Foreign investment in Spanish bricks and mortar is back with a vengeance according to new data published by the Bank of Spain today.

Foreigners spent 32.8% more on property in Spain during the first six months of 2011, compared with the same period the previous year, with a total spend of 2.445 billion euros.

Over one billion euros was invested between April and June, the kind of figure not seen since 2008, before the so-called "property bubble" burst.
 
Foreign investment in Spanish property had been gradually declining since 2003, when a record 7.072 billion euros was spent, dropping to 6.650 billion in 2004, 5.495 billion in 2005 and, finally, 4.716 billion in 2006.  There was a brief recovery in 2007 and 2008, before the 31.5% drop to 3.651 billion euros witnessed in 2009.

The Ministry of Public Works has been running a 'road show' since April, taking representatives of contruction companies and financial institutions around European cities, including Hamburg, Stockholm and London, to promote investment in Spanish property, and in particular property along the coast where 50% of the country's 'stock' is standing unsold.