A SHARP rise in the number of fixed-rate mortgages in Spain has been reported in the past two years – and they now account for 43% of every new loan taken out.
'Beach-style' home swimming pools – this summer's hottest new trend
29/05/2021
IF YOU can't get to the beach, get the beach to come to you – at least, that's the philosophy of a growing number of homeowners in Spain with their own land.
A rising trend among residents and people with holiday properties, where the nearest coast involves a car drive or, at best, a long walk, or those who would really like to live on their nearest seafront but find this is not practical – in towns where the main hub and the beach are at a distance, and the latter lacks conveniences and facilities outside the main summer season – is to have a swimming pool built which looks like it instead.
An ideal solution for those who want a pool anyway, but love coastal scenery, 'sand swimming pools' have started to take off and demand is increasing as more and more property renovation companies are beginning to offer them as an alternative to the conventional kind.
'Sand pools' are especially attractive to owners who fear a 'standard' swimming pool would take up too much of their garden space and leave little room for greenery, perhaps even being a bit of an eyesore – with this new creation, you can personalise your beach-pool to make it look like an exotic island, with palm trees and palm-leaf parasols, or like a rugged, rural, virgin beach with grass and mountain shrubs.
Companies which are now building 'sand pools' are also working for comunidades – communities of owners, or freehold committees, legal entities to which apartment or villa owners on an enclosed complex or in a block pay rates to cover maintenance, cleaning and extraordinary works; a comunidad is set up as a non-profit firm in which all owners are effectively shareholders or partners – meaning communal pools built like beaches are starting to become popular as well as those on private land.
They do not suffer the same inconveniences as an actual beach – obviously, there are no currents, high tides or red flags, and on windy days, you will not get covered in sand: The base and surroundings are made with a mix of sand and a type of resin to hold it in place, so if you want the 'feel' and 'look' of a beach but the comfort of a purpose-built swimming pool, these new designs offer the best of both worlds.
They tend to have sloping floors, so you can stand at the edge and wet your feet or keep wading out until you are finally in the deep end – depth can be stipulated, of course, in the same way as with a standard swimming pool, if you either want at least four metres to be able to dive or prefer to always be able to keep your head above water at any point – so there are no steps involved, which can be less daunting and more comfortable for those with restricted movement, small children, or anyone who is nervous about swimming.
Sizes can vary, from a basic paddling area through to even an Olympic-sized one if you have enough land, and planning permission requirements – always compulsory for any new solid fixture at your home – are very similar.
Firms specialising in building 'beach-pools' say their maintenance needs are much the same as for a conventional pool, so owners who know what they are doing with cleaning, filters and chlorine levels will be able to adapt pretty quickly to looking after a sand-pool, and charges and frequency of visits from companies or sole traders who attend to private pools will not differ much for a 'beach' type.
They do not take a huge amount of time to build – typically about 30 to 40 days, once planning permission has been granted, depending upon your chosen design, the layout of your plot, construction material chosen, and decorative elements you want to add.
For a standard type of garden plot, depth and design, it will be the size and the outer decoration part that dictates the price, and most companies will be able to offer online calculators or provide a series of alternative quotes, obligation-free, to help you decide and work out how to finance the end result.
According to one such company, Cronoshare – which specialises in renovations, cleaning and house moves – the standard market price at the moment is roughly between about €12,000 and €20,000, meaning they do come in slightly more expensive than a traditional swimming pool.
Another company specialising in this type of pool – Piscinas de Arena NaturSand – gives approximately the same price range, and both firms provide online filters where you can work out the cost by selecting size, depth, materials and design.
As is the case with conventional swimming pools, those who build beach-style ones will normally handle all the planning permission requirements and licences on your behalf, unless you prefer to do so yourself, or they will give you clear advice and guidance as to where to go and when, how to do it, costs and timescales.
With summer just around the corner and most of the southern half of the country having seen a handful of near-summerlike days in the past few weeks, you are probably just about in time to get started so your dream pool will be ready for that point of the year when having a nearby body of water to hurl yourself in becomes a necessity rather than a luxury.
Beach-style pools are starting to soar in popularity among owners who have bought a house or villa with a garden or plot without a swimming pool, either because its price tag was lower than a property with one already in place, or because they wanted to be able to design their own rather than living with one already set up by previous owners or the original developers.
