It's our springboard for inspiring holidaymakers with the best that Spain has to offer and it's an amazing platform for anyone with a good story to tell. If that's you, read on.

Why Hot Bits matter

The buzz in web marketing circles right now is content marketing. There's been lots written about it and the definition is still very broad but the idea for us is very simple: Create stuff  people want to read and share.

For websites like ours that means we grow our audience and generate more interest in our holidays.

Unfortunately it takes rather more than installing a CMS and putting up a blog post. We've spent some time getting together good writers, hand building a content management system that integrates stories with our property listings (without being annoying) and nailing down a good newsletter system.

We currently have 40,000 subscribers to our newsletter alone and, in all honesty, what we've been sending is not good. In fact every holiday rentals newsletter we've ever read is awful: Issue after dull issue of property photos with a price tag. It's time to give our readers something much better.

So Hot Bits is more than just a new section on the website. It's also the juice for our Twitter and Facebook pages and the substance for great e-shots to holidaymakers.

How to use Hot Bits

The articles we publish will be going to a large audience and we've made a commitment to properly credit writers. That means a lot of eyeballs for the best work and an extraordinary opportunity to get a free plug.

Our owners and agents are a treasure trove of stories and local expertise so we want to unleash you:

• Where are the best beaches?
• Who serves the best food?
• How do you find the hidden gems tourists often miss?
• What are the strangest questions you've been asked by guests?
• Have you got an amazing renovation story?

Get the idea? Read our editorial guidelines then get in touch!

In the meantime we've had a chance to look at what's working best on this blog for owners and agents.

A review of the last 3 months web activity on El Blog made it pretty obvious what owners want: Advice.

There are some vocal finger-on-the-pulse types who follow the weekly round-ups religiously but unfortunately they're not large enough in number to justify the time involved. Conversely things like our top features infographic have gone completely viral, spreading to all corners of the web and getting a huge readership.

So given the new workload with Hot Bits, we've decided to cull the weekly round-up.

We'll continue to publish a monthly email digest containing the most important industry news. We're also cutting the volume of blog posts to concentrate on fewer, higher quality advice pieces.

Sorry to anyone who may miss the round-ups but don't forget you can get the latest good stuff in realtime by following us on Twitter @espanabreaks.

Recession is back (sorta)

The UK officially slipped back into recession this week, with a second consecutive quarter of negative growth. Strangely this news was knocked off the lead headline spot pretty quickly, displaced by the unending Leveson enquiry and an entertaining appearance by Rupert Murdoch.

There are some good reasons for this. The -0.2% growth figure is only based on 40% of the available data, much of which is skewed by bad figures from the construction industry. Retail looks much perkier and it's entirely possible this number will be revised up as more data becomes available. An upward revision may make this the recession that never was.

We don't think this is the main story.

What's more interesting are figures showing how British incomes have fared since the financial crisis. Taking growth and inflation into account, Brits are earning less now than they were before.

That's the real story: We're poorer.

Cash-strapped consumers aren't good news for the holiday market and we stand by our predictions for 2012 that it would be a year of tough discounting. Owners and agents need to keep a relentless eye on costs and creating genuine value for holidaymakers. The fight is set to continue for some time to come.

Other stories we bookmarked this week

• S&P downgrades Spain to triple B plus - the Spanish economic car crash continues with an official downgrade of their sovereign credit rating by Standard & Poor's. The agency predict the Spanish economy will contract in 2012/13 although the government complained that this doesn't take into account their recent austerity measures (via The Financial Times)
• Car rental costs in Spain could triple - holidaymakers are being warned about hidden fuel charges when renting a car in Spain (via The Independent)
• Spanish government does U-turn on NIEs - authorities have relented on the introduction of a (plain stupid) rule that foreigners would have to attend in person to be allocated an NIE number when purchasing a Spanish property (via Global Edge)
• Debate: Do all-inclusives damage resorts? - we know this topic causes real ire among owners of holiday rental property in locations where hotels use all-inclusive pricing schemes. Have your say on this popular blog (via Travel Rants)
• Sterling to the rescue! - holiday costs for Brits could now be up to 14% cheaper due to a soaring Sterling exchange rate (via The Independent)
• The perfect airline seat revealed - Skycanner have polled 1000 travellers and come up with a brilliant infographic showing where people most like to sit most when they're flying. Avoid seat 31E (via Skyscanner)

In case you missed it...

