Keep it in the Family

The 2006 Australian Census has found that the most common type of family in Australia remains a couple with children. Just over 45 percent of all families, or 2.4 million families, fall into this group - Australian Capital Territory and Victoria have the highest proportion of couples with children.

The most common family type in every state and territory (69 percent, or 1.6 million families) is families with children under 15 years

The Family House - Detached Please

Nine out of ten 2-parent families with young children live in a detached house with an average of 4 bedrooms. Most of these families are paying a mortgage.

The average monthly mortgage repayment for young families in a detached house is $1400 (£591). The lowest repayments for young families are in Tasmania $975 per month (£411) and the highest in New South Wales at $1665 per month (£703).

The highest level of outright home ownership by young families in detached houses is in Victoria (18 percent).

A Car for Dad and a Car for Mum

2 parent families with young children have 2 cars on average.

Internet

83 percent of 2-parent families with young children have some type of Internet connection at home. The lowest rates of connection are in the Northern Territory (66 percent) and the highest in the Australian Capital Territory (90 percent). In all states, broadband is the most common connection type. The highest use of broadband is in the Australian Capital Territory (69 percent of young families).

The USA housing market remained sluggish last month with sales of homes at their lowest level in four years. Sales fell 0.3 percent to 5.99 million units in May, the lowest rate of sales since June 2003, according to the National Association of Realtors.

There was also bad news from Lennar, America’s biggest housebuilder, which announced a $244.2 million (£122 million) loss for the second quarter of 2007. Lennar’s average house price fell by 7.5 per cent to $298,000.

Lennar’s chief executive, Stuart Miller, said: “As we look to our third quarter and the remainder of 2007, we continue to see weak, and perhaps deteriorating, market conditions. We currently expect to be in a loss position in our third quarter.”

House sales in the United States are now 10% lower than a year ago, when 6.68 million units were sold.

The sharp downturn in the housing market, after years of high growth, has shown little sign of bottoming out.

The number of homes for sale rose 5% to a 15-year high of 4.43 million units, almost double the supply from two years ago.

The median price of an US home is now $223,700 (£111.850), 2.1% less than in May 2006.

Northeast
Home sales in the Northeast rose 5.8 percent to a level of 1.10 million in May, but were 3.5 percent lower than May 2006. The median home price was $282,700 (£141,350), which is 0.5 percent higher than a year ago.

Midwest
Home sales rose 0.7 percent in May to a level of 1.41 million, but were 6.6 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $168,800 (£84,400) which was 1.7 percent below May 2006.

West
Home sales in the West slipped 0.8 percent in May to an annual pace of 1.18 million, and were 16.3 percent below May 2006. The median price was $341,900 (£170,950), which is 0.5 percent lower than a year ago.

South
Home sales fell 3.4 percent to an annual sales rate of 2.30 million in May, and were 11.9 percent below a year ago. The median price in the South was $184,000 (£92,000), down 3.8 percent from May 2006.

New security scanners that strip air travellers naked will be tested in New Zealand this year reports stuff.co.nz. The machines use radio waves to display head-to-toe images of people stripped bare of their clothes, exposing any metal objects, explosive devices, drugs or even diamonds they may have hidden under their clothing.

New Zealand Aviation Security Services said they were buying one of the scanners at a cost of $250,000 (₤96,000) and it would be tested this year before any went live at airports.

Approval to use the scanners would be needed from the Civil Aviation. While several airports around the world are testing the scanners, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is the only airport using one.

New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties chairman Michael Bott said the scanners offered an alternative to frisking. He said the majority of travellers should not be subjected to the indignity of the technology.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said the scanners were voluntary and quicker than the manual metal detector and body search process, taking just three seconds to complete.

For privacy, the images were viewed by security personnel in an adjacent room and deleted after they were viewed. Passengers’ heads were blurred to further protect their identity.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is one of the world’s most modern airports, offering iris-scanners for those who want to bypass passport control, self-help check-in kiosks and luggage dropoff counters for international passengers.

