The Intempo - towering above everything

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the bank that is financing the "Intempo" building is looking for someone to take over the 93 million euro debt. When the project was first presented, back in 2006 the country was in the grip of a building boom. However, since then, as we all know there has been a slump in the construction sector and virtually the entire world is in recession - Spain feeling it rather worse than other countries. Unemployment is at record levels - over 50% of under 30´s in Spain are without work....

The "Intempo" project, a residential tower block which was to be the tallest in Europe at 180 metres tall over 45 floors was valued at 100 million euros and completion was set for 2010. Visually it does look stunning - the facade is gold which reflects and catches the eye but as with all adventurous projects of this scale, finance is the key. The construction is almost complete but planned pools and landscaping have not even been started.

During construction stage

The predicted rush of sales by the Russian market has obviously not materialised - initially the promoter was saying that over 50% had been pre-sold when the project was unveiled. Yes the Russians are coming, but they are not spending to that extent. Foreign investment in Spanish property was predicted to rise considerably after the announcement that non EU residents would be granted Spanish residency automatically if they bought a property over the value of half a million euros. Many estate agents in the area advertise in Russian hoping to attract the monied clients, but obviously they are not coming as thick and fast as anticipated.

The development has been plagued with problems. In June 2011 an accident on site involved 13 workers - 2 of which were seriously injured and the original developer Olga Urbana, had their contract terminated last June for failing to produce over a million euros worth of work certificates. So for any Euro Million lottery winners out there, if you are looking what to do with your winnings you can invest in this or there is also another one down in La Cala which I believe is also still looking for a few spare euros!