El tiempo compartido

Just so you know the official Spanish view on timeshare:

(EUROPA PRESS)

Malaga.- The Costa del Sol has 92 timeshare developments which represents 28,1% of the national total, according to information released by consultants Ragatz, presented by the president of the Spanish branch of the European Timeshare Organisation (OTE), Carlos Vogeler.

Of the 327 developments situated en Spain, 140 are in the Canary Islands, 33 in the Balearics and the remaining 62 developments on the western coast (Costa del Sol). The Costa del Sol and the Canaries account for 71% of all these developments in Spain.

On the Costa del Sol, around 210.000 families are owners of timeshare developments and the average price of a week in these developments is 12,100 euros compared to 8,600 euros in the Canaries and 12,000 euros on average for the rest of Spain.

Vogaler highlighted today in Malaga that the timeshare model works “perfectly” in the US and Mexico and “very well” in Spain, although in Spain there is still “a very negative perception by the general public”.

He pointed out that timeshare “is no more than a form of hotel marketing with a more sophisticated tourism product”, in which “there have been frauds but much less than in other sectors [see la gran telenovela] and recently not much has been reported”, he also pointed out that “there are few products in which the consumer has the level of protection found in timeshare”. [NB: very careful choice of words - does not say that the level of protection is good or bad].

Vogaler clarified that timeshare “is in no way a form of property investment”. “The buyer of this product has to understand that they are not buying bricks and mortar, just a type of tourist services”.

For him, it is “important to realise that for the buyer’s part that at the time of buying that their expectations at the time of resale will not be in line with property speculation regarding increase in value”.

He insisted that “those that invest in timeshare are investing in their future holidays, when the time comes to resell, it can be sold like any other product, but in no way is it going to have any benefit or increase in value, save that the market may rise (or fall) as demand changes”.