We now do a monthy email round-up of industry news and advice for owners and agents. These digests are also posted online so if you missed it the April newsletter is available to read here.

To subscribe, you only need to register a (free) advertising account. There's no need to start a paid campaign to receive the digest.

Video of the week

Google launched a fabulous new feature for Google Maps: User generated photo tours. Very clever stuff, prepare to get wowed with this short intro:

When your bookings go up or down you would probably like to know how bookings are more generally. Are you beating the average, or are you underperforming? We explain how to make sense of the picture.

1. Keep records!

If you've had a rental property for some time, tracking when you received enquiries, who from and whether they converted into a booking is absolutely critical. Year-on-year this will tell you the peaks and troughs of the rental calendar and which marketing is working best for you.

2. Watch your competitors

The best thing about rental websites is their ability to show what's available in a given area at any time of year.

Don't be afraid to bookmark competing properties and check in on them regularly. How many weeks do they have booked? Are they running offers? Is their advertising better than yours? Spend an hour or two every month being nosey.

3. Don't ask rental websites (much)

Online rental forums such as LayMyHat have lots of useful chatter between owners on where to advertise and which sites are performing. These can provide a barometer of sorts but looking back over the chat history, you'll see rental websites go in and out of vogue like flared trousers.

Meanwhile sites like ours sit on some very privileged information: We get to see the picture for thousands of properties. It's gives us a much better insight than random chat.

This information is also commercially sensitive which is why most rental websites are tight lipped on exact enquiry figures. Even were we to publish those figures, they'd still be very misleading at the location-specific level. Every site is strong in some locations, weak in others (for example, our secret success is Gran Canaria where most adverts perform much better than the site average) and just because an owner in France does well on a website doesn't mean an owner in Spain will do just as well.

That's not to say you shouldn't at least ask rental websites.

We've always tried to be pretty transparent and avid readers of this blog will have gleaned lots of honest insights into where we think things are going year-on-year. No site will tell you how much business your competitors are doing, but they may hint at how you're doing in general. Experienced editors are also likely to spot shortcomings in an advert very quickly.

4. Track the holiday press

Owning a holiday rental is a business activity and you are part of the wider travel industry. While the rentals industry itself provides very little data of use to owners (see above), the publicly listed package holiday behemoths are duty bound to report their sales on a quarterly basis to shareholders.

The results from companies like TUI and Thomas Cook give an excellent indicator for the overall travel market and should be followed carefully by owners who are hungry for information.

Watch to see if they're discounting, changing the number of holidays they make available (capacity) or indeed are making any money. These firms aren't an exact mirror of the holiday rentals market but it's safe to say if they're up, we probably are too - we're all trying to capture the same consumer.

Our favourite industry bookmarks are TravelMole and Travel Weekly (and Tnooz for online trends).

5. Be the awesome minority

Time to live up to our honest values and let you in on a little secret: A minority of properties generate the majority of enquiries.

If the bookings we generate were evenly spread across our entire property portfolio, this business would be a whole lot more profitable. Sadly, they're not. Some owners get the mix between price, location and enticing advertising absolutely spot on and they generate vast amounts of business with ease. Many more don't.

Ten years of experience and lots of data also confirms good adverts that fail are a rare minority. That's why we play it honest with our AdScore guarantee; great adverts deserve 100% backing.

In short, be consistently great. It makes the bigger picture much easier to fathom.