The so-called Spanish Land Grab law has been discussed in a meeting of the European Parliament saying that the Valencia Region was of particular concern. The Land Grab laws are causing much distress as some property owners in Spain are having their legally acquired lands taken by local authorities and then are being forced to pay large sums of money – often tens of thousands of euros – to pay for new infrastructure and new developments that they do not want and which are on their land.

The European Parliament on Wednesday has now adopted a resolution severely condemning massive urbanisation projects in Spain, which they say bear no relation to the real needs of the towns and villages affected. They are ‘environmentally unsustainable’ and have a ‘disastrous impact’ on the area’s cultural and historical identity, says the resolution.

The MEPs also called on Spain and its regional governments, particularly the government of the Valencia region, to recognise the individual’s legitimate right to legally acquired property.

Michael Cashman, the Labour MEP who has been defending the fundamental rights of victims of land abuses in several regions of Spain said, “I’m delighted this important resolution has been adopted - with the support of MEPs from all major political parties. Justice will in the end prevail. We will continue to fight until the issue is resolved - through the courts if necessary. It saddens me that we have to take it that far and that the Spanish regional authorities seem unwilling to stop the abuses sooner.”

Britons taking their car to Spain for a year or more must make sure that they officially import it, says Banco Halifax Hispania. Britons who spend up to six months a year in Spain can continue to drive their British car with British plates on, as long as it has a valid MOT and is taxed and adequately insured in Britain.

However, anyone planning to stay in Spain longer than this must officially import their car, which includes transferring it onto Spanish registration plates and paying Spanish road tax.

The process of importing a UK vehicle into Spain:

• Certificate of permanent export - You will need to hand all of your car documentation to the DVLA and obtain a certificate of permanent export.
• Obtain an NIE number - You require an NIE number, passport, driving licence, MOT certificate and insurance papers on hand at all times when registering the vehicle.
• Register the car with the local council - The car will need to be registered with the local council by obtaining a Nota de Empadronamiento or Residence permit from the town hall where you live.
• Pass the Spanish MOT - You will be required to have an ITV, the Spanish equivalent to the MOT to ensure that the car is roadworthy.
• Pay the registration tax - A registration tax is payable at 12% of the vehicle’s current value in Spain. However, there are exceptions and vehicles with a petrol-engine capacity of less than 1600 cc or a diesel-engine capacity of less than 2 litres are only subject to 7% tax. You will be completely exempt from tax if the car has been used in the UK during the previous six months; and you have lived in the UK during the previous 12 months; and if you have communicated the change of residence in the 30 days before the registration of the car. However, if this exemption is applied you will not be able to sell, rent or transfer the vehicle during the first year.
• Altering your driving licence – You will need to alter your driving licence, either by having your EU licence stamped at the Tráfico office, or by applying for a Spanish licence there.
• Pay Spanish road tax – You will need to pay Spanish road tax, which is obtainable from your Local Authority.
• Get the car insured – As soon as the car has been registered in Spain and received its Spanish plates, you must make sure that the car is adequately insured in Spain.
• Modifications to the car – In Spain, it is compulsory that right hand drive cars must be fitted with headlight converters to adjust the beam pattern so that it does not dazzle oncoming drivers.

Moscow remains the most expensive city in the world for expatriate staff, according to a survey by British human resources firm Mercer HR.

The findings use the United States’ most expensive city, New York, as a benchmark and compare the cost in 143 cities of more than 200 items, like housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.

European cities featured prominently in the top 10: London leapt three places from fifth to second. Copenhagen was the sixth most expensive, Geneva seventh, Zurich ninth and Oslo 10th. Others more expensive than New York were Milan; Saint Petersburg and Paris

In turn, US cities and those in countries whose currency is pegged to the dollar, fell down the list.

United States
New York remained the most expensive city in North America in position 15. Only New York and Los Angeles (42) rank in the top 50 cities.

