A Spaniard in the works

EWA ANDRZEJEWSKA

Editor

Even though it was some time ago, I can still remember the excitement I felt when walking around Polish town halls on the days when attractive city-centre plots were up for auction. Investors would be packed inside tiny office rooms or even in cramped corridors. You could feel the tension in the air as the bidders tabled increasingly dizzying amounts; but it was the Spanish investors who regularly led the field in the furious fight over certain properties, often coming away with the main prizes. The losing parties, together with analysts and other market competitors, later discussed just whose hot Spanish temperament had got the better of them and who would make a profit from the projects to follow. In this latest edition of our magazine, we wonder whether Iberian investors, who are being hurt by the credit crunch at home, will now start retreating from Central and Eastern Europe. And will Martinsa-Fadesa, the first victim of the crisis, drag others down with it? The first Spaniards seem to be selling foreign properties and packing up to leave. So should we, in this part of Europe, start to worry? (p.36)

Perhaps it\'s time for a word about the summer holidays and related events. The Beijing Summer Olympics have just begun, which gives us an excuse to take a closer look at how the Russians are progressing with their preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi. The Black Sea resort has already become one huge construction site, as Russian companies muscle in on all the opportunities and contracts on offer – but is there any space left for foreign developers, investors and financial institutions? (p.40)

While still on the subject of holidays – who would like the idyllic days of summer to feel as though they last that bit longer? I definitely would. Such dreams could be made real by moving away from the roar of the busy city centre to a home located on or near a golf course. An extravagance, perhaps, and possibly a bit of snobbery too, but first and foremost – it turns out that it\'s good business. (p.49)