New Year’s Eve was celebrated in great style throughout the Algarve, bringing in 2013 with a bang! From Portimão to Vila Real, the parties were jumping and fireworks lit the night sky with fantastic displays. Suddenly 2013 was upon us and what a good year it has turned out to be.
The Algarve is famous for having the warmest year-round climate and the most hours of sunshine in Europe. Famed also for its fabulous beaches and 30-something excellent golf courses, it's easy to forget how much more the Algarve has to offer. From coast to coast the sports and activity options are endless, festivals and celebrations take place all year round and the area abounds with art, theatre, expos, and more. Here is a round up of just some of the main Algarve aspects for 2013...
A positive start for the property market
In January the good news was already hitting the press with positive reports on the property market front: renowned estate agents confirmed that the tide was turning at last and sales were on the increase. The upmarket ‘Golden Triangle’ saw a big upswing in enquiries, as did Lagos, Carvoeiro and Faro, with the Brits leading the way, closely followed by the Irish, Dutch and Scandinavians. Aided by the Portuguese Government’s ‘Golden Visa’ incentive for non-EU residents, the wealthy Chinese and Russians began to recognise the huge investment potential in the Algarve.
A landscape of colour and carnivals
At the same time the almond trees blossomed and covered the land with their blooms for the following six weeks, turning our fields into a winter wonderland. The blossom was replaced by spring flowers waking up and carpeting the whole landscape with a glorious display of colour and scents. Orange and lemon groves added their fruits to this riot of colour, and trees came into bud, sprouting their green leaves with the promise of new life.
In February the largest carnival in the Algarve took place in Loulé, in glorious sunshine. This year was all about taking the mickey out of the Portuguese Government and their austerity measures. The Portuguese love a good joke and they took advantage of carnival time to poke fun at those in power! As usual, carnivals were held throughout the Algarve with many towns and villages celebrating. There were children’s parades, music and dance.
Meravista goes live! The biggest portal for Algarve Property
March saw the launch of the latest and greatest Algarve property website. Meravista went live with just under 3000 listings. Nine short months later and Meravista now has more than 14,000 Algarve properties for sale and long term rent.
To make the search even easier, Meravista boasts the fastest map-search online and is the largest Algarve property portal in the world! In addition Meravista offers information galore about the Algarve, people. places, events and much more on our Information and blog pages.
Easter and more
An early Easter saw the annual celebrations taking off, attended by thousands of the faithful, the curious and tourists alike. Tavira held Palm Sunday, Silves had their Good Friday procession and São Brás covered their streets with intricate patterns of flowers and greenery for Easter Sunday. These were just a few of the more famous processions, among many memorials to the Holy Week across the length and breadth of the Algarve.
The hugely successful International Algarve Fair took place in June, giving local businesses the opportunity to show off their latest products and innovations. Attended by thousands, business was booming, the sun shone and the music played continuously, thanks to Kiss FM. The fair was also the venue of the Algarve Dog Show where Mabel the Meravista dog nabbed first prize in her category and then hilariously went on to test-drive the Jacuzzis on display.
Research found that enquiries, offers and transactions were all up in the first four months of 2013 compared to the end of 2012. This was really good news for everybody, with the promise of better things to come.
This was closely followed by Meravista’s own research, which found that the affordability of property in Portugal, and the Algarve in particular, is amongst the best in Europe. Of course for those of us who already live here, that was nothing new, though still nice to have it backed up by facts.
Fabulous Algarve weather and beaches
A cool summer had been predicted but, to prove the forecasters wrong, we enjoyed our fabulous long, hot days of sunshine throughout the season. Tourism was up and, by October, there had been 3.7 million overnight stays recorded by businesses providing hotel service across the Algarve. There was a marked increase in visitors from the UK, France and Germany. Overall, this rise represented an annual increase of 6.3%. The surge in tourists to the region sent the festivals into overdrive, providing us with even more fantastic Portuguese food, drink and dancing.
This year, the Algarve was awarded 69 prestigious Blue Flags for their incredibly beautiful, clean beaches, and the four major marinas each attained a Blue Flag too. This is a tremendous achievement for which the Tourist Board is rightly bursting with pride. Tourists flock to the Algarve to enjoy the sun, but also with the knowledge that the beaches are clean, safe and geared to help the disabled to have a great holiday too. The lucky residents of course, benefit from this triumph all year round. No wonder so many people from all over the world are taking advantage of the low property prices and snapping up the bargain buys.