Canada
Toronto was the most expensive city in Canada in position 82. Calgary and Vancouver tumbled down the rankings, sliding from 71st place to 92nd and 56th to 89th respectively. Ottawa remained the cheapest Canadian city in 109th position. Canadian cities have traditionally rated favourably in the world-wide ranking. The new scores reflect a low rate of inflation and stable housing prices. In addition, while it has appreciated slightly against the US Dollar, the Canadian Dollar has depreciated nearly 13% against the Euro since last year’s survey.

Australasia
Wellington is the least costly city in this region in 111th place. Auckland climbs one place to rank 99th. Expatriates in Australia continue to face higher living costs than their counterparts in New Zealand. Sydney remained the most expensive city in Australia at position 21. Melbourne occupied position 60, up 14 places from last year. Adelaide was in 96th place.

Cost of Living Survey
Worldwide Ranking 2007

The first high-speed train service between Paris and eastern French cities made its maiden passenger trip earlier this month, slashing travel times and opening up Germany to France’s Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) network.

The new line will enable France’s world-renowned high-speed trains to connect Paris with cities in Germany, France and Switzerland as well as the cities of Strasbourg, Nancy, Metz and Reims.

It will start to provide services into Germany from December, bringing Munich within just over six hours of Paris. Frankfurt, the German financial capital, will be a journey of three hours and fifty minutes.

The Paris-Strasbourg route will take only two hours and 20 minutes –almost halving from previous four hour travel time. Travelling times to Luxembourg and Switzerland will also be slashed.

Previous upgrades to the TGV line, in the southern cities of Marseille and Avignon, have resulted in tourism booms. House prices have increased 120 percent in the region since 2001, when the new TGV cut train journey times from Marseille to Paris to just three hours.

More than three million British pensioners will have left the UK and be living abroad by the year 2050. The number of expatriate pensioners is expected to soar to one in five in a phenomenon researchers have named “silver flight”.

In 1981, just a quarter of a million British pensioners lived overseas. Numbers have now swollen to more than one million. Sunshine is the biggest lure, with a third of respondants giving it as their reason for leaving. A new notion of retirement as a beginning in life, rather than an end was also given as a reason for moving.

Brits Abroad, published by the Institute for Public Policy Research, found that Australia is the most popular country among expatriate pensioners, with 245,000 – nearly one in four – living there. Other popular destinations are North America, with 190,000 expatriates of pension age; Ireland, with 105,000; and Spain, with 75,000.

Danny Sriskandarajah, IPPR Director, said, “more people are moving from country to country: to study, to work and increasingly to enjoy their retirement. This ’silver flight’ is the result of more Brits being increasingly willing and able to spend their retirement in Adelaide than Accrington.

“But it’s not fun in the sun for every British pensioner abroad. Our research shows that some find it difficult to adjust to life overseas and struggle to access healthcare or find themselves lonely without local language skills. Not every Brit enjoys their retirement in Benidorm more than they would have if they’d stayed in Bournemouth.”

Despite recent reports of a potential Spanish property market crash and figures showing an overall slow down in some areas of the country - particularly the Costas - the latest HiFX Property Report shows that Spain still remains the top destination for Britons buying overseas property. In light of these market conditions, the currency broker says Britons considering purchasing a Spanish property, or those who already own one in the country,need to be aware of how the Spanish market is changing and how this can best be used to their advantage.

While some areas of the Spanish Costas are certainly cooling and seeing market corrections due to over supply, other, less traditional, inland regions are becoming more popular with buyers.

Mark Bodega, of HiFX comments, “Forced to be more realistic about the prospects in the Spanish real estate market, holiday home buyers and investors alike will have to look for value rather than creating it artificially.

“Cut through the current hype and think carefully about the property you’re buying in order to make the most of the current market conditions. Only certain areas are suffering a slump due to over supply, whilst others still have much to offer.”

