Last week, tragedy hit the Valencia region. You may have heard about it and you may not but over 48500 hectares of interior Valencia was burnt by wildfires.
How does this compare with other fires? Well you may have seen that Obama visited the scenes of the Colorado wildfires and have been horrified by the images presented. Valencia’s fires covered an area five times greater. Obama called half of America’s firefighters to help out. Spain’s Rajoy went to the football. Good to get priorities right isn’t it.
The result is a moonscape in many places and when I get back off holiday I will be taking some video and showing you the effects of the fires on the Valencia region.
However what is the reaction going to be over the next few weeks, months and years? When I get back to Valencia from the 11th of July onwards I will be checking out the properties in areas affected by the fires and talking to the owners. I have already had a couple of calls dropping prices as the views have changed forever.
Or have they?
Well I am not sure. The usual comeback for this type of fire is between three and five years. Obviously the larger trees take longer to come back but the ground vegetation and the bushes will be back soon. Believe it or not the charcoal created by the fires is actually a decent fertilizer. However I am not underestimating the effects, the views have changed for a few years at least and the psychological effects and material effects on a lot of people have been huge. (point to note. Make sure your insurance is up to date at all times)
As a property buyer in Valencia how should this affect you. Firstly, the burnt areas are relatively safe now as there is nothing left to burn so if you get a good property in a “safe” area at a good price and are ready to wait a few years for nature to take her course then go ahead. However bear in mind the following.
- properties that are on urban land on an estate are much less likely to be affected by wildfires in any country than that idyllic property in the middle of a wood or on the top of a mountain. This sums up the majority of our properties. None of our past clients have been directly affected in the sense of having damage to their properties due to the fires.
- the closer the property is to Valencia the lesser the chance of it being burnt. There is a lot more chance when the property is further away inland.
- city apartments, town houses and properties on established estates with firebreaks generally don't burn down.
If you a worried by the effects of the wildfire or if you know somebody who has a property in the areas who may want some advice, just get in touch with me on information@www.valencia-property.com and I will try to help out however I can.
Finally take a look at this image taken by a client from their house just before they got the hell out of there. Luckily their house and area directly around their house were relatively unaffected. Interview coming up next week.
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