Stories we bookmarked this week

• Boomers taking over from Gen-Y in smartphone stakes - if our popular features infographic didn't convince you that WiFi is fast becoming essential, this article on the staggering growth in smartphone use probably will (via Tnooz)
• Holiday rentals emerge as powerful alternative to hotels - an excellent piece on the steady march of holiday rentals and how our industry is becoming a major competitor to hotels and package holidays. There's still work to do on the planning, booking and trust side but people like the concept in ever larger numbers (via EyeForTravel)
• King Juan Carlos says sorry - Spain has raged all week on news the King injured himself during an extravagant elephant hunting holiday in Botswana. At a time when Spaniards are suffering severe austerity and joblessness, the trip didn't go down well. He has now apologised (via The Olive Press)
• Spanish property prices fall further - the average price of a home in Spain fell by 11.5% in March compared to the same month last year, according to Spain’s most widely-watched annualised House Price Index compiled by Tinsa. Time to buy? (via International Estate Agent Today)
• Madeleine McCann sighted in the Costa del Sol - a new twist this week as it was revealed Spanish police are searching for the missing girl in Nerja. There's mention of a link with a cold case investigation by Scotland Yard. Hope for the best (via The Evening Standard)
• 9 worst hotel room views ever - I think we've stayed in a couple of these. A great reason to rent a holiday villa instead (via Huffington Post)

Fail of the week

It's not hard to make a total mess of Twitter and Holiday Velvet made us giggle with this social networking faux pas. Bit desperate. We're equally useless on Twitter, follow us @espanabreaks.

Video of the week

The Spain Scoop did an excellent interview with Xavi Montanya, a videographer who has made some fun, punchy and informative videos about Barcelona to show off his work. Gorgeous!

The easiest way to find the Catastral Value of a property is to check the amount listed on the IBI (local property tax) invoice or to visit the Catastral office in the town hall. However, note that the value should only be given to someone who can show a registered interest in the ownership of the property or their representative, which can make comparison with your neighbour’s difficult.

The value is drawn up by independent government employees using strict and complex valuation guidelines to ensure consistency. Initially, they depend upon a description of the property and its use, which is obtained by observation, licence applications and increasingly, studies of aerial photos. As the Catastral description lists the best estimates of the site's registered boundaries, obtained from historical records, title deeds, agricultural ‘parcelas’, planning applications and any other source where change has been detected, it can be one of the more reliable sources of information and help to settle boundary disputes and the like. However, it is by no means infallible as it will not catch all extensions and changes, ranging from integral garages to bedrooms, structural problems, and the many other alterations that can be made to a property and that affect its value.

The ‘construido’, gross overwall external floor area is used, with allowance for open-sided covered areas being calculated at 50% and areas under 1.5m high being ignored. This can differ substantially from the ‘util’ or net internal floor area, which is an internal measurement used in construction and excludes external walls and certain other items.

Since the details used in the Nota Simple and the Catastral are obtained in different ways, it is not unusual for variations between these property descriptions to occur. The most frequent problem found here is that the Land Registry is compiled at the point of construction and it is a legal nicety that the sizes recorded are given by ‘declaration’ and are not guaranteed or checked by the Registrar or Notary or other independent body. Also, changes to the property thereafter are often not noted, which can also affect the Catastral records where there can also be discrepancies due to human error or failure to update information.

After the size and nature of the property are determined, a rate per square metre is applied to it. This rate is an estimate of the sale value of the property, calculated from actual registered sales and other property information. Naturally, this information has to be reviewed every few years in order to keep the comparative values of neighbouring properties relatively accurate. This is done on a municipality by municipality basis, so that all neighbouring properties are valued in a similar way. Unfortunately, this can mean that values of a few years ago can become the basis for a Catastral value that may not bear any real relationship to the current value of the land and property. This is certainly the case in Estepona where values have been based on sales in 2007, when prices could be up to twice what they are now. In the past, when sale values have been increasing over the years people have been less disturbed at the low Catastral values.

However, the main concern should not be the individual Catastral value, but its relationship to those of its neighbours. This is where consistency is essential so that everybody is treated in the same way. Equally, the level of value is really of little importance as it is the multiplier that is applied, by politicians and tax authorities, that decides how much actual monetary value it has. The Catastral value is used for calculating capital gain on a property when it is sold and also for the amount of IBI or local property tax that an owner has to pay each year.

It is possible to appeal the Catastral value of a property, but only at the time of revaluation. The timescale is short and the methodology is complex, so that unless there are gross errors it can often just add more expense without an effective result.

