Oh no! Not Spain … Martin Roberts, Travel & Property journalist and presenter of 'Wish You Were Here', BBC TV's 'Homes under the Hammer' and partner in Overseas Investment Property Specialists, Ocean View, analyses whether you should write off old favourite Spain as a place to invest your money

Oh No!.. Not Spain!", I hear you cry. "Give me Bulgaria ... or Florida ... Croatia ... Istanbul ... I hear Russia's doing very well ... but Pleeeeeeese ... not been-there, done-that, run-out-of-steam Spain!"

It's true. The world is becoming an increasingly small place for the would-be overseas property purchaser. An ever growing number of countries are clambering for your money to fund their construction programmes. So why stick with old favourite, Spain? Why is this the place that I still put my money?

Longevity. Reliability. Infrastructure. Stability. Familiarity. Popularity. And of course.. Rioja. Oh! And tapas and nice beaches and the Sierra Nevada and Rhonda and the golf courses and the year round climate and sailing and polo and mountain biking and sangria and over fourty years of tourism experience and 10 year build guarantees and low mortgage rates and cheap flights from numerous regional airports ...

Enough flippancy. The reality is that as a buy to let investment opportunity, certain parts of Spain still stack up brilliantly against the competition--even purely in the numbers game of; Property Cost versus Potential Rental Income.

This is especially true on the Costa del Sol, where properties in the areas South West of Marbella-around Estepona, Duquesa and Sotogrande particularly, are also experiencing strong capital growth, and strict limits on the amount of building and design of developments are securing the beauty and desirability of the area moving forward.

But more importantly for a buy to let (or a rather nifty new title I heard just recently--'Jet to Let') investor, it's an area where strong rental income all year round can be achieved. Not only are summertime rental prices some of the highest in Europe, the favourable climate throughout the winter months has lead to a massive development of world class golf courses. Names like Valderrama, Sotogrande and San Roque attract affluent accommodation-hungry golfers during traditional 'off season' times, when other parts of the property rental world have shut up shop. This makes 30-35 weeks annual rental a realistic proposition--with accompanying yields of 10-12%.

In a nutshell, as a hard headed investor, well chosen Spanish property is still a very sensible choice, comfortably seeing off newcomers with aplomb. Throw in the emotional side of things--the thought of a few weeks own use, sipping sangria on your balcony, overlooking Gibraltar or the golf course, and you'll soon realise that anyone who says it's Hasta la Vista for Spain, hasn't done their research.

Martin Roberts presents BBC TV's property auction show Homes under the Hammer. He is also a partner in Ocean View Properties, who specialise in new build overseas buy to let property and offer a full property rental and management programme.

1, Bladud Buildings, Bath ... 01225 461999 120, St George's Road, Bristol ... 01179 220110 8/9, Bath St, Cheltenham ... 01242 210012 email info@oceon-view.co.uk or visit www.oceon-view.co.uk for more details.