has just added Hotel Fuerte El Rompido overlooking the new marina to its portfolio.

The residential property market appears to be gathering momentum in the Costa del Luz and quality is the key word. Huelva now offers luxury riverside townhouses set in botanical gardens at Mirador del Guadiana, near Ayamonte, starting from 253,100 euros, frontline golf villas overlooking the 18-hole course at Nuevo Portil starting from 617,000 euros and the luxury apartments at Esuri Golf starting from 180,677 euros, to name but a small handful.

Click here to read the World of Property interactive i-mag FREE now

Search for properties in Costa de la Luz
Search for properties in Spain

Request a FREE copy of World of Property magazine

Read other articles about Spain:
Discovering property in inland Spain
The property buying process in Spain

Article first published on 6 July