When purchasing a property it is important to have sight of both the Land Registry and the Catastral records to ensure that any errors are noted and corrected. If this is not done, it can be that the buyer will be responsible for obtaining licenses and/or paying fines for unauthorised works or even for changing the property back to its former legal state. Whilst conscientious solicitors may endeavour to assist the client in this way, a member of the Survey Spain Network of Chartered Surveyors will often be the only one to compare the size and use of the actual property to the recorded descriptions on the Nota Simple and Catastral records. Differences in these records to the actual building are often a means of identifying potential problems of ownership and/or legality. With this knowledge the potential buyer can then instruct his or her lawyer to ensure that corrections are made prior to purchase and at the cost of the seller.

Addendum: The Spanish tax authorities have announced that they intend to review 4.2 million Catastral values this year throughout Spain. That will almost certainly add to the value and increase to the likelihood of IBI and other property related taxes being raised.

This article was kindly submitted by Campbell D. Ferguson, FRICS, is a chartered surveyor in Spain. His company, Survey Spain Network arranges valuations and surveys by RICS chartered surveyors anywhere in mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands, and Gibraltar. This includes valuations, building surveys, structural surveys, building inspections and investment and development appraisals.

www.surveyspain.com

Stories we bookmarked this week

• Iberia grounds 150 flights - a strike by Iberia pilots, who are enraged by the launch of low cost Iberia Express, forced a raft of cancellations last Monday. Unfortunately the disruption could continue with threats of further strikes every Monday and Friday until July (via Reuters)
• Thomas Cook plays down latest blow - the beleaguered package holiday firm had insurance cover withdrawn from its third party suppliers this week. Weighed down by a £1.2bn debt pile, Thomas Cook is having a torrid year. They're seen as a bellwether for the holiday industry and their woes reflect a general malaise in the market (via Travelmole)
• ASA unhappy over all inclusive advertising - the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints against YourHolidays, part of Hays Travel, for misleading prices on their Teletext holiday adverts (via Travel Weekly)
• Charlize Theron and Leonard Cohen go flamenco - a five part, big budget TV series is due to start filming in October  to coincide with the Sevilla Bienal de Flamenco. It should be a treat for lovers of Spain and is due for release in January 2013 (via Andalucia.com)
• Benidorm gets an App! - with the world going smartphone mad, the app craze this week reached as far as Benidorm. Expect to see more of these local apps being launched for holidaymakers (via Benidorm Now!)
• Tenerife is best beach destination for Londoners - research by Holiday Hypermarket has shown that Tenerife (closely followed by Mallorca) is a firm favourite because it has adapted to Londoners' tastes for boutique hotels and adventure sports. (via iWantSun)

Video of the week

If you saw lots of people dancing round Nerja last September, now you'll know why: Spanish pop star Capitan Truxton was making a pop video which has just hit TV screens... (via Olive Press)

Stories we bookmarked this week

• Should Tenerife replace Scotland in the UK?  - with Scotland due to vote on independence in the next few years, Ricky Durrance makes the case for Britain doing swapsies on Gibraltar in exchange for Tenerife. Hilarious - it's our Pick of the Week (via BTB Life)
• HomeAway buys TopRural - the US rental behemoth  has made its first European acquisition since 2009 by buying a Spanish rental site based in Madrid. The deal gives HomeAway a further 11,600 paid and almost 30,000 free listings on the Toprural system (via Tnooz)
• Marbella gets its own reality TV show to rival TOWIE - Big Brother star Brian Belo is launching a new show "Marbella Beach". He's also embroiled in a legal battle with ITV who, he claims, stole 'his' idea for The Only Way is Essex. Marbella's version will probably air on Channel 5 (via Digital Spy)
• When to panic over unsold weeks - we're seeing an unusually large number of special offers running right now but we don't think it's time to discount the summer weeks - yet (via El Blog)
• Brits flee UK to avoid Olympics - over a quarter of Britons are planning to escape on holiday in order to avoid the Olympics (via Metro)
• Threat of class action lawsuit over HomeAway phishing - lots of Americans are getting pretty fed up with HomeAway's disinterest when they fell victim to a scam involving fake rentals and wire payments. Little old us have an owner ID check scheme to combat this since 2008 - why haven't they? (via Chicago Tribune)
• Spain shouldn't adopt Sunday trading or the Internet, says Expat - this opinion column in The Telegraph has attracted a storm of irritation after one grumpy expat explained why Spain should remain in a 15th century time warp because he likes it that way. Barking mad, entertaining (via The Telegraph)
• Antonio Banderas' pious return to Malaga - the Hollywood heart throb and star of Zorro has vowed that this Easter he will 'immerse' himself more than ever into Andalucia’s Holy Week celebrations (via The Olive Press)
• Boozy Brits welcomed amid Spain austerity - businesses in Salou are welcoming an invasion of drunk teens who have decended on the small town for the annual Saloufest. In a country struggling for cash and jobs, it seems they're happy to take anyone (via Sky News)

