The most in-demand holiday home destinations
Alicante is the ideal place in the sun when it comes to Brit foreign property dreams
Province on Spain’s Eastern coast is the most popular destination for Brits in TV foreign property series
Almeria and the Costa Del Sol are in the top three based on analysis of 1,000 episodes of A Place In The Sun
Spain, France and Portugal are the most popular countries for holiday home hunters
Alicante is the nation’s dream holiday home destination, new research has revealed.
The study, by leading UK property investment company ERE Property, analysed more than 1,000 episodes of foreign property show A Place In The Sun, and found that the Spanish province is the most popular place for house hunters to target overseas.
Alicante came out on top as the place Brits most want to move to as it featured in 60 separate episodes of the Channel 4 show. In total 127 different provinces and counties were featured in the episodes, and the area in Eastern Spain was chosen most often by holiday house hunters from the UK. The province is home to the city of Alicante, as well as other popular areas like Denia and Benidorm.
Almeria was a close second, featuring in 57 episodes of the show. It sits on Spain’s southern coast and is home to the capital city of the same name, as well as other tourist hotspots such as Mojácar and Roquetas de Mar.
Costa Del Sol Occidental is the third most popular area for a dream holiday home, appearing in 56 episodes. The area is home to destinations beloved by sun-seeking Brits including Marbella, Torremolinos and Fuengirola.
Malaga continues Spain’s dominance of the most chosen locations, appearing 43 times to put it in fourth place, while Murcia is in fifth on 34 appearances.
The first non-Spanish area to feature in the list is Faro in Portugal in eighth place, after being chosen 28 times. It is the only place outside of Spain in the top ten, and sits behind sixth place Vega Baja del Segura (33 episodes) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in seventh (31 episodes). Completing the top ten are Tenerife on 24 episodes, and Granada on 22.
When it comes to wider regions, Andalucia in Spain is by far the most popular are in the study. Its towns, cities and provinces have been the subject of 240 episodes, and it is home to desirable locations including the Costa del Sol, Almeria, Granada and Sevilla.
The second most popular region is Comunitat Valenciana, which contains Alicante, Valencia and Benidorm among others, resulting in 122 visits to the area from the show. The Canary Islands are in third place on 95 episodes.
The fourth most popular region is Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France, which is home to areas like the Dordogne and Charente-Maritime. It appears in 68 episodes of the show.
Florida takes fifth spot on the region rankings with 42 appearances thanks to areas like Orlando, Tampa and Sarasota.
Commenting on the study, Helen Mercer-Jones, Managing Director, ERE Property said:
“Brits have had a love affair with Spain ever since package holidays existed, and this data shows just how popular the country continues to be, with more episodes on Andalucia alone than Portugal, Italy, Greece and the US combined. But with Spain being so popular, that means there are plenty of other hidden gems available to people searching for a holiday home. Up and coming areas such as Cyprus are a great place to invest, and we are also seeing increased interest in attractive locations beyond Europe like Bali.”
At the national level, places in Spain are the focus of 550 episodes, France is in second on 152, and Portugal is third with 54. Italy ranks as the fourth most popular country, being featured 52 times, while Greece is fifth on 49.
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