As for residence onsite, the course is dotted with over 100 plots and existing villas, the latter of which have been constructed by outstanding local architects. The 24-hour security watched community boasts a stately tree-lined cobblestoned main driveway and stunning views from just about anywhere in the lush grounds of the complex.

An equestrian centre was inaugurated in 2001, where owners can keep their horses and have them cared for and where riding lessons are given. Wonderful rides are possible in the nearby hills and woodlands, as are long walking excursions, both featuring stunning views over to Gibraltar and Africa.

Quick access to the beach, Marbella, the N340 coastal road as well as the motorway further enhance the appeal of properties here, and the road connections are perfect for day or longer trips to a host of culturally important nearby destinations including the Serranía de Ronda, Granada, Malaga, Seville, Cordoba, Morocco, and Cadiz.

Seville is accessible by car from the Marbella area in under 2.5 hours (going via Jerez is slightly quicker than going through Ronda). Regular buses (€17.50 one-way) and trains (from €18.55 return) head there from Malaga city itself.

When you think of Seville, which cultural reference springs to mind first? Orange trees, perhaps, whose blossom perfumes the narrow streets all through spring. Or maybe it’s La Macarena – which as well as being a catchy 90s tune is Seville’s most sacred virgin, still celebrated annually during elaborate Holy Week parades.

Opera fans will know Seville is the backdrop of Bizet’s 1920 masterpiece Carmen, which tells the tale of a fiery gypsy who breaks a soldier’s heart after falling for a bullfighter. In fact, Seville is the scene of no fewer than 100 operas, all fruits of poets and musicians captivated by the city’s energy over the centuries.

Then of course there is the sevillanas dance, which is of course closely associated with Seville. Sevillanas is a traditionally Andalucian courting dance which became heavily influenced by flamenco (which had been introduced by Romani gypsies) in the 19th century. Sevillanas is danced everywhere during the feria in April. Flamenco fans meanwhile must tour the neighbourhood of Triana, one of the birthplaces of the genre. For authentic flamenco try Tablao El Flamenquito or Los Gallos, both near the Alcazar.

As for sites, if you were only to see one, the 10th-century Alcazar must be it. This World Heritage building is a relic of Sevilla’s Islamic past and has enough to keep you satisfied all day as you marvel at its gardens, tilework and domes. Children will love the maze.

Then there is Seville’s cathedral – the biggest in the world – which started out as a mosque in the 12th century and was later transformed by the Christians in the 15th. It still retains its iconic minaret from the original building, the Giralda.

At the Archivo de Indias (free entry) you can learn all about Spain’s trading history with the Americas – many a commercial transaction used to take place on the building’s steps – and the building’s later conversion into a UNESCO-protected archive collection. Today the building houses some 80 million pages of documents relating to the missions of Columbus, Cervantes, Cortés and Pizarro. As well as displaying maps and objects of interest, an informative 15-minute video is shown to visitors, with subtitles in English.

The best time of year to go? Seville is best avoided during July and August, when temperatures can reach the late 40s and many attractions and businesses shut down altogether.

Head to Seville during Semana Santa (Holy Week) if you are interested in seeing over 50 religious brotherhoods lug heavy statues through the streets of the old town for up to 14 hours. If partying is more your thing, don’t miss Seville’s Feria in April, where the city comes alive (that is, even more alive than usual) in an all-singing, all-dancing celebration lasting six nights. Flamenco fans meanwhile will not want to miss the Bienal de Flamenco, held in September in even years.

According to figures released by Spain’s department of housing, in 2012 property purchases by non-Spanish residents of Spain (expats) increased by 25% compared to the previous year, while those completed by non-residents of Spain increased by 42%.

Purchases made by Spaniards however rose by a mere 2%.The figures have been presented in a chart by Mark Stucklin of the information website Spanish Property Insight.

“I wanted to clarify how important foreigners are these days to the Spanish property market,” said property analyst Stucklin, author of the Sunday Times column ‘Spanish Property Doctor’.

“As it turns out, they are vital. Already 12% of the market, foreign buyers are growing fast in number and could be critical to Spain’s moribund property market.”

“It’s always a minority group that starts the turnaround in every market,” adds Stucklin. “As cash buyers from stronger economies, expats will be the ones who sow the seeds of the recovery in Spain, if they are allowed to.”

