Spanish homebuyers typically go house-hunting on their mobiles during commercial breaks

Those who do so agree they enjoy the convenience of being able to carry out their house-hunting from anywhere from supermarket queues to doctors' waiting rooms, that they like the fact they can view property details easily before going to visit them, and that they can set up alerts without having to switch on their computers.

They also say their phones are a useful home-searching tool because they can add details of 'possibles' into their favourites, and can make immediate contact with the owner or estate agency.

As well as homebuying, a total of 36% of Spaniards have found checking and managing their bank account information online much easier since the dawn of the SmartPhone age, but only 8% use theirs for online supermarket shopping or buying clothes and just 5% for buying tickets.

When it comes to house-hunting, personal banking administration or online shopping with their phones, 27% said they did so during commercial breaks on TV, 21% when travelling to work in public transport, 18% when queueing at the bank or supermarket checkout, 17% when on trains or buses in general other than for commuting, 14% in doctors' or dentists' waiting rooms, and 3% said they even used theirs in the gym when they were on treadmills and exercise bikes.

Companies, including estate agencies, are beginning to see opportunities for making money through periods of 'down time', 'boredom' or 'waiting' in Spanish people's lives.

With 91% saying they used moments of their days spent 'hanging around' to check their phones, post office queues and waiting at bus stops are likely to be great sales chances for firms.

A total of 22% of Spaniards said they had an average of an hour a day waiting for something or someone, or with nothing particular to do, about half of these had up to an hour and a half in accumulated 'down-time' moments, and 16% each had either 30 minutes or two hours a day when they tended to while away 'empty' time on their phones.

The typical SmartPhone owner in Spain uses his or her mobile for about 30 minutes a day.