ANTONIO Banderas may just be an actor with only acting as his educational forte and is never educated with engineering or medicine, let alone law. But he is a very smart person even in the field of economics. I’ll tell you why. Spain has a limited film industry and pales compared to the Hollywood, Bollywood and Philippine film industries. Hollywood eats up $3 billion in net profits annually, Bollywood of Mumbai, India has even a larger share than that at $4 billion in earnings. Spain’s is definitely limited. But this limitation has not prevented Antonio Banderas to shine. After making a few bucks as an actor in Spain, he tried out in the United States where he perseveringly auditioned for Hollywood roles. Eventually, he wound up in The Mambo Kings.
His role in The Mambo Kings paved the way for producers of Assassins to hire him as the nemesis of Slyvester Stallone. That was his only Hollywood role where he made the most extraordinary effort to act. That role impressed Robert Rodriguez who hired him in Desperado and the rest of course is history. More salivating and enviable roles would come such as him being cast opposite Madonna herself in Evita, as Zorro and as a doting father to child heroes in another Robert Rodriguez flick, a children’s movie called Spy Kids. During that decade where he played those roles, he raked in millions of dollars. This is where Antonio Banderas’s smartness comes in. Where did he invest his money? He certainly did not spend it in Hollywood unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger who invested it in Planet Hollywood or Johnny Depp who invested their income to The Viper Room which is a place for rich drug addicts.
Instead, Antonio invested all his income in Spain. Mr. Banderas must have foreseen the economic crisis in the United States as early as five years ago. The economic crisis in the United States is really serious. It first started as a housing mortgage crisis and now, stock owners are worried about their money so they dumped their stocks massively causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to open 300 points lower the other day. The Federal Reserve made the biggest interest rate cut in history at its expense because of that. Yet, Antonio Banderas is smiling.
He is because the Bank of Spain, which is the counterpart of the Federal Reserve, knows that situation will never reach Spain. Prime Minister Zapatero, currently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, certainly knows this. At the prime of his career, Antonio Banderas purchased prime properties in various areas of Spain from Madrid to Barcelona to Garabandal to Valencia to Costa Blanca to Costa del Sol and even to offshore places Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. What did he do to these prime properties? He erected restaurants to all of them serving nothing but Mediterranean diet. And the income is good. That is why despite the economic crisis in his location in the United States, Antonio Banderas is smiling.
2007 may be a very bad year for the housing industry in the United States but let’s see what’s in store for us in 2008. In the Philippines, the housing industry is in full boom. In Cagayan de Oro City at the northern tip of Mindanao, there are two high-end subdivisions that are in full swing. In Makati City, the central business district of the country, a dozen high-rise condominiums for the upper middle class are likewise under construction. In Dubai, high-end subdivisions are continuing to be developed too as their counterparts in the hospitality industry, the hotel sector, has also made continuing prolific adjustments by creating more high-rise hotels with lots of innovations in architecture and structural designs.
Market analysts say properties in Sicily will mostly be unaffected by any economic crisis this year thus retirees who want to stay in a foreign country for good may have Sicily in mind. In Sicily, a typical seaside villa has the usual amenities and a stunning view of the dormant Etna volcano. However, there are no nudist resorts in Sicily since even though it is not located at the Italian mainland, it is still Italian territory and Italy hosts Catholicism. But if what you want is to stay near a nudist beach, then better go to Agde in France. Agde is host to Cap d’Agde, the largest nudist resort in the world. It is not just a beach, it is a nudist hotel, shopping mall and golf course rolled into one. If you are not looking for a new home, then repossessed ones will do. There will be an expected total of 45,000 repossessed homes this year.
For investors, London, Tokyo and Shanghai still remain to be the lucrative places to invest in real estate. The particular place to invest in London is in Westminster and the area near Hyde Park. If you are a property investor and you are eyeing to put up a condominium in Tokyo, you need to employ bilingual staff who can speak both Nippongo and English. Meanwhile, Shanghai has its share of luxurious real estates too because without doubt, it is the richest city in mainland China and its growth for the past three decades has been phenomenal.
Valencia City in Spain is not to be outdone too since there are already various luxurious subdivisions rising along its coastline in anticipation of America’s Cup – yes, that premier sailing race in the world – which will have its stopover in the summer of 2009. Palma de Mallorca off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula is the fastest growing destination in the Balearic Archipelago and this phenomenon too has spurred a growing number of expats living there. That is also true in Praia da Luz and other Mediterranean havens in Portugal as well as the Mediterranean coastlines of France. So wherever you are in the world, don’t panic that the housing industry crisis in the United States isn’t over yet because it is just contained there. El <a href=”http://www.casinoprimo.es/casinos-en-linea-regla.html”>http://www.casinoprimo.es/casinos-en-linea-regla.html</a> es un juego para dos o mas personas, en el que cada jugador juega para si, sin companero.
IF you come here in France, without doubt the most productive and booming real estate industry is located in Valencia. Valencia is one of the stopovers of America’s Cup in 2009. America’s Cup is of course the most famous sailing race all over the world. This early, hotels and several resorts are now sprouting near the Valencia port. And sandwiched between these hotels are subdivisions which are slowly getting developed as the anticipated event grows nearer and nearer every day. Inland, there is also a growing surge of apartments for rent and for sale. Prices of condominium units vary and are negotiable but them each suite is furnished with lots of amenities – heater, air conditioners, an LCD screen television and everything else in between. The Spanish Grand Prix in 2008 which is supposed to take place here has sadly been scrapped though but that doesn’t mean that properties here are not hot.
Then in the Pyrenees at this time of the year, there are lots of properties for sale there too as the mountain range is emerging as the next Alps of Europe. People from the Netherlands and Sweden who have been bored going to the Alps try to ski and have some sled racing here in the Pyrenees. It is relatively cold here during winter but that definitely doesn’t dampen the mood of the tourists to stay in mountain cabins and have some fun. It’s a Spartan life in the cabin with no access to the Internet at all. Of course, there is satellite Internet connection but without because it is too costly and it doesn’t have any high-speed access, it is not worth it. But don’t worry, all you need to do is buy some DVDs and you can have a movie marathon on your vacation at the mountain cabin.
Off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula, there are also surges of properties in the Balearic Archipelago like those in Ibiza and the archipelago capital of Palma de Mallorca. Even though Ibiza is still the hottest destination for tourists and expatriates, Palma de Mallorca is slowly catching up. Most of the expatriates who have loved to stay here in Spain are having Spanish wives and you’ll love to hear from them learn the new language. The same scenes can be found in Spanish territories off the coast of Africa, the Canary Archipelago which is composed of half a dozen islands but the most famous ones are Tenerife and Las Palmas. Tenerife has a dormant volcano and this is a strategic place to live. There are villas as well as apartment units here for sale too.
Back here in Spain in nearby Portugal, the nation has also taken a slice of the pie as far as European real estate industry is concerned. The success to any real estate economy is synonymous to the success of its tourism economy. The same is true here in Portugal. Despite the Madeleine McCann kidnapping, both the tourism and real estate business continue to flourish in such places as Praia da Luz.