In particular it has become a struggle for the 700,000 or so Britons who claim their pensions in Britain and live in Spain. As the pound weakens, the money they receive in euros decreases.

As an example, someone receiving the basic UK state pension of €107 per week would receive €124 for that at the time of writing in March 2013. Back in July 2012 they would have received €138 for the same amount – and in 2008, a much more generous figure of €145. Overall, it is estimated British pensioners could be wasting up to £300 million per year by receiving their pensions abroad.

“The pound’s decline has caused real hardship for many of these pensioners,” said Mark Bodega of currency broker HiFX, adding that Spain’s property price crash has added to the grief of many.

So, what can be done about it? One way to fight currency fluctuations is to set up a regular payment scheme, where the value of a pension – or mortgage payment – is fixed for up to 12 months, therefore protected against currency fluctuations.

“The number of regular payment schemes HiFX has set up has risen by about a quarter in the past year,” said Bodega. “In the main, these are from Britons wanting to protect their pension or mortgage payments from a sudden sterling devaluation.”

Payments are automated so the recipient knows exactly how much is going to go into their account. Regular payment schemes also bring substantial savings on transfer and receiving fees, which can be up to £30 per transaction.

Of course, fixing the exchange rate means you will not benefit from any increases in the pound’s value – so choose your moment carefully!

If you do not want to set up a regular payment scheme and wish to carry on transferring money as and when, direct debits – as opposed to individual transfers – will save you cash because you will avoid international banking charges and transfer fees. Lumping several pension payments together (for example for several different people) is another way of avoiding transfer fees.

Generally speaking, it is better to carry out transfers using currency specialists such as HiFX, World First or Currency Solutions, as opposed to doing them through your high street bank. They will offer a better exchange rate and smaller fees. There is also a competitive transfer service offered by the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions, which transfers pensions near the interbank rate (the highest possible rate) and incurs minimal charges.

In a rare large-scale sale, Barcelona based savings bank La Caixa is looking to offload a package of as many as 12,000 properties in a deal worth 1.5 billion euros.

The package, currently held by its Servihabitat company, is set to include flats and housing in major cities including Madrid and Barcelona, which have so far found more willing investors than other types of assets.

The 1.5 billion euro figure marks a 51% share of Servihabitat Gestión Inmobiliaria S.L, which is being sold by Morgan & Stanley on behalf of La Caixa.

Interestingly, Santander Bank tried a similar move over a year ago, which ultimately failed due to differences over price.

In fact price has previously proved to be a key obstacle to lenders selling their assets, with foreign investors seeking discounts the banks considered too low.

For this reason most sales of repossessed housing by banks have only happened on a small scale.

However the pressure is now on with many of the banks keen to rid themselves of the properties before sales from the bad bank pick up, to avoid having to compete.

It comes after Spain rescued several of the nation’s banks last year with 41 billion euros in European funds.

The banks transferred soured property loans and assets to Sareb, the so-called bad bank, which now hopes to sell the assets on.

A new government report, published by Spain’s General Council of Notaries, shows a staggering 28.4% increase in foreign and non-resident buyers in 2012 compared to 2011.

A total of 38,312 overseas nationals bought a property last year, figures not seen since the pre-crisis levels of 2007 when 41,787 foreigners invested in the country.

Of course one of the main reasons for the renewed confidence in Spanish real estate can be attributed to the massive fall in prices which has made buying a holiday home more affordable.

Foreign buyers spent an average of €230,000 on Spanish property last year, which is down a massive 28% from €320,000 at the end of 2007.

Crucially however, 42% of last year’s sales came with a price tag of more than €160,000, the benchmark for the government’s controversial scheme to reward foreign property buyers with residency permits.

Interestingly the origin of new homeowners has also changed, perhaps going hand in hand with the proposed scheme.

For the first time the Russians represent the second largest volume of homebuyers, behind the British, having leapfrogged the French.

Meanwhile, Norwegian and Belgian buyers have overtaken the Germans and the Italians, with newcomers such as Algerians and Kuwaitis also buying in the last 12 months.

The figures stand in contrast to last month’s INE figures which revealed a 3% decline in the overall number of property transactions made in Spain in 2012 and cast a more positive light on the situation.

As part of a major tax evasion crackdown by the Spanish authorities all residents have to declare savings, shares or properties held overseas worth €50,000 or more before April 30.

