L’Escala property

A look at the l’Escala property market and the types of accommodation you find there.

One of the advantages of l’Escala, and part of its charm, are the relatively few high rise apartments and hotels that spoil some areas of the Costa Brava.

The old town is a maze of streets, with a mixture of old stone buildings and the modern, but much of the town consists of privately owned houses from the 1970s onwards. There are also a number of apartment blocks too.

With a winter population of slightly more than ten thousand, the summer sees the population swelling many times over.

The town is filled to bursting as owners and holidaymakers in rental properties and campsites go about their business. The roads become gridlocked, the supermarkets are overflowing and the beaches are packed like l’Escala’s famous anchovies.

That all means there is always l’Escala property for sale as owners’ circumstances change and they decide to put their holiday homes on the market.

Aftermath of the boom… and bust

When the property bubble burst in 2008 there was quite an oversupply of property on the market and prices dropped as a result.

The bust stopped many constructors in their tracks, meaning there are still some half completed developments. The main effect was to slow down new construction because of the difficulty in selling completed developments. Promoters found it extremely difficult to sell many of the developments built towards the end of the boom years and some presumably ended up in the hands of the banks.

Things are still a long way from the heights of the property bubble although Spain has put the worst of the economic crisis behind it. All the same there are many properties for sale in l’Escala – and the entire Costa Brava –  at inflated prices. Owners who paid property bubble prices can’t afford to accept realistic buying prices still.

New build or second hand?

If you look at many properties in l’Escala they fall into a particular style. This type of house bears a distinctive resemblance to Roman villas and many have stone columns on the terrace. Originally the were all whitewashed but these days they can be yellow or brown. With curved terracotta roof styles and slatted wooden shutters, this style tends to date from the 1990s and before.

The more recent housing boom that began in the new century saw smaller houses with more boxy designs. Many are terraced or semi-detached. They are really town houses rather than la typical holiday villa and, unfortunately, lack both space and character. How much this influences you will be entirely down to your own preferences though.

Apartments

There are also a few apartments. Some of these are boxlike, which is typical everywhere. However, a couple of apartment blocks stand out. Els Geranis, near l’Escala’s Port de la Clota is one of those, with a very pleasing design. My parents owned a ground floor apartment here when it was originally constructed and although soundproofing was an issue, the apartment was very habitable. El Trebol is another that is interesting and, stylistically, appears to be designed by the same architect.

Els Geranis was built in the mid 1980s and so may not be equipped to the same standard as new builds, but it was comfortable enough for a family of five including three adult children for a week or so. You may not have the same amount of space in newer apartments so consider carefully your requirements before committing.

Maintenance

How often you visit, whether you enjoy maintaining the garden and looking after the pool, or whether you can afford for someone to do it for you will affect what you look. Most houses have private gardens and many apartments have communal gardens, usually with a pool. However, there are also some houses in developments that have communal gardens and pools, which might suit you better. That way you don’t have to spend time gardening and can enjoy a pool without the hassle or cost of maintaining it directly.

Noise

In the summer it can get noisy at night and holidaymakers are less aware of the impact they make on permanent residents. They are on holiday and they assume everyone else is too, with late boozy nights, loud conversation.

Youngsters head for the discos, which turn people out in the early hours. When clients leave they can be very noisy and you will also hear the discos in the campsites during August, with the bass and drums carrying easily over the summer nights.

Beaches

If your property has no pool, or simply if you prefer the beach to the pool, distance to the beach is important. The beaches get crammed with people in July and August and parking in the area nearby is difficult so bear this in mind.

There are beaches, such as Empúries, which have pay parking that puts many people off. The benefit is that it gets less busy. At the end of the day you need to decide how much more you can afford – or are willing to pay – for a property closer to the beach – and whether you want to be so close to the beach anyway.

Off season

One thing to remember if you want to use your property in the winter is heating. Many homes, particularly older ones, have no heating and some rely upon just a fireplace for warmth.

If you’re going to visit at Christmas, for example, which we usually did, it gets cold; you will need some kind of heating, whether it is gas heating using the orange butano bottles, oil or gas central heating, electric heating using oil filled radiators or whatever. While the log fire will give some local warmth in the living room, it is not enough for an entire house and the cold can be really miserable in December.

On the other hand, consider whether you really need air conditioning. It seems to be a fad that many people went through installing it, but really there isn’t all that much need. Open windows circulate air, or floor mounted or ceiling fans will help. While some places are too hot to consider without aircon (when I lived in Barcelona it was suffocating from May or June onwards without aircon), l’Escala certainly isn’t one of those.

More information about l’Escala here

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Last update: 30 November 2017