Festivals and Fairs across the Algarve
The Algarve enjoys a bumper summer and 2013 was no different.
July saw the famous annual Bikers Rally in Faro, attended by an estimated 15,000 bikers! Riders come from all over the world to join this massive event organised by the MotoClub of Faro.
A giant three-day party of rides, events, concerts and activities, the bikers paraded through the town and put on an impressive show for everybody to admire their precious bikes. And their bands put on an impressive show to impress the bikers and their friends!
The festival in Olhão is probably the biggest, with a large stage and famous performers every night. Thousands come from all over Portugal to enjoy these feasts of fresh seafood prepared in many different ways along with the accompanying atmosphere and entertainment.
The Algarveans like to celebrate their heritage and many of the towns host historical festivals and fairs, of which the biggest has to be the Medieval Festival in Silves which holds theatrical events, jousting, feasts and dancing all to the beat of medieval music from times gone by.
There was also the 34th Fatacil Fair in Lagoa where, once again, trade, tourism and agriculture featured heavily along with the food, music and dancing.
Tourists and residents alike flocked to these fantastic Festivals and Fairs to enjoy the food, sun and opportunity to immerse themselves into our wonderful way of life in the Algarve.
Enjoy our video of the 2013 Ria Formosa Festival in Faro!
Big attractions and events in the Algarve
The biggest and most successful ‘one night party’ accolade has to go to Loulé for their fantastic White Night event. With the whole town dressed in white, entertainers dressed in white and all party goers dressed in white – it was a night to remember and we are eagerly awaiting next year’s effort!
The biggest golf attraction in the Algarve this year was the Portugal Masters European Tour, part of the 'Race to Dubai' competitions. This year it was won by David Lynn, an Englishman, who took €333,330 in prize money by playing 18 under par over the four day competition. Last year’s winner, Irishman Shane Lowry, had his hopes of being the first player to win twice in a row dashed, when he didn’t make the cut after the first two days.
A massive €31,822 was raised and donated to the non-profit charitable organisation, ACCA Kids, helping disadvantaged children across the Algarve.
Wanda Crawford, President of ACCA Kids, was thrilled with such a large donation and thanked the Portugal Masters Tour organisers effusively. She commented that such a sum would make a substantial difference in the lives of the children under the charity’s wing.
The UK TV show A Place in the Sun hosted an exhibition in London to showcase all the best places to live life in the sunshine. With a special area set aside just for Portugal, the Algarve received a tremendous boost from oversees would-be property buyers.
In November, A Place in the Sun chose to focus an episode of their immensely popular TV show on Eastern Algarve. Meravista was delighted and honoured to be invited to take part in the production, which is due to air on Channel 4 in the New Year- date to be announced on our blog.
The last of the annual trade fairs went off with aplomb as the Algarve’s Association for Foreign Residents and Property Owners (AFPOP) put on a great Better Living in Portugal (BLiP) expo at Portimão, with the Portuguese Tourism Board supporting this year’s event. Business was booming and people came from all over the Algarve to see the latest innovations on offer. Everything for the home, garden and business was there, and so of course were the food outlets, the wine producers and Meravista, displaying properties on our website together with a hugely popular fun competition.
Celebrities love the Algarve too
A host of celebrities descended on the Algarve this year, including Pamela Anderson, strutting her stuff in a Vilamoura nightclub, entertained by Ferrari racing driver, Lorenzo Carvalho, for his 22nd birthday. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, along with his family, holidayed in the area and Cavaco Silva, the President of Portugal and Pedro Passos Coelho, the Prime Minister of Portugal, visited the region during their annual break. British Actress Denise Welch chose the Algarve for her destination wedding this summer – good choice!
Footballers Rooney and Ronaldo and their families were also here, as well as Steven Gerrard’s wife and children. Other regular visitors include the Beckhams, Claudia Schiffer, Hugh Grant, George Benson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ernie Els, Colin Montgomery, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. Various members of the European royal families are also known to take a break in the Algarve sunshine.