For holiday homers, the oversupply in some Spanish markets has lead to real bargains as investors look to extract themselves. With the abundance of low cost airline routes, the short flight time and the great weather Spain should continue to be a favourite with British buyers. Even for those looking for capital growth in the short term there are opportunities to be had in the lesser known Costas and inland. Coastal regions like Tarragona, and inland areas like Jaen and Cordoba may still provide excellent value.

Long haul flights may become a thing of the past thanks to the successful launch of a scramjet engine at an outback test range. Scientists hope the engine will propel the next generation of supersonic planes, with predictions that a flight between Sydney and London could take just two hours.

The scramjet rocket reached speeds of mach 10 - ten times the speed of sound - after blasting off at the Woomera range in South Australia on Friday.

Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) said it was believed to be the first time a scramjet had been ignited within the Earth’s atmosphere.

“It looks like we’ve been very successful,” DSTO spokesman Steve Butler said. “We’ve got to go away and collate the data, that will take a few weeks, but it looks very promising.”

The beauty of a scramjet compared with a conventional rocket is that conventional rockets need to carry liquid oxygen to burn with a liquid fuel, such as hydrogen, to create thrust. The scramjet’s oxygen is taken from the atmosphere, hence the craft becomes smaller, lighter and faster.

Canadian employment was little changed in May, with full-time employment gains mostly offset by losses in part time work according to figures from Statistics Canada. The Canadian unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent, a 33-year low.

Construction, information, culture & recreation, and accommodation & food services have been the main source of employment growth in Canada since the beginning of 2007. These four industries also buoyed employment in May, counteracting the weakness in the trade sector and in natural resources.

Self-employment on the rise
May saw a large increase in the number of self-employed, up an estimated 56,000, while the number of employees in the private sector fell by 58,000. Since October 2006, the number of self-employed has jumped 6.5 percent, well ahead of gains for both public and private sector employees.

British Columbia
Employment increased by an estimated 14,000, bringing year-to-date gains to 45,000 (+2.0%). Employment growth so far in 2007 has been in construction, trade, and information, culture and recreation. The unemployment rate in British Columbia was 4.2 percent.

Alberta
While still well above the national average, Alberta’s employment growth (+1.8%) for the first five months of 2007 has slowed compared to the same period in 2006 (+3.9%). Gains so far this year stem mainly from trade and information, culture and recreation. Alberta’s unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent.

Manitoba
The participation rate reached a record high of 70 percent, as more people entered the labour market. At the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent. Despite this increase, Manitoba’s unemployment rate remains among the lowest in Canada.

New Brunswick
The year-to-date employment growth (+1.9%) in 2007 was among the strongest in Canada. New Brunswick was also the only Atlantic province to record a significant increase in employment since the beginning of the year, with the largest gains in accommodation and food services, and information, culture and recreation.

Nova Scotia
Employment fell, with losses spread across several sectors. The unemployment rate held steady at 8.0 percent, due to a sharp decline in labour force participation.

Prince Edward Island
Employment losses pushed the unemployment rate up to 10.0 percent.

Quebec
While employment was little changed, the unemployment rate held steady at its historic 33-year low of 7.2 percent. Since the beginning of the year, employment has risen 1.3 percent. So far this year, increases in construction, accommodation and food services, and information, culture and recreation have more than offset losses in the manufacturing sector.

Ontario
Growth so far this year has been hindered by declines in manufacturing and business, building and support services. Despite strength in various service sectors, Ontario’s overall employment growth for the first five months of 2007 continues to lag well behind the national average. The unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent.

British Columbia’s Premier Gordon Campbell has unveiled a $43-million welcome mat, WelcomeBC, to help immigrants find work and adapt to life in their new communities.

British Columbia continues to be Canada’s most popular destination, per capita, for new immigrants with 42,200 immigrants moving to the province in 2006. The initiative is designed to ensure that the province remains Canada’s most popular destination for new immigrants - needed to help fill an anticipated one million new jobs over the next 12 years.