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IF YOU can't get to the beach, get the beach to come to you – at least, that's the philosophy of a growing number of homeowners in Spain with their own land.
A rising trend among residents and people with holiday properties, where the nearest coast involves a car drive or, at best, a long walk, or those who would really like to live on their nearest seafront but find this is not practical – in towns where the main hub and the beach are at a distance, and the latter lacks conveniences and facilities outside the main summer season – is to have a swimming pool built which looks like it instead.
An ideal solution for those who want a pool anyway, but love coastal scenery, 'sand swimming pools' have started to take off and demand is increasing as more and more property renovation companies are beginning to offer them as an alternative to the conventional kind.
'Sand pools' are especially attractive to owners who fear a 'standard' swimming pool would take up too much of their garden space and leave little room for greenery, perhaps even being a bit of an eyesore – with this new creation, you can personalise your beach-pool to make it look like an exotic island, with palm trees and palm-leaf parasols, or like a rugged, rural, virgin beach with grass and mountain shrubs.
Companies which are now building 'sand pools' are also working for comunidades – communities of owners, or freehold committees, legal entities to which apartment or villa owners on an enclosed complex or in a block pay rates to cover maintenance, cleaning and extraordinary works; a comunidad is set up as a non-profit firm in which all owners are effectively shareholders or partners – meaning communal pools built like beaches are starting to become popular as well as those on private land.
They do not suffer the same inconveniences as an actual beach – obviously, there are no currents, high tides or red flags, and on windy days, you will not get covered in sand: The base and surroundings are made with a mix of sand and a type of resin to hold it in place, so if you want the 'feel' and 'look' of a beach but the comfort of a purpose-built swimming pool, these new designs offer the best of both worlds.
They tend to have sloping floors, so you can stand at the edge and wet your feet or keep wading out until you are finally in the deep end – depth can be stipulated, of course, in the same way as with a standard swimming pool, if you either want at least four metres to be able to dive or prefer to always be able to keep your head above water at any point – so there are no steps involved, which can be less daunting and more comfortable for those with restricted movement, small children, or anyone who is nervous about swimming.
Sizes can vary, from a basic paddling area through to even an Olympic-sized one if you have enough land, and planning permission requirements – always compulsory for any new solid fixture at your home – are very similar.
Firms specialising in building 'beach-pools' say their maintenance needs are much the same as for a conventional pool, so owners who know what they are doing with cleaning, filters and chlorine levels will be able to adapt pretty quickly to looking after a sand-pool, and charges and frequency of visits from companies or sole traders who attend to private pools will not differ much for a 'beach' type.
They do not take a huge amount of time to build – typically about 30 to 40 days, once planning permission has been granted, depending upon your chosen design, the layout of your plot, construction material chosen, and decorative elements you want to add.
For a standard type of garden plot, depth and design, it will be the size and the outer decoration part that dictates the price, and most companies will be able to offer online calculators or provide a series of alternative quotes, obligation-free, to help you decide and work out how to finance the end result.
According to one such company, Cronoshare – which specialises in renovations, cleaning and house moves – the standard market price at the moment is roughly between about €12,000 and €20,000, meaning they do come in slightly more expensive than a traditional swimming pool.
Another company specialising in this type of pool – Piscinas de Arena NaturSand – gives approximately the same price range, and both firms provide online filters where you can work out the cost by selecting size, depth, materials and design.
As is the case with conventional swimming pools, those who build beach-style ones will normally handle all the planning permission requirements and licences on your behalf, unless you prefer to do so yourself, or they will give you clear advice and guidance as to where to go and when, how to do it, costs and timescales.
With summer just around the corner and most of the southern half of the country having seen a handful of near-summerlike days in the past few weeks, you are probably just about in time to get started so your dream pool will be ready for that point of the year when having a nearby body of water to hurl yourself in becomes a necessity rather than a luxury.
Beach-style pools are starting to soar in popularity among owners who have bought a house or villa with a garden or plot without a swimming pool, either because its price tag was lower than a property with one already in place, or because they wanted to be able to design their own rather than living with one already set up by previous owners or the original developers.
Related Topics
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