Video of the week

As part of BA's Great Britons programme, designer Pascal Anson was chosen to create a unique aircraft livery to celebrate London 2012. He came up with an amazing dove design and a time-lapse video of how they painted a real plane is mesmerising...

This makes total sense for April and May but it may be too soon to start discounting the summer months.

Holidaymakers are booking later

The chart below shows a very typical pattern for booking enquiries over a year. (Note: The chart shows when people book holidays - NOT when they travel!)

Over the past few years, some of the Jan/Feb peak has shifted to the "lates" period in July; this reflects the economic situation and people's decision to book their holidays later.

This year isn't showing any signs of being any different and the July period will be a busy one for last minute holidays. That is a better time to promote unsold summer weeks.

Concentrate on shoulder periods first

It's very easy to think of the summer peak season as your profit period. It's not.

The school holidays traditionally force lots of people to travel simultaneously and, like it or not, we like to consider those weeks sold before the booking season even begins. Summer weeks sell without difficulty for most properties.

The tricky periods are the so-called "shoulder" months; these are the quieter periods either side of peak season. Filling these periods will make or break your profitability for the entire year and they're the periods that require most work. (As an aside, we think it's a scandal that some of the loveliest months of the year in Spain attract the least demand.)

Therefore the concentration should always be selling weeks in April to June first.

When you should panic

If you have spare capacity for the summer, we don't recommend running discounts until at least June when the lates market picks up.

Keep calm and carry on.

You can apply for this document at the immigration office at one of the designated police stations. Most towns with significant foreign populations will have such a facility, along with resident translators to assist the process for non-Spanish speakers. Once you have submitted your application you will be given a receipt that you will need to bring with you when you return to collect your NIE certificate - usually about two weeks later.

When you apply for your NIE number these documents will be needed:

• Your passport, plus a photocopy of the main page.
• Two recent passport-sized photographs.
• Any documentation that includes a reason for the application. For instance, if you are in the process of buying a house, bring with you a copy of the escritura or deed of sale. This might be deemed unnecessary, but it will help to offer this additional information.
• Two completed copies of the application form Solicitud de NIE (Ex-15). You will be able to fill this in at home by following this link, downloading the appropriate document and printing it.

Recent changes to NIE procedure

Previously, it was possible for foreign property purchasers and immigrants to request that a lawyer or gestor (a clerk who is experienced in acting as a conduit between the client and all aspects of the Spanish bureaucratic system) handle the process. However, new legislation that was brought in at the beginning of 2012 means that every applicant must apply for the NIE in person.

There has also been some confusion of late about the status of the NIE certificate, which itself is only valid for three months, however the NIE number allocated remains with the applicant for life. This has unfortunately led to some so-called experts stating that NIE numbers have only a very limited shelf life, which is totally untrue.

However, for those planning a more permanent stay in Spain, it might be more sensible instead to register as a foreign resident. One of these certificates (Certificado de Residencia), which have replaced the old style residency cards, can save time in the long run.

In order to do this you will need to fill out an Ex-18 form which you can print out here.

This article was kindly submitted by Campbell D. Ferguson, FRICS, is a chartered surveyor in Spain. His company, Survey Spain Network arranges valuations and surveys by RICS chartered surveyors anywhere in mainland Spain and the Balearic and Canary Islands, and Gibraltar. This includes valuations, building surveys, structural surveys, building inspections and investment and development appraisals.

www.surveyspain.com