“There will only be 650,000 students that graduate in that same period of time,” Campbell said. “That means we need to attract 350,000 additional people to British Columbia to make sure that we maintain and enhance the quality of living for all of us. We are investing $43 million over two years to help expand important services and help immigrants adapt to their new life in British Columbia.”

Over the next two years, WelcomeBC will provide:

• $8 million to increase information and settlement services such as health care access, employment and recreation services to help immigrants adjust to living in British Columbia
• $11 million for settlement workers to assist new students in schools in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Greater Victoria
• $9 million to reduce waiting lists for beginner English language services for adults (ELSA)
• $12 million to expand intermediate ELSA classes
• $1.6 million for improved information and outreach services for immigrants facing multiple barriers.

The Welcome BC initiative comes on the heels of a study by the Business Council of BC suggesting the province lags behind places like Ireland, New Zealand and Australia in the competition to attract skilled workers.

Australian job ads surged by 10.3% in May to an average of 251,998 per week, following a solid 3.5% rise in April. The number of jobs advertised in May was 40.8% higher than 12 months ago. Job ads in newspapers increased by 4.5% while Internet job ads grew by a bumper 10.9% to an average of 231,211 per week.

Internet job ads are growing solidly, and annual growth has picked up to 36.2% from 25.9% six months ago.

This rise in newspaper ads was driven by increases in South Australia (9.3%); Western Australia (7.8%); New South Wales (6.5%); Queensland (3.8%); the Northern Territory (3.2%); and Victoria (0.6%). These rises were partially offset by job advertising falls in Tasmania (-0.2%) and the ACT (-5.4%).

“Job advertisements rose very strongly in May, with both newspaper and Internet job advertisements showing large increases. Job Advertisements continue to post monthly rises that are close to recent record highs. In short, the demand for labour is booming. This adds to a range of economic indicators that show the Australian economy entered 2007 with a great deal of momentum,” ANZ Head of Australian Economics Tony Pearson said, commenting on the figures compiled for the ANZ Job Advertisement Series.

Employment growth in Australia has continued at a robust pace in recent months and there is a likelihood of even stronger employment growth in the months ahead. The rate of unemployment is already at a 32-year low of 4.4%. There is now a good chance that the unemployment rate will fall again to new cyclic lows over coming months,” Mr Pearson said.

Amarillo, a new town in the Perth metropolitan area, has been given approval by Western Australia’s Government. The 4000 ha, government-owned site is northeast of Mandurah and south of Rockingham. Located in the rapidly growing Southern Metro/Peel region, Amarillo will be connected to the Perth-Bunbury Highway at Paganoni Road.

The Amarillo development is considered a key plank in the Government’s plan to address the housing affordability crisis and the land supply shortage. “Our goal is to create a state-of-the-art, fully integrated urban community, and this plan brings us a step closer to making this happen,” housing minister Michelle Roberts said.

Amarillo will provide up to 35,000 building plots and house a maximum of 90,000 people. The new town will contain a variety of housing types and the first land releases are scheduled for 2011.

The plans requires the town design to be environmentally sensitive and sustainable. 25 percent of the development (1,000ha) will be set aside for parkland, conservation and public open space. The wetlands will be retained and water quality improved in the Serpentine River, creating new wildlife areas.

The next steps in the planning process are detailed investigations, which may take up to three years to complete.

Quotable Value has released May’s figures for New Zealand’s housing market. The average price of a house in New Zealand has risen to £142,579 (NZ$372,552). April’s figure was £136,579 (NZ$366,032). New Zealand’s average house prices are not directly comparable with the UK’s because, unlike the UK, the average home in New Zealand is a detached bungalow.

QV spokesperson Blue Hancock said:

“Despite some expectations that property prices may level off, the market has continued to strengthen. Sale prices in the main urban areas keep rising, driven by significant activity in the lower value localities. Although immigration appears to be slowing, high levels of employment continue to contribute to sale price increases.”

House Prices in New Zealand
Three Months Ending May 2007

* Assumed exchange rate is £1 = NZ$2.62

Australia is having a baby boom. Figures released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show there were 265,922 births in 2006 - the highest for 35 years. Australia’s population is expected to reach 21 million by the end of this month.

