Blog · Villa guides
Practical advice on façades, damp, the electrical certificate and renovations on the Costa del Sol.
Guide · Painting
The flat needs painting or new wiring and you are a flight away. Almost all of it can be arranged from home, but six things decide whether it goes smoothly: the quote, the community of owners, the town hall, the VAT, the invoice and who holds the keys.
Read the guide: Work on your Costa del Sol home from abroad
Guide · Electrical
A house that has been shut for months tells you what it needs in the first ten minutes: a musty smell, a stain in a corner, a breaker that trips. This is what to check in the electrics and on the walls before the first guests arrive, and which of it is advice rather than law.
Read the guide: Opening your Spanish holiday home after winter
Guide · Painting
Suitcases scuff the hallway, guests lean on the wall by the bed, and the cleaner wipes it all down between stays. A holiday rental needs a paint that takes that, a job that fits between two bookings and a flat that has aired before the next check-in.
Read the guide: Washable paint for a Costa del Sol holiday rental
Guide · Painting
Monocapa render fades with age and fills with fine cracks, and the question comes straight away: an elastic paint to cover them, or a silicate that lets the wall breathe? It depends on three things, and you can check them.
Read the guide: Cracked monocapa: elastic or silicate paint?
Guide · Electrical
Putting the electricity in your name — the cambio de titular, or change of account holder — is one of the first formalities after buying, and one of the most confusing: many people believe they need a new electrical certificate. If only the name on the contract changes, you do not.
Read the guide: Electricity in your name after buying in Spain
Guide · Electrical
Panels go on the roof, but they connect to your consumer unit. In a villa of a certain age, that unit is exactly the part nobody has looked at.
Read the guide: Is your consumer unit ready for solar panels?
Guide · Painting
Painting over damp without treating the cause is money down the drain: it comes back within weeks. The first step isn’t the brush — it’s the diagnosis.
Read the guide: Damp before painting: how to identify it
Guide · Electrical
Contracting the right power saves money every month and stops the panel tripping with a full house. And the key figure isn’t the one most people assume.
Read the guide: How much power to contract for a villa with a pool
Guide · Painting
It is one of the first questions before repainting, especially if you have just bought. Short answer: you almost never need a works licence; depending on the town, a declaración responsable is enough or not even that, and sometimes you need your community’s sign-off.
Read the guide: Do you need a permit to paint your villa facade?
Guide · Electrical
It is one of the first questions when buying or renovating an older villa. You do not always need a full rewire — it depends on what protections it has and the state of the panel.
Read the guide: Rewiring an old Spanish villa: do you need to?
Guide · Façade painting
Salt air, strong sun and humidity punish coastal façades like no other climate. This is what really separates repainting every year from lasting more than five.
Read the guide: Painting a seafront façade on the Costa del Sol
Guide · Electrical
They are constantly confused, especially when buying or selling a villa. They are two different documents, signed by different professionals, for different purposes.
Read the guide: Spain's electrical certificate (CIE) vs EPC