Of course, the famous Sir Cliff Richard, a part time resident with his celebrated vineyard, regularly drops in for a taste of his wine and a few games of tennis. His neighbours are José Mourinho, Alan Shearer, Paul Scholes, and legendary singer Bonnie Tyler, who, like all good neighbours, probably pop round to see each other for a cuppa or a glass or two!
It certainly seemed that the paparazzi were kept busy and you never knew who you were going to bump into during the busy summer months.
Behind every cloud is a silver lining and in October, when the giant storm ‘St. Jude’ was ripping into Europe, the same storm whipped up the highest waves ever seen anywhere in the world, along the coastline of Praia do Norte, near the fishing village of Nazaré, here in Portugal. And the world’s champion surfers were ready and waiting to ride those enormous waves.
Andrew Cotton from England and Carlos Burle from Brazil both rode the 80 foot plus waves, and experts are now evaluating the exact height of the waves to see if one of these brave men is the new World Champion in the surfing community. Meanwhile in the Algarve, Sagres is the place to be for both fantastic surfing and rock climbing, as both sports are increasing in popularity here with each passing year. Here's the video of Carlos Burle going for the world record:
Portugal on the road to recovery
Very good news indeed are the figures showing that Portugal is now exporting more home grown produce and products than ever before, with an increase of approximately 6% on 2012. With a rise in exports each month throughout 2013, the economy is gradually improving.
Did you know that Portugal is the world’s eighth largest producer of wine, fifth largest producer of Tungsten and the number one biggest producer of cork?
In addition, major exports are clothing and footwear and of course a multitude of produce, not least of which is oranges.
Inflation has dropped slightly for the last few months in a row, and unemployment has dropped by 1% – long may that continue!
Property too is moving more quickly as each month passes. According to a survey of Meravista’s real estate agents, 2013 has seen a nice increase in Algarve property sales, another sign that the economy is improving. Elizabeth Harding of Aimcliff Properties said of the economy, “Last year people were just looking. This year they really want to invest. People are feeling more comfortable with the political environment.”
Meanwhile Sarah Locke of Tavira House and Home told us, “Lately our clientele have been retirees looking for more than a holiday home. Predominantly they have been Swedish and Norwegian, as well as British. Most are paying in cash.”
More on the home front, ERA Alvor’s Luís Gonçalves says “About 70% of our sales are to people from Porto and Lisbon, or Portuguese living abroad. They see that now is a good time to invest because of the low prices.”
Expats do it for the lifestyle
To round off the year, Meravista conducted a survey of expats living in the Algarve. Over 300 Algarve expats took part and three of those were the lucky winners of a case of wine. Look out for our winner's blog coming up soon.
We set out to confirm our belief that the majority of people who buy a home in the Algarve do it for the lifestyle. The survey results indicate that we are right! That’s why we’ll be continuing to promote life in the Algarve alongside property for sale throughout 2014. The survey produced a wealth of interesting information and we will be posting lots more of it in the coming months. Watch this space!
So you see, 2013 was a great year for the Algarve. Most of us kicked back and enjoyed sublime sunshine and all the many great things on offer year round. Whether retired or working, it's hard to beat life in the Algarve. Here’s looking to another fabulous year ahead in 2014!
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.
The great Algarve - 2013 highlights
by Sun's Dragon
New Year’s Eve was celebrated in great style throughout the Algarve, bringing in 2013 with a bang! From Portimão to Vila Real, the parties were jumping and fireworks lit the night sky with fantastic displays. Suddenly 2013 was upon us and what a good year it has turned out to be.
The Algarve is famous for having the warmest year-round climate and the most hours of sunshine in Europe. Famed also for its fabulous beaches and 30-something excellent golf courses, it's easy to forget how much more the Algarve has to offer. From coast to coast the sports and activity options are endless, festivals and celebrations take place all year round and the area abounds with art, theatre, expos, and more. Here is a round up of just some of the main Algarve aspects for 2013...
A positive start for the property market
In January the good news was already hitting the press with positive reports on the property market front: renowned estate agents confirmed that the tide was turning at last and sales were on the increase. The upmarket ‘Golden Triangle’ saw a big upswing in enquiries, as did Lagos, Carvoeiro and Faro, with the Brits leading the way, closely followed by the Irish, Dutch and Scandinavians. Aided by the Portuguese Government’s ‘Golden Visa’ incentive for non-EU residents, the wealthy Chinese and Russians began to recognise the huge investment potential in the Algarve.
