FOR decades the British were the dominant force in Spain’s foreign property market.
On many parts of the coast, especially the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca and the islands, they were the market.
But the latest figures from the Spanish Land Registrars suggest that era may finally be coming to an end.
In the first quarter of this year there were 1,691 Spanish property purchases involving a British buyer, down almost 20% compared to the same period last year.
The Dutch were right behind on 1,626 purchases, and if current trends continue they may already have overtaken the British by now.
We’ll find out when the second-quarter figures are published in about a month’s time.
The decline of the British market has been long and relentless.
Using 2016 as a base year, before the Brexit referendum upended the status quo, British demand has fallen to around 60% of its former size.
The contrast with the foreign market as a whole could hardly be greater.
Whilst British demand has fallen by 40%, the wider foreign market has almost doubled over the same period.
As a result, the British have gone from accounting for almost 22% of all foreign purchases in Spain in 2016 to less than 7% today.
Their market share has declined by more than two thirds.
No other major nationality has seen such a dramatic reversal.
The Russian market, despite sanctions and the war in Ukraine, is broadly unchanged compared to a decade ago, whilst Sweden is the only other significant market to have shrunk, down around 20%.
Meanwhile, other nationalities have boomed.
The Polish market is more than seven times larger than it was ten years ago, whilst Dutch demand has increased more than fourfold.
Even the French and German markets are larger than they were a decade ago despite economic difficulties at home.
So what happened?
Brexit is probably the biggest single factor.
It has become harder for Britons to retire to Spain or spend long periods in a second home thanks to the 90-day rule and the loss of EU freedom of movement.
The romance of owning a place in the sun now comes with more paperwork and restrictions.
But Brexit is not the whole story. The British economy has struggled for years.
Real earnings have barely increased in two decades, household finances are under pressure, and higher borrowing costs have made second-home purchases harder to justify.
Spain has also become more expensive. House prices have risen sharply since the pandemic, and a weaker pound has reduced British purchasing power.
None of this means the British love affair with Spain is over. The UK remains the biggest single foreign market, and British buyers still play an important role in many coastal areas.
But they are no longer the market-making force they once were. The British have gone from being in a league of their own to merely leading the pack by a nose. And if current trends continue, even that distinction may soon disappear.
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