The Treasurer, Peter Costello, seized on the national birth bulge to repeat his three-child policy - “one for mum, one for dad and one for the country.”

The number of births, he said, was the highest since 1971 and the second highest in history, adding:

“This is a good thing because if we are able to increase the number of children and young people … this will actually help us cope with the ageing of the population.

“One reason for the rising birth rate was that people were confident about their prospects. Government policies to improve access to childcare, and the $4000 baby bonus, had produced ‘a very positive vote for Australia’s future’, making people confident to raise a family.”

Western Australia’s population grew at the fastest rate, 2.1 per cent, followed by Queensland on 2 per cent.

Population Increase
In Australia Over the Last 5 Years

Western Australia was the only state where net overseas migration was the largest component of population growth (52%).

Queensland was the only state where net interstate migration was the largest component of population growth. Tasmania was the only other state to have positive net interstate migration, adding 3,100 to its population.

Natural increase was the main component of population growth for the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria.

New Zealand’s Skilled Migrant Category has been fine-tuned to deliver more for the country while still ensuring quality, said Immigration Minister David Cunliffe.

The Skilled Migrant Category is New Zealand’s main immigration route, providing the opportunity of permanent residence for skilled people. Most skilled migrants are granted residence through the SMC, which comprises 60 per cent of New Zealand’s Residence Programme.

The changes include:

• An increase to the bonus points awarded for skilled employment, a recognised qualification and work experience in an identified future growth area.
• An introduction of bonus points for a post-graduate New Zealand qualification (Masters or Doctorate).
• A reduction in the number of years of New Zealand work experience required to claim the applicable bonus points.
• An increase to the bonus points awarded for a principal applicant’s partner’s recognised qualification and skilled employment in New Zealand.
• A restructure of how bonus points are awarded for study in New Zealand.
• Removing the award of bonus points for skilled employment, a recognised qualification and work experience in an identified cluster.
• A review of the list of recognised qualifications.
• A more transparent and appropriate definition of skilled employment.

“The revisions more closely target the people who New Zealand needs and recognises, for example, that the partner of a principal applicant can be of significant value to New Zealand in his or her own right,” Mr Cunliffe said

Mr Cunliffe said he expected the total number of migrants this financial year - which ends on June 30 - would be about 47,000.

Next year’s residence programme would be set at a similar level.

“The SMC is generally working well, and is delivering high quality skilled migrants,” Mr Cunliffe said. “We need to keep testing our policies to find ways of improving them and better target the people New Zealand needs. The SMC needs to be well positioned to attract quality skilled migrants in an increasingly competitive market.

“International competition for skills is intensifying, with many countries, including Australia, investing heavily to pursue the same migrants. Hence we have done some fine-tuning.”

New Zealand’s central bank has raised interest rates from 7.75% to 8%, the highest rate for any industrialised nation. The rise is likely to put further upward pressure on the NZ dollar, which this week hit US75.5C, its highest level since flotation 22 years ago.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand had been expected to keep rates on hold after raising them at the last two meetings.

However, the bank was worried about consumer demand fuelling inflation.

“They’re doing what they’ve to got to do. There’s an urgency to slow the economy down and they’re starting to wake up to that,” said Craig Ebert, senior economist at Bank of New Zealand.

Retail sales in New Zealand rose at a record pace in the first three months of the year, as spending on cars and appliances grew.

An expected increase of 27% in dairy farmers’ income next season was also cited as a significant factor in raising rates.

Central Bank
June 2007 Interest Rates

Brisbane is warming faster than any other Australian state capital according to a table of climate change across the nation published by news.com.au. The average temperatures for 22 major towns and cities show all - except Albany, Western Australia – have warmed up since 1991.

Of the state capitals, Brisbane’s temperature increased most. Its most recent 16-year average, at 19.36 C, was almost half a degree warmer than between 1961 and 1990.