A landscape of colour and carnivals
At the same time the almond trees blossomed and covered the land with their blooms for the following six weeks, turning our fields into a winter wonderland. The blossom was replaced by spring flowers waking up and carpeting the whole landscape with a glorious display of colour and scents. Orange and lemon groves added their fruits to this riot of colour, and trees came into bud, sprouting their green leaves with the promise of new life.
In February the largest carnival in the Algarve took place in Loulé, in glorious sunshine. This year was all about taking the mickey out of the Portuguese Government and their austerity measures. The Portuguese love a good joke and they took advantage of carnival time to poke fun at those in power! As usual, carnivals were held throughout the Algarve with many towns and villages celebrating. There were children’s parades, music and dance.
Meravista goes live! The biggest portal for Algarve Property
March saw the launch of the latest and greatest Algarve property website. Meravista went live with just under 3000 listings. Nine short months later and Meravista now has more than 14,000 Algarve properties for sale and long term rent.
To make the search even easier, Meravista boasts the fastest map-search online and is the largest Algarve property portal in the world! In addition Meravista offers information galore about the Algarve, people. places, events and much more on our Information and blog pages.
Easter and more
An early Easter saw the annual celebrations taking off, attended by thousands of the faithful, the curious and tourists alike. Tavira held Palm Sunday, Silves had their Good Friday procession and São Brás covered their streets with intricate patterns of flowers and greenery for Easter Sunday. These were just a few of the more famous processions, among many memorials to the Holy Week across the length and breadth of the Algarve.
The hugely successful International Algarve Fair took place in June, giving local businesses the opportunity to show off their latest products and innovations. Attended by thousands, business was booming, the sun shone and the music played continuously, thanks to Kiss FM. The fair was also the venue of the Algarve Dog Show where Mabel the Meravista dog nabbed first prize in her category and then hilariously went on to test-drive the Jacuzzis on display.
Confidence grows as summer gets into full swing
July brought the newly published 10-10-10 Algarve Residential Tourism Survey of 2013 showing that 92% of leading Algarve property agents reported higher confidence levels this year.
Research found that enquiries, offers and transactions were all up in the first four months of 2013 compared to the end of 2012. This was really good news for everybody, with the promise of better things to come.
This was closely followed by Meravista’s own research, which found that the affordability of property in Portugal, and the Algarve in particular, is amongst the best in Europe. Of course for those of us who already live here, that was nothing new, though still nice to have it backed up by facts.
Fabulous Algarve weather and beaches
Festivals and Fairs across the Algarve
The Algarve enjoys a bumper summer and 2013 was no different.
July saw the famous annual Bikers Rally in Faro, attended by an estimated 15,000 bikers! Riders come from all over the world to join this massive event organised by the MotoClub of Faro.
A giant three-day party of rides, events, concerts and activities, the bikers paraded through the town and put on an impressive show for everybody to admire their precious bikes. And their bands put on an impressive show to impress the bikers and their friends!
Across the Algarve, food and fishing was celebrated with the Ria Formosa festival in Faro, the Sardine festival in Portimão, the Shellfish Festival in Olhão to name but a few.
The festival in Olhão is probably the biggest, with a large stage and famous performers every night. Thousands come from all over Portugal to enjoy these feasts of fresh seafood prepared in many different ways along with the accompanying atmosphere and entertainment.
The Algarveans like to celebrate their heritage and many of the towns host historical festivals and fairs, of which the biggest has to be the Medieval Festival in Silves which holds theatrical events, jousting, feasts and dancing all to the beat of medieval music from times gone by.
There was also the 34th Fatacil Fair in Lagoa where, once again, trade, tourism and agriculture featured heavily along with the food, music and dancing.
Tourists and residents alike flocked to these fantastic Festivals and Fairs to enjoy the food, sun and opportunity to immerse themselves into our wonderful way of life in the Algarve.
Enjoy our video of the 2013 Ria Formosa Festival in Faro!
The biggest and most successful ‘one night party’ accolade has to go to Loulé for their fantastic White Night event. With the whole town dressed in white, entertainers dressed in white and all party goers dressed in white – it was a night to remember and we are eagerly awaiting next year’s effort!
