Americas' Cup

[ValenciaSon]

Anybody planning to go? Has anybody been to the port of Valencia lately? I hear that in anticipation of this event, the port has been transformed dramatically. It's taking place in my father's neighborhood, known as el Grao. Very exciting for my father. I hear Valencia real estate is out of control (which might be one of the double-edged swords to such a phenomenon). :o

[Brian]

I have been to the Port in the last few months. They indeed are making great preparations. According to my wife, who grew up in Valencia, many old apartment buildings have been torn down in an effort to spruce up the city.

Also, parts of the the Avenida del Puerto are completely closed off to traffic, with many of the old warehouses close to the Port being renovated.

[amp]

I was there over Dec 2005 and Jan 2006 and the place is looking very different to 4 or 5 years ago.

My Valencian friends are not very impressed. Increasing real estate prices are making it very difficult for regular young (and not so young) Valencians to buy a home. New buildings are going up everywhere, but they are all empty. People continue to 'hide' black money in real estate. The rate at which property prices are going up means people don't need to actually rent these places out. They just wait a few years and sell them off at huge profits. I'm not sure this is all about the America's Cup though. It has been a trend for some time.

These same friends are very cynical about the Cup. They had never heard of it before and feel it doesn't have much of a place in Valencia. They are most amused by signs all over town directing motorists towards the port, but a lack of signs directing people anywhere else.

I have British friends working at some of the "international" schools in the city and they say that the clientale at these schools has changed considerably over the last few years. There are greater numbers of Australian, New Zealand and North American kids at the schools, whereas previously there were virtually none.