Australia’s average temperature is one-third of a degree higher now than what it was between 1961 and 1990.

Alice Springs had the greatest rise: it was more than three-quarters of a degree hotter between 1991 and 2006 than in the previous three decades. Cobar was next, followed by Brisbane, Port Lincoln, Perth, and Mount Isa.

Other towns with temperature rises above the national average include Canberra, Townsville, Sydney and Cairns.

Tenerife is acting like a property ‘micro-market’ within the Spanish economy. Despite Spain’s recent property crisis, Tenerife’s property sales are still rising and Tenerife is well placed to cater for the large number of people from the UK hoping to buy somewhere in the sun.

In 2001 the Tenerife government voted to limit the supply of new homes thus preventing over building.

Currently, property in Tenerife continues to rise in value, while mainland prices stagnate and could possibly fall in the coming months.

The foreign buyer market remains strong in Tenerife - 42,000 homes are owned by Britons and good rental incomes can be achieved.

The incentive of all year round sunshine and increasing tourist numbers, 6 million in 2006, has led to a demand for low cost flight operators to obtain new routes.

Tenerife’s resident population is one of the fastest growing in Europe. New mortgage lenders and applications are increasing and rents are high, encouraging locals to buy as soon as they can, ensuring local demand remains strong.

For anyone hoping to move to Spain and start a holiday accommodation business, the most recent industry statistics make disappointing reading. Take up of accommodation in Spanish resorts in April was down 3.5 percent on last year, while the number of available beds rose 2.0 percent, according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute.

Spanish Holiday Accommodation Facts

• Overnight stays in holiday lets (apartments, villas, campsites, etc) totalled 4.6m in April.
• Non-residents accounted for almost three-quarters of the lets. United Kingdom tourists were the largest group with over 1.3 million overnight stays in April, down 2.3 percent on last year.
• Holiday bed places increased 2 percent, to exceed 428,000.
• The holiday dwelling occupancy rate was 51 percent in April, 5 percent less than in the April last year.
• UK tourists, at 39 percent, were the largest non-resident group lstaying in accommodation, followed by Germany (23 percent), Sweden, Netherlands (5 percent each) and Ireland (4 percent).
• The Canaries were the most popular destination for tourists – logging some 2.8m overnight stays – 6 percent down on April 2006. Valencia was the second most popular destination with over 480,500 overnight stays- 9 percent down on last year.
• The highest occupancy level was in Madrid – 76 percent - followed by Navarra - 67 percent – and the Canaries - 60 percent.

Luxembourg and Poland have the worst beaches, according to the European Commission’s annual beach report. Cyprus has the cleanest coastal beaches, scoring 99 percent compliance with the strictest standards, followed by Greece with 96 percent.

For fresh-water bathing sites Denmark (90 percent graded excellent), Estonia (82 percent), Germany (79 percent) and Austria (77 per cent) were best.

The report included information on 14,345 coastal and 6,749 inland bathing areas. Areas that met mandatory standards stood at 96 percent, similar to figures last year. The quality of freshwater sites increased slightly from last year to 89 percent.

Some 250 bathing sites were removed from the results for trying to cheat inspectors by masking pollution or artificially improving their scores.

Only seven of Luxembourg’s twenty swimming sites met EU’s standards. Inspections in the tiny Duchy had seen “no sign of improvement for a number of years”.

Poland also scored poorly. Of its 70 coastal bathing sites, 14 percent failed to meet minimum quality standards, while 17 percent failed similar standards for inland freshwater sites.

Britain rated 13th for beaches classed as excellent, just ahead of France but behind most beach holiday destinations in Europe. After Cyprus and Greece, Spain came in third place (93 percent of beaches classed as excellent), Italy 4th (91 percent) and Portugal 7th (90 percent).

European beaches are awarded coveted blue flags, as a measure of quality and safety if they meet stringent EU standards on everything from the cleanliness of the bathing water and lifeguard services, to how many litter bins are placed at the bathing sites.