The new law, first introduced at the end of October as part of a drive against tax evasion, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism states, aims to increase penalties on those who commit tax fraud, increase tax collection and sets out new measures to collect tax debts.

But most crucially for expats, from now on anyone who is tax resident in Spain must also declare all the assets they own outside the country.

Those who fail face a minimum penalty of €10,000, as well as income tax on undeclared income, late-payment interest and penalties which can be as high as 150% of the total tax due on the asset.

The rule change affects all residents and has understandably sparked concern among the millions of expats living in Spain.

Moreover, with the deadline already looming, a recent report on national Spanish TV has given rise to accusations the law is deliberately targeting expats.

In particular, the news clip, aired on RTVE, drew attention to the fact the new law affects all residents ‘including the one million foreigners who make tax declarations in Spain.’

It comes as critics argue relatively few Spaniards hold assets outside of Spain, while hundreds of thousands of retired European expats now living in the country still have properties, bank accounts, trusts, and pension funds back at home.

Expats are considered residents in Spain if they spend more than 183 days a year in the country.

Some estate agents are even reporting increases of more than 300% in buyers hailing from Norway and Sweden looking to buy a second home abroad.

In particular the Costa del Sol has seen a surge of Scandinavians flocking to the area to take advantage of the low prices.

According to Spanish estate agent Taylor Wimpey Espana 46% of all Nordic buyers in 2012 chose the Costa del Sol thanks to the area’s coastline, good climate, and direct flights.

Moreover the trend seems set to continue this year with January sales figures already up 300% on those for the same month last year and the cumulative February sales up by a staggering 500%.

“The interest from Scandinavian markets continues to boom as buyers take advantage of favourable exchange rates and reduced Spanish house prices to purchase their dream second home abroad,” said Mark Pritchard, sales and marketing director of Taylor Wimpey Espana.

“Scandinavians, particularly those from Sweden and Norway, now make up over a fifth of our buyers in Spain – a huge increase on previous years.”

The 15-minute film, featuring Malaga’s very own British consul Stephen Jones, offers invaluable advice spanning finance, healthcare and culture plus practical and language considerations.

Doing proper research and resisting the urge to plunge in head first seem to be the main thrust of the advice.

“We would always advise that someone start looking some 18-24 months beforehand,” says lawyer Stefano Lucatello. “You should be visiting websites, reading magazines, and also visiting exhibitions where you can pick up a lot of information which is free and up to date”.

“One of the most important things is to completely research the destination you’re intending to go to,” agrees Stephen Jones, Malaga’s British consul.

“Go online, look at forums, look at the online newspapers. Talk to people that are already out there. Join in the forums and ask the questions you want to know”.

Forums such as myspain.es and expatica.com are great places to start if you are looking to move to Spain or buy a second home here. The British-run site andalucia.com is also a plentiful source of information of southern Spain, and also includes a discussion forum.

“Expatriate organisations can be a great help telling you more about the country you’re buying in and what the pitfalls might be,” adds the FCO’s Louise Proudlove.

On the Costa del Sol, a thriving expat community has led to the creation of a number of foreign residents associations.

Some are town hall run and some independent, but all offer great support – in English – and can advise expats on most aspects of their new life in Spain.

Expat groups in Spain are also a great way to meet new friends and be part of the community.

Estepona Town Hall organises regular activities such as coffee mornings and open days celebrating what non-Spaniards have brought to the town.

Other recommendations in the film include making sure you consider potential changes in the exchange rate – you wouldn’t want to be caught out – and having a stab at the local language, even if you lack confidence.

“Have a go. If you make mistakes, it doesn’t matter,” says Jones.

Boats were always a key part of Marbella life: the fishing port has been an important economic and social centre for the area since its creation in the 19^th century, long before the town’s transformation into a one of Spain’s most important luxury tourism destination.

Just a couple of kilometres west, the smaller pleasure-only harbour was developed following the founding of the Maritime Club of Marbella in the fifties. The modern facility dates back to the eighties. It is 47,000 square meters and has room for up to 377 vessels from 6 to 20 metres in length. A crane, dry docks, fuel dispensing, electricity, towing, and drinking water are all available.

Of course amenities are not just for boat owners. The Maritime Club is here, and a sailing school and other aquatic activities including scuba diving are available.

There are also bars with long and late opening hours and the several restaurants onsite include Caribbean, Indian, Spanish, and Catalan food. You can even get a traditional Thai massage for your feet or back.