The Kingdom of Spain has been a popular holiday destination for Northern Europeans for many years and many have settled in Spain, often buying property as a holiday home and later moving entirely to Spain. It's no wonder that Spain has the highest immigration rate of the EU.

The population of Spain is approximately 40 million with an overall density of 79 persons per sq km (206 per sq mi). Spain is experiencing significant rural-urban migration with 78 percent of the population now living in towns and cities.

Spain comprises 50 provinces in 17 autonomous regions: Andalusia, Aragón, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Basque Country (País Vasco), Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile-La Mancha, Castile-León, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, and Valencia.

Although Spain lies in the temperate zone, there is a diverse range of climates within the country. From  relatively wet and cool in the North West to the arid South.  I

The Cantabrian mountains create a well-defined climatologically dividing zone. To the north of this range, i.e. in the narrow northern strip, where the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia are situated, lies what may be called rainy Spain, with a maritime climate that has only slight variations in temperature, mild winters and cool summers, an almost constantly cloudy sky and frequent rainfall, although less so during the summer. This climate, which is typical of western Europe, favours a northern European type of vegetation.

The capital of Spain is Madrid, which is also the largest city in Spain with a population of 3.5million. Most tourists tend to visit the costal areas or Costas

These include:

• Costa del Sol
• Costa Brava
• Costa Blanca
• Costa Dorada

The other Spanish tourist magnets are the Balearic Islands of Majorca and Minorca and the Canary Islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and Fuerteventura

Real Estate prices in Spain rose 170% from 1997 to 2005 but this rate has slowed to around 12% comparing 2005 and 2006. To some extent this is fuelled by the property boom in the UK that has enabled many British to realise a supernormal profit and retire to Spain.

The property boom is not consistent across the country with Galicia showing the lowest rate of increase. The Spanish Mediterranean costal areas continue to attract migrants from the rest of Europe looking for a good life in the sun and show the greatest rate of property inflation.

Having said that, two coastal provinces popular with non-Spanish buyers – Alicante (Costa Blanca) and Tarragona (Costa Dorada) - had property inflation rates below the national average recently.

Buying in Spain since the off-plan property boom ceased is no longer a certain way to high investment returns but the good news is that for those looking for a holiday home or lifestyle change, Spain offer even better value with a wonderful climate and a western system in the heart of the EU and the Eurozone