The biggest golf attraction in the Algarve this year was the Portugal Masters European Tour, part of the 'Race to Dubai' competitions. This year it was won by David Lynn, an Englishman, who took €333,330 in prize money by playing 18 under par over the four day competition. Last year’s winner, Irishman Shane Lowry, had his hopes of being the first player to win twice in a row dashed, when he didn’t make the cut after the first two days.
A massive €31,822 was raised and donated to the non-profit charitable organisation, ACCA Kids, helping disadvantaged children across the Algarve.
Wanda Crawford, President of ACCA Kids, was thrilled with such a large donation and thanked the Portugal Masters Tour organisers effusively. She commented that such a sum would make a substantial difference in the lives of the children under the charity’s wing.
In November, A Place in the Sun chose to focus an episode of their immensely popular TV show on Eastern Algarve. Meravista was delighted and honoured to be invited to take part in the production, which is due to air on Channel 4 in the New Year- date to be announced on our blog.
Celebrities love the Algarve too
A host of celebrities descended on the Algarve this year, including Pamela Anderson, strutting her stuff in a Vilamoura nightclub, entertained by Ferrari racing driver, Lorenzo Carvalho, for his 22nd birthday. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, along with his family, holidayed in the area and Cavaco Silva, the President of Portugal and Pedro Passos Coelho, the Prime Minister of Portugal, visited the region during their annual break. British Actress Denise Welch chose the Algarve for her destination wedding this summer – good choice!
Footballers Rooney and Ronaldo and their families were also here, as well as Steven Gerrard’s wife and children. Other regular visitors include the Beckhams, Claudia Schiffer, Hugh Grant, George Benson, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ernie Els, Colin Montgomery, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. Various members of the European royal families are also known to take a break in the Algarve sunshine.
Of course, the famous Sir Cliff Richard, a part time resident with his celebrated vineyard, regularly drops in for a taste of his wine and a few games of tennis. His neighbours are José Mourinho, Alan Shearer, Paul Scholes, and legendary singer Bonnie Tyler, who, like all good neighbours, probably pop round to see each other for a cuppa or a glass or two!
It certainly seemed that the paparazzi were kept busy and you never knew who you were going to bump into during the busy summer months.
Andrew Cotton from England and Carlos Burle from Brazil both rode the 80 foot plus waves, and experts are now evaluating the exact height of the waves to see if one of these brave men is the new World Champion in the surfing community. Meanwhile in the Algarve, Sagres is the place to be for both fantastic surfing and rock climbing, as both sports are increasing in popularity here with each passing year. Here's the video of Carlos Burle going for the world record:
Portugal on the road to recovery
Very good news indeed are the figures showing that Portugal is now exporting more home grown produce and products than ever before, with an increase of approximately 6% on 2012. With a rise in exports each month throughout 2013, the economy is gradually improving.
Did you know that Portugal is the world’s eighth largest producer of wine, fifth largest producer of Tungsten and the number one biggest producer of cork?
In addition, major exports are clothing and footwear and of course a multitude of produce, not least of which is oranges.
Inflation has dropped slightly for the last few months in a row, and unemployment has dropped by 1% – long may that continue!
Meanwhile Sarah Locke of Tavira House and Home told us, “Lately our clientele have been retirees looking for more than a holiday home. Predominantly they have been Swedish and Norwegian, as well as British. Most are paying in cash.”
More on the home front, ERA Alvor’s Luís Gonçalves says “About 70% of our sales are to people from Porto and Lisbon, or Portuguese living abroad. They see that now is a good time to invest because of the low prices.”
Expats do it for the lifestyle
To round off the year, Meravista conducted a survey of expats living in the Algarve. Over 300 Algarve expats took part and three of those were the lucky winners of a case of wine. Look out for our winner's blog coming up soon.
We set out to confirm our belief that the majority of people who buy a home in the Algarve do it for the lifestyle. The survey results indicate that we are right! That’s why we’ll be continuing to promote life in the Algarve alongside property for sale throughout 2014. The survey produced a wealth of interesting information and we will be posting lots more of it in the coming months. Watch this space!
So you see, 2013 was a great year for the Algarve. Most of us kicked back and enjoyed sublime sunshine and all the many great things on offer year round. Whether retired or working, it's hard to beat life in the Algarve. Here’s looking to another fabulous year